The No Proscenium Podcast

Episode 289: Artizen w/ René Pinnell Mar 25, 2021

Artizen is a community-powered grant platform that began as a project of Kaleidoscope, the immersive production studio that has navigated countless projects through the stormy seas of VR. René Pinnell, founder and designer of Artizen, talks with us about the new platform's plans – including becoming community-governed – and we get into some of the cutting-edge issues of creative technology to boot! SHOW NOTES Artizen Kaleidoscope #StandWithAsians (Clubhouse Event March 26th) The NoPro Discord SPRING FLING Saturday Day Saturday Night Sunday Day

Spring Fling AR Program (powered by EyeJack)

Episode 288: Of The Night Mar 19, 2021

Courtney Nichols & Blakeshine are the co-founders of Of The Night, a new experiential party-in-a-box company that evolved out of Nichols' work in LA – the beloved Disco Dining Club – and Blakeshine's work on the music festival circuit creating large scale experiences. Now they're taking a pandemic era project which delivered parties for two in LA and turning it into a nationwide service via the crowdfunding platform iFundWomen. We get into the background and the pivots on this week's show.

Show Notes

iFundWomen Crowdfunding for Of The Night (running now though April 15th)
Of The Night
Instagram: @ofthenight
The Everything Immersive Spring Fling

Episode 287: Lou Doye Mar 12, 2021

Working out of England, Lou Doye is an executive producer in the immersive field whose projects often mix immersive theatre and immersive tech. Projects where XR meets the boards. She's also one of my favorite people to talk to, having met while working on the board for the Artizen Transformations Grant.

On this episode of the show, Lou and I talk the business of immersive and as always it's an education for me. Plus a little bit about what The RSC's Dream was before the pandemic pivot. Show Notes

Episode 286: Violeta Ayala, creator of Prison X Mar 06, 2021

Violeta Ayala's Prison X — Chapter 1: The Devil and The Sun, stunned us at Sundance this year. The Quechua film and theatre-maker blended lessons learned from those disciplines to put the audience inside a Neo-Andean myth via VR. (Check out our enthusiastic review.)

This week's episode is a wide-ranging discussion with the creator about how she brought the work to life, and the powerful themes that flow through this mix of myth, theatre, and technology.

Show Notes

Episode 285: Shine On Collective on 'Welcome Home' & 'Spirits of Tillinghast' Feb 26, 2021

Marlee Delia and Anna Mavromati are the co-founders of Shine On Collective, the LA immersive theatre company that made its name creating intimate horror experiences with a strong audio signature. Like so many others in the pandemic, Shine On had to pivot if they wanted to keep producing, and what that landed on came as a surprise.

Their first quarantine experience was Welcome Home, a boxed mystery that came with a delivery/take-out meal in LA and is now shipping as a mystery in a box with a dessert nationwide. They followed it up with The Rouguelike Presents: The Spirits of Tillinghast, the inaugural offering from Burbank's The Roguelike Tavern, a bar owned and operated by LA immersive theatre veteran John McCormick.

We talk with Delia and Mavromati about finding new ways to tell immersive stories in the real world after all the rules changed.

Episode 284: The VRChat Prefabs Community Feb 19, 2021

This week we talk with VRChat worldbuilders CyanLaser and Fionna, who are both part of the team that created the award-winning The Devouring VRChat experience and are admins of the VRC Prefabs Community: a collective of creators doing innovative work in the user-generated virtual worlds of VRChat. This episode also marks the opening up to listings of Virtual Worlds on the Everything Immersive site. If you've made a persistent Virtual World you'd like share with the wider immersive community we want to know about it!

Show Notes

Episode 283: Sarah Ellis of The RSC talks ‘Dream’ Feb 12, 2021

Sarah Ellis, Director of Digital Development for The Royal Shakespeare Company joins us to talk about 'Dream' the upcoming experimental live-streamed performance that merges live actors, the Unreal Engine, and an audience feedback loop to create a first-of-its-kind interactive performance delivered to desktops and mobile devices.

Show Notes

The RSC's 'Dream' 'Dream' Press Release at NoPro Unreal Engine's Metahuman Creator Call Sheet for 2/10/21

Episode 282: Darkfield Radio Feb 05, 2021

Glen Neath and David Rosenberg, the co-directors of Darkfield Radio join us for an in-depth discussion of the art of spatial audio and audience-centered design. Darkfield creates some of the most amazing immersive work, and the delivery method is a pair of headphones. This is a can't-miss episode of the podcast.

