This week we have a not-so-subtle theme: gaming outside the home. When that's your theme there's no one better to kick things off with than Kevin Williams of Spider Entertainment and The Stinger Report , the Global Amusement & Attractions news service, who shares his insight into the state of VR in the location based entertainment sector as evidenced by the arrival of Sandbox VR in London. Then we hop the Atlantic to talk with James Cobalt about the Malden Gaming District in Malden, MA, a un...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 354
They're Baaaack. The Crew – Kevin Gossett (LA Reviews Editor), Laura Hess (Arts Editor), Leah Davis (New England Curator), and Blake Weil (East Coast Editor at Large) – answer the call of three phone based shows... but first Leah travels to LA and encounters The Nest before it ends it run (1:00). Those Phone Shows: I Cut Myself Shaving and I Bled So Much 11:40 Lennox Mutual 24:55 Our Options Have Changed 49:11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 10, 2022•56 min
Two great interviews this week with two luminaries of immersive. First: writer Margaret Kerrison, whose work includes Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind , joins us to talk about her new book Immersive Storytelling For Real and Imagined Worlds: A Writer's Guide . This is a must-read for everyone who makes immersive work. Period, full stop. Then Charlie Miller, Executive Director & Curator of the Denver Center for Performing Art’s Off-Center program, sto...
Aug 05, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 353
We settle in for a long chat about storytelling and the art of immersion with Frank Rose, the man who literally wrote the book on the subject. Frank's latest book, 'The Sea We Swim in: How Stories Work In A Data Driven World' takes center stage and we also touch on his work with Columbia University's Digital Storytelling Lab and their annual Digital Dozen list. Show Notes The Art of Immersion The Sea We Swim In Columbia University's Digital Storytelling Lab 2022 Digital Dozen The Denver Immersiv...
Jul 29, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 352
This week on the show: Chris Alderson of Polyarc Games joins us to talk about the MetaQuest release of Moss: Book II and what the studio learned about creating virtual characters you can’t help but form a bond with. [6:30] And Félix Lajeunesse of Felix & Paul Studios is here to bring us up to speed on the latest with their collaboration with NASA — the final episode Space Explorers: The ISS Experience and the upcoming Artemis mission livestream. [30:50] All that plus HEADLINES. SHOW NOTES SD...
Jul 22, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 351
For our 350th episode we bring on members of the Senior Staff at NoPro: Leah Davis (New England), Patrick McLean (Chicago), Blake Weil (East Coast), and Kevin Gossett to talk about the state of immersive in their neck of the woods. It's a big sprawling convo that finds us diving deep on installation art, the mainstreaming of immersive experiences, LARPing, and XR. Hosted by Noah Nelson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 350
For years now, first in a backyard and then inside an early 20th century storage building, one of the most unique immersive creations in the world has been one of Los Angeles' treasures: Scout Expedition Co.'s The Nest . Created by themed entertainment designers Jarrett Lantz and Jeff Leinenveber, The Nest has both delighted audiences and broken our hearts since it first turned up, almost like a rumor, years ago. A visit to a storage unit reveals the shape of a life, told through audio tapes (li...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 349
It's a big show this week. First up: writer-director Ryan Griffen and executive producer Nathan Anderson are here to talk with us about Lustration , the narrative VR series available on Meta Quest that adapts Griffen's neo-noir afterlife tale from comics to virtual reality. With a little help from voice actors like Kevin Conroy and Dante Basco. [6:00] Then David Markland of Midsummer Scream is here to tell us about this year's Halloween and Horror Convention, the first full Scream since 2019, wh...
Jun 25, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 348
We wrap up our Tribeca Immersive 2022 coverage with this gathering of the Review Crew: NYC correspondent Edward Mylechreest is joined by special guest Nick Fortugno who makes his Review Crew debut both of whom were on-site at Tribeca this year. Hosted by NoPro Podcast host Noah Nelson, who held down the fort on the at-home portion of Tribeca. In this episode: This is Not A Ceremony [3:00] Plasticsapiens [7:52] Please Believe Me [10:35] Intravene [16:25] Iago [28:22] Emerging Radiance [36:40] Rea...
Jun 24, 2022•58 min
Our Tribeca Immersive coverage continues with interviews of the creative teams behind two of the most exciting projects at this year's festival. First up: Glenn Neath of DARKFIELD and Garth Mullins of the Crackdown Podcast join us to talk about their collaboration with documentarian Brenda Longfellow called INTRAVENE , an immersive docudrama series about the overdose crisis in Vancouver. [3:35] Then Edward Madojemu, the artist behind Mescaform Hill: The Missing Five talks with us about adapting ...