Plus: Noah's notes on the Sundance New Frontier and the Apple VR headset rumors.

Show Notes

Episode 280: XR Live – Theatre & VR Part Three Jan 29, 2021

Continuing our three-part series focusing on the emerging art form of VR Theatre.

Three panels of VR Theatre all-stars join us to talk about acting in, directing, designing, and producing live theatrical production in virtual reality. No Proscenium hosts Noah Nelson & Kathryn Yu are joined by special guest host Stephanie Riggs, with each running one of the panels as they tackle the core questions.

This week's edition looks at the special magic of LIVE.

Segment One

Hosted by Noah Nelson (@noahjnelson)

Dasha Kittredge (@DashaKittredge)
Brandon Powers (@bpowtweets)
Espii Proctor (@espiistudios)

Segment Two

Hosted by Stephanie Riggs (@immersiveriggs)

Brendan A. Bradley (@brendanAbradley)
Tim Kashani (@TimKashani)
Deirdre Lyons (@deirdrelyons)

Segment Three

Hosted by Kathryn Yu (@kathrynyu)

Marinda Botha (@MarindaBotha6)
Beth Kates (@the_play_ground)
Riel Tarr (@raktorxr)

Show Notes

Episode 279: XR Live — Theatre & VR Part One
Episode 280: XR Live – Theatre & VR Part Two
The End of Storytelling: The Future of Narrative in the Storyplex
The NoPro Newsletter
Call Sheet (1/28/21)

This episode is brought to you by our Patreon backers, and well-caffeinated by our friends at Yes Plz coffee.

Episode 280: XR Live – Theatre & VR Part Two Jan 22, 2021

Continuing our three-part series focusing on the emerging art form of VR Theatre.

Three panels of VR Theatre all-stars join us to talk about acting in, directing, designing, and producing live theatrical production in virtual reality. No Proscenium hosts Noah Nelson & Kathryn Yu are joined by special guest host Stephanie Riggs, with each running one of the panels as they tackle the core questions.

This week's edition kicks off with the question: what skills transfer over from traditional theatre into the realm of VR?

Segment One

Hosted by Kathryn Yu (@kathrynyu)

Marinda Botha (@MarindaBotha6)
Beth Kates (@the_play_ground)
Riel Tarr (@raktorxr)

Segment Two Hosted by Noah Nelson (@noahjnelson)

Dasha Kittredge (@DashaKittredge)
Brandon Powers (@bpowtweets)
Espii Proctor (@espiistudios)

Segment Three

Hosted by Stephanie Riggs (@immersiveriggs)

Brendan A. Bradley (@brendanAbradley)
Tim Kashani (@TimKashani)
Deirdre Lyons (@deirdrelyons)

Show Notes

This episode is brought to you by our Patreon backers, and well-caffeinated by our friends (no, really, we have friends!) at Yes Plz coffee.

Episode 279: XR Live - Theatre & VR (Part One) Jan 15, 2021

This week we kick off a three-part series focusing on the emerging art form of VR Theatre.

Three panels of VR Theatre all-stars join us to talk about acting in, directing, designing, and producing live theatrical production in virtual reality. No Proscenium hosts Noah Nelson & Kathryn Yu are joined by special guest host Stephanie Riggs, with each running one of the panels as they tackle the core questions.

This week's edition starts off with the most basic of questions: how do these productions get off the ground?

Segment One

Hosted by Stephanie Riggs (@immersiveriggs)

Brendan A. Bradley (@brendanAbradley)
Tim Kashani (@TimKashani)
Deirdre Lyons (@deirdrelyons)

Segment Two

Hosted by Kathryn Yu (@kathrynyu)

Marinda Botha (@MarindaBotha6)
Beth Kates (@the_play_ground)
Riel Tarr (@raktorxr)

Segment Three Hosted by Noah Nelson (@noahjnelson)

Dasha Kittredge (@DashaKittredge)
Brandon Powers (@bpowtweets)
Espii Proctor (@espiistudios)

Show Notes

Episode 278: Sundance New Frontier 2021 Jan 07, 2021

It's 2021 and the Sundance Film Festival is going where it hasn't gone before: ONLINE.

Helping them get there is the collective wisdom of the New Frontier branch of the Festival, led by Senior Programmer Shari Frilot, which helped launch the VR Renaissance back in 2012 and now is helping shape the online social spaces that will bring festival goers from around the world together on a platform built by Active Theory.

Both Frilot and Active Theory co-founder Michael Anthony join us to talk about this bold new venture for the legendary film festival, as well as this year's exciting line up of work in the New Frontier -- which will inevitably shape the conversation in XR for the year to come.

Tickets go on sale TODAY at NOON Mountain Time.

Episode 277: The 2020 NoPro Awards Dec 18, 2020

Welcome to "The Immies."

The first-ever No Proscenium awards for Outstanding Achievements in Immersive & Experiential Production are hereby unleashed upon the world.

This episode features both our juried awards and the Audience Choice Awards, as presented by members of the NoPro editorial board and staff: Kevin Gossett, Laura Hess, Patrick McLean, Blake Weil, Executive Editor Kathryn Yu, and Publisher Noah Nelson.

The various categories were limited to work that was accessible online, by telephone or post so as to create a somewhat level pool of candidates. Location-based experiences were excluded this year, as they require a regional approach. This is the third and final part of NoPro's Year in Review coverage. For more of the highlights of 2020, including location-based work, and immersive adjacent projects see:

Correction: In the podcast, Taylor Feld, recipient of the award for Outstanding Achievement in Individual Performance 2020, was verbally misgendered. Feld uses they/them pronouns. We regret the error.

Episode 276: 2020 End of Year Journalist's Roundtable Dec 11, 2020

This week Noah and Kathryn are joined by: Kent Bye of the Voices of VR Podcast; Todd Martens of The Los Angeles Times; Alexis Soloski, contributor to The New York Times; and Scott Stein, Editor-At-Large of CNET to talk about their encounters in the immersive world in 2020.

SHOW NOTES

Episode 275: Wolves in the Walls w/Pete Billington of Fable Dec 04, 2020

This week we're honored to have Pete Billington, writer & director of Wolves in the Walls, the VR adaptation of Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean's beloved story as our guest. Pete is one of the co-founders of Fable, which not only created Wolves, but are now pioneering in the realm of virtual beings.

We'll get into how immersive theatre helped him break a creative stalemate, and the exciting experiments in the creative use of artificial intelligence to create virtual characters that can evolve over time.

Show Notes

Episode 274: 5th Wall Forum Nov 26, 2020

Creative technologist and author Stephanie Riggs (“The End of Storytelling: The Future of Narrative in the Storyplex”) joins hosts Noah Nelson and Kathryn Yu to talk about the upcoming 5th Wall Forum, which will bring immersive technologists and theatre-makers together on December 4th & 5th.

Learn more in this week's episode, or cut to the chase and get your application in for the Forum's free Masterclass or Connector before the November 30th deadline.

SHOW NOTES

Episode 273: Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge Nov 20, 2020

Jose Perez III and Alyssa Finley of ILMxLAB join us to talk about Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, the latest release from Lucasfilm's pioneering immersive entertainment studio. The virtual reality experience dropped on the Oculus Quest platform this week, and we take a dive into what the studio has learned about storytelling in the new medium.

Show Notes

Episode 272: Camp Christmas 2020 Nov 13, 2020

Long time friend of the show, and veteran installation designer Lonnie Hanzon, joins us to talk about the 2020 edition of Camp Christmas.

What began as a major holiday installation in Denver has turned into a hybrid digital/at-home activity experience because of our pandemic year.

Nerd out on design challenges, logistics, VR, and the world to come in this very No Proscenium episode of No Proscenium.

Episode 271: After Dark w/ Noah & Kathryn Nov 06, 2020

Host Noah Nelson and NoPro's Executive Editor Kathryn Yu talk magic, Live VR Theatre, and Gather.Town in this chat recorded on Nov. 5th, 2020.

Episode 270: Think Tank Finale/RIP White Jesus Oct 23, 2020

After ten years in DTLA, and after becoming one of the primary hubs of immersive and experiential work in Los Angeles, Think Tank Gallery is leaving DTLA. You know why: COVID-19. But not before one last banger: join us as we talk with Think Tank's Jacob Patterson about the past, present, and future of the gallery... and as we get a special visit from the creator of the last show at Think Tank -- RIP White Jesus -- comedian and filmmaker Hisham Fageeh.

Visit http://thinktank.gallery and scroll to the bottom to follow the newsletter for an invite to RIP White Jesus Virtual Eviction Party

Visit http://serialkillerspeed.dating for their Halloween show for singles (currently M/F and M/M)

Webbed Toes VII: The Last Secret Shadow War! Oct 22, 2020

It's here!