Jun 17, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 347
This week New England correspondent Leah Davis hops into the host seat and is joined by Arts Editor Laura Hess to talk Stranger Things. No, not Season 4 and its upcoming finale, but to swap notes on the past two years of Stranger Things experiences. First Laura takes us back to 2020 and the Stranger Things Drive-Into Experience in LA to set the background. Then Leah pivots to the NYC edition of Stranger Things: The Experience , which opened this season. (13:08) And for those wondering: YES, the ...
Jun 16, 2022•42 min
Summer Festival season has started in earnest and this week's episode has us touching base with two very different events on the East and West Coast of the United States. Ana Brzezinska curator of this year’s Tribeca Immersive at the Tribeca Festival which is taking place RIGHT NOW in New York City joins us to talk about this year’s selections and how it all comes together both in NYC and in the virtual galleries of the Museum of Other Realities. Then we shift coasts and festivals for the Hollyw...
Jun 10, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 346
This week Review Crew host Kevin Gossett is joined by NoPro publisher Noah Nelson to chat about two shows they've caught so far in this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival. First up is Last Call Theatre's Signals , which takes the online-MMO format and adapts it into a theatrical setting that uses the internet's own crowdsourced SCP Foundation as inspiration. Then it's The Queen's Fools production of Not Another Midsummer , a fantastic riff on the Shakespearean classic that mixes immersive elements...
Jun 09, 2022•33 min
We kick off our Tribeca Immersive coverage this week with Ahnahktsipiitaa (Colin Van Loon) the director of This Is Not A Ceremony , a stunning piece of 360 cinema that calls on the viewer to bear witness to personal details of the injustices visited upon Indigenous men in Canada. It is a film that understands the power of its medium, and through the heaviness of its subject matter also demonstrates the strength of First Nations individuals and communities. The film plays both in-person and as pa...
Jun 03, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 345
Blake, Patrick, and Kevin dive into the last two Book Club selections: L.E. Hall's Planning Your Escape , which serves as both a history of play that led up to the creation of escape rooms and as a guide on how to approach escape games (with a good dose of immersive theatre history to boot); and Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus , a fantastical novel set in the midst of a duel between two magicians at an otherworldly circus that just so happens to be inspired in part by the original production...
May 26, 2022•44 min
Artist Adam Schwerner joins us to discuss Your (Un)natural Garden , currently delighting visitors to LA's Descanso Gardens . We talk about the interactive installations, botanical gardens as a canvas for art, and what he's learned about large-scale art as part of the executive team of the most iconic venue in themed entertainment. Plus: The Pick of the Week Headlines Apple Mixed Reality Device Details Begin To Emerge (Daring Fireball highlights The Information) Report: Apple Board Gets Mixed Rea...
May 20, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 344
It's a whole hour focusing on the Meta Quest, from the recent showcase to what's worth playing right now. Kevin Gossett plays host as Kathryn Yu and Patrick McLean blast through: Meta Quest Gaming Showcase Moss: Book II by Polyarc Ghostbusters VR by nDreams + Sony Pictures Virtual Reality Among Us VR - Innersloth, Schell Games, and Robot Teddy Red Matter 2 by Vertical Robot A quick detour to talk about another upcoming game: The Last Clockwinder Then it's on to what they've been playing: Area Ma...
May 19, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Artist Glenn Kaino joins us to talk about his latest installation, ' A Forest For The Trees ,' a stunning work in Los Angeles presented by The Atlantic and Superblue . This one's a can't-miss experience. [7:15] We also talk with Erin Brindley and Terry Podgorski , co-executive artistic directors of Seattle's best kept secret Cafe Nordo , which returns to live work with ' Down The Rabbit Hole .' [30:20] Plus: the Pick of the Week [27:20] and Headlines. SHOW NOTES A Forest For The Trees Cafe Nordo...
May 13, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 343
NoPro London Curator Shelley Snyder is joined in person by New England Correspondent Leah Davis to trade notes on their experiences at Punchdrunk's latest production The Burnt City . Watch out for spoilers, as Shelley and Leah go through their multiple runs of the show and share some of the secrets they've uncovered in this highly anticipated, hugely ambitious work from the creators of Sleep No More. For a spoiler-free review, check out Shelley's write-up at the site . Hosted on Acast. See acast...
May 12, 2022•51 min
Cesar Hawas, executive producer of Particle Ink: Speed of Dark , an incredible new show that seamlessly blends projection-mapped characters with live performers to create an immersive work like no other. It's playing now in Las Vegas and you really should go! Plus: Landon Zakheim of the Overlook Film Festival drops in to talk about this year's immersive offerings at the New Orleans celebration of all things horror this June. Show Notes Particle Ink: Speed of Dark Overlook Film Festival The Los A...