We've come to the end of our Ducktales 2017 Season One journey.

We're mostly shocked at HOW MANY OF YOU joined us. Seriously. This was a fan favorite?

We're going to do more like this, reality pending. But before all that can begin, we have to finish what we've started.

EPISODES DISCUSSED The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck! The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!

The Shadow War! (Parts I & II)

Your assignment for next time:

Get some rest!

Webbed Toes VI: Racecars, Lasers, Areoplanes Oct 20, 2020

It's the penultimate episode of our deep dive into the 2017 Ducktales reboot. This time out we get ever closer to the final mysteries of season one, and learn more than we ever expected to learn about Mrs. Beakley.

EPISODES DISCUSSED

From the Casefiles of Agent 22

Who is Gizmoduck?

The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck

Sky Pirates... in the Sky!

Your assignment for next time:

Finish Season One

Episode 269: All We Have To Fear... Oct 16, 2020

Dragon Productions Theatre Company's Max Koknar, Ariel Aronica, and Jacob Vorperian join us to talk about All We Have To Fear: Party at the End of the World, their new theatre/game hybrid that uses Gather to recreate the experience of an immersive theatre space like the former Speakeasy in San Francisco, along with some tweaks to the system created by the Dragon to add a game layer to the proceedings.

We dive in on the eve of the show's opening. For the curious amongst you: there's a handful of free tickets using the code NOPROFREE that are usable through the end of the month, and a $10 discount NOPRO once those free tickets are gone.

PLUS: early impressions of the Oculus Quest 2. (Check out our unboxing and first impression videos.)

(And yes, this is episode 269, I think I say 268 at the top because I was using the wrong document for the intro!)

Episode 268: 13EXP & Rio Reveals Oct 09, 2020

Mikhael Tara Garver of 13EXP is back, and she's bringing along some friends who are all working on the upcoming RIO REVEALS series, created in collaboration with RIVER LA the new series will extend to both digital and physical experiences about and around the LA River.

Along with Mikhael, we are joined by experiential producer Daniel Penilla, and composers Jonathan Sanford and Amanda Yamate, to talk about the unique project about this most unique of rivers.

Show Notes

Episode 267: Capital W's Fire Season Oct 02, 2020

Climate change was once a hidden crisis, but here in California it has taken the already dangerous time of year known as "fire season" and accelerated it to something apocalyptic in nature.

Writer-performer Monica Miklas and her director-producer Lauren Ludwig – the co-founders of LA's Capital W – join us to talk about Fire Season. This new socially-distanced production projects a collection of Miklas' essays on the nature of change itself via FM radio onto the landscape of the Santa Monica Mountains, which have themselves been touched by flames.

Show Notes

The Everything Immersive Facebook Group

Episode 266: After Dark w/Tara O'Con Sep 26, 2020

Tara O'Con is an experiential artist and transformation coach whose work you may be familiar with as a performer in Third Rail Projects' Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise. Tara's performance in Then She Fell is a key part of our host Noah Nelson's own immersive origin story.

In this After Dark episode, Noah catches up with Tara after her first day on the load out of Then She Fell to talk about the impact of that production on her professional and personal journey.

Note:

Tara is also offering NoPro Listeners a free transformation coaching session where you can talk about navigating big changes, finding clarity and perspective around a particular life challenge, getting unstuck (creatively or otherwise), goal setting, or simply a place for reflection to process the moment.

Episode 265: TeamSpeak - VR Edition Sep 18, 2020

Kathryn Yu, Patrick McLean, and Will Cherry of the NoPro team join host Noah Nelson to talk the news of the week including:

Venice VR Expanded More VR Festivals Pandemic Era Programming

and, burying the lede:

The Oculus Quest 2.

Here. We. Go.

Episode 264: Supernatural Sep 11, 2020

We've been looking forward to this one for a minute: Coach Leanne Pedante and Within's Jonny Ahdout join host Noah Nelson to talk about Supernatural, the VR fitness service that has been keeping us on our toes all summer.

Show Notes

Episode 263 - Area 15 Lands in Vegas Sep 04, 2020

The highly anticipated AREA 15 will open its doors in Las Vegas on September 17th, kicking off a rollout of the immersive entertainment hub that will last into next year and the debut of Meow Wolf Las Vegas aka Omega Mart.