May 06, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 342
This week, Graham Wetterhahn of After Hours Theatre Company joins host Noah Nelson to talk about the upcoming Los Angeles Immersive Invitational , a 48-hour pop-up festival that challenges immersive creators from across LA to make new work out of thin air and share it with the public just two nights later. After a successful 2019 event, this year's edition will be held at the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles. Listen to learn which companies and artists are joining the weekend's festivities. Aud...
Apr 29, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 341
This week Kevin Gossett hosts as Laura Hess and Noah Nelson report back from the 2022 Without Walls Festival in San Diego. The now annual festival, produced by La Jolla Playhouse, returned to Arts District Liberty Station with a collection of plays, performances, and public art pieces. The Crew tackles just a slice of this jam-packed event. Monuments [6:51] TransMythical [11:42] Ants [14:06] Somnium [17:35] Black Séance [28:06] A Thousand Ways Part Three [44:07] 40 Watts From Nowhere [58:36] Sho...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 12 min
This week we talk with Owen Kingston and Chris Styles of Parabolic Theatre in London about their current season of immersive works and the company's new home the CRYPT in the East End, which they've shared with a few productions rehomed from the canceled Vault festival. Show Notes Parabolic Theatre The Los Angeles Immersive Invitational Review Crew on Big Beautiful BRANDS: Doctor Who, Bridgerton & More Associate Producer: Parker Sela Music: Chris Porter Producer and Host: Noah Nelson Hosted ...
Apr 22, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 340
This week Kevin Gossett hosts a conversation all about the kinds of big branded experiences that are many people’s first foray into immersive. Shelley Snyder joins from London to talk Doctor Who: Time Fracture [spoiler warning at 12:00] while LA correspondent Briana Roecks and Arts Editor Laura Hess detail their time at Netflix’s Bridgerton ball in LA (which has popped up in Chicago and D.C., but is different from the Secret Cinema one in London. Got it?) [13:45] Plus there’s talk about I Know W...
Apr 21, 2022•49 min
It's a mega-episode this week starting with a panel of rebels & rogues who offer their travel tips for journeys on Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser . Journalists Brooke McDonald & Todd Martens and experience designer Nick Tierce, all of whom were amongst the first travelers on board the Halcyon, join us for a spoiler-free discussion that aims to help those who are traveling on board the ship make the most of their experience… with just a little dash of design theory sprinkled in for good ...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 339
This week Patrick McLean takes on the host duties and chats with Leah Davis and Laura Hess about the often overlooked genre of telephone-based immersive shows. The Crew dives into what makes the format tick, starting with a discussion of Leah's time with Sylvia Plath (in a sense) as part of ' We Should Meet In Air ,' and carrying on with talk of Capital W 's 'A Call From The Resistance,' the work of Candle House Collective , and the multiple manifestations of ' The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries ...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Leanne Pedante (Head of Fitness) & Jonny Ahdout (Head of Product Marketing & Community) for the VR fitness app Supernatural join host Noah Nelson again on this the second anniversary of the launch of the best fitness app in VR and then some. Only this time we're in person and it's a blast. [8:25] From NYC: correspondent Allie Marotta interviews Kendra Slack and Jordan Chlapecka of Linked Dance Theatre about the currently running The Incomplete Collection . [32:40] Plus the Pick of the We...
Apr 08, 2022•59 min
This time out Blake Weil, Patrick McLean, and Kevin Gossett report back from the NoPro Book Club and dive into Neal Stephenson's seminal Snow Crash, the 1992 book that brought us the term "metaverse" laid the groundwork for countless imitators and an industry. Coming up next from the NoPro Book Club: Laura Hall's Planning Your Escape. The club meets for its discussion group next Tuesday, April 12th at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 07, 2022•43 min
This week we talk with Amy Ashton, producer of La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls Festival which runs April 21st - 24th at San Diego’s Liberty Station — it’s the longest-running theatre festival of its kind here in the United States and this marks the beginning of an annual cycle for the festival. [4:36] Then solo performer Siobhan O’ Loughlin will be here to chat about the upcoming remount of her piece Every Day I’ll Hope , which returns to LA this month. [37:00] Plus Kathryn Yu has this week's...
Apr 01, 2022•54 min
The Review Crew goes on another deep dive, single-topic discussion this week about Cadences: The Story of a Distance of its Pair . Leah Davis and Blake Weil recount in detail their experience play-at-home LARP from Soft Chaos. The conversation also goes into their LARPing experience and thoughts on storytelling, as Patrick McLean peppers the pair with questions. Note: while there are “spoilers” about gameplay functionality and the story Leah and Blake created, anyone else’s playthrough of Cadenc...
Mar 31, 2022•42 min