This week, Area 15 CEO Winston Fisher and Chief Creative Officer Michael Beneville join host Noah Nelson to talk about the road that led here and what to expect from Area 15's rollout.

Show Notes

Episode 262: Venice VR Expanded Aug 28, 2020

Liz Rosenthal, co-curator of Venice VR at the Venice International Film Festival with Michel Reilhac, joins host Noah Nelson to talk about the 2020 edition. This year's event is Venice VR Expanded, a hybrid digital/physical exposition of over 40 works in VR -- from 360 film to live theatrical performances -- across a host of venues virtual and physical.

And the best news: if you own a VR headset of just about any stripe, you can experience some of the programming at home as the festival unfolds.

On top of all that: this is just a great conversation.

Venice VR Expanded runs Wed, Sep 2, 2020 — Sat, Sep 12, 2020.

Episode 261: RECON -- Reality Escape Convention Aug 21, 2020

David & Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist join us to talk about THIS WEEKEND'S RECON: Reality Escape Convention.

Original planned out as an in-person event in Boston, they've put in a whole lot of work to raise the bar on the online replacement.

And they're giving it away for FREE.

Aug. 23 & 24. Ten hours a day of programming across the escape game universe.

Episode 260: Remembering 'Then She Fell' Aug 14, 2020

On Monday of this week NYC's Third Rail Projects announced the end of Then She Fell, the seminal immersive production which inspired countless fans and creators, after seven and a half years and 4,444 performances due to the ongoing pandemic.

That night we asked our team to gather in our Discord, along with some friends, to share memories and talk about what the show meant to them.

You can also find our tribute post on the website.

Webbed Toes 5: White Agony of the Only Child Aug 07, 2020

So our already planned bye week nearly got a bit more "bye" to it. The plan was to drop the next installment of Webbed Toes... but when I opened up the files this morning it turns out that Craig, our Discord recording tool, had basically eaten Zay's track up and turned him into a squirrel. Luckily I had been paranoid about Craig that week, and used Audio Hijack to record the session as a backup. Even better: I REMEMBERED that I did that about halfway through writing this post and telling you all we'd have no episode. This time out: our favorite episode of the series so far, some Robotech talk, and the subtle art of subverting musical homages to avoid lawsuits. EPISODES DISCUSSED JAW$ The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains Day of the Only Child Your assignment for next time: From the Casefiles of Agent 22 Who is Gizmoduck? The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck Sky Pirates... in the Sky!

Episode 259: Sean Stewart - Roundabout Jul 31, 2020

Sean Stewart has been a lot of things in his storied career in telling stories. Novelist, LARPwright, actor, theatre tech, and most famously of all: one of the creators of the modern Alternate Reality Game.

Now add "internationally produced playwright" to the list.

Sean and Noah talk about his upcoming interactive play Roundabout, which will be performed by students of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art via Twitch, and the evolving nature of theatre (yes with the "re") in the Pandemic Age.

Show Notes

Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art production of Roundabout

Swings And Roundabouts: Theater Strikes Back - Sean Stewart

NoPro Episode 156 - Sean Stewart & The Birth of the ARG

Episode 258: The One Where We Talk About Twitch, And Other Things Jul 24, 2020

It's an all NoPro team episode. Executive editor Kathryn Yu, NYC curator Blake Weil, and LA correspondent Laura Hess join host Noah Nelson to talk about their latest immersive adventures, and what separates theatre from TV in the Pandemic Age.

Episode 257: Little Cinema DIGITAL Jul 17, 2020

Jay Rinsky, the founder, CEO, and creative director of the NYC based Little Cinema is back on the show to talk about the arrival of Little Cinema Digital. This new venture from the production company has seen the theatre professionals pivot into creating a video platform of their own.

They've been using it to host premiere parties for television shows, complete with online versions of the elaborate, immersive afterparties Little Cinema is known for. This weekend the public will get a taste with Who Killed Alejandro Valdez? - a free fan event that celebrates the launch of the second season of TNT's The Alienist with a murder mystery party that shows off Little Cinema's fantastic new platform.

Episode 256 - The Under Presents: Tempest Jul 10, 2020

This week Tender Claws co-founder Samantha Gorman returns to talk about the latest evolution of The Under Presents: an expansion that takes the form of a live-actor driven participatory production of Shakespeare's Tempest.

Along for the ride are producer and assistant director Eli Bork, and actor Kelley Pierre - who some members of our LA audience may recognize from her live-action immersive work.

Show Notes Distant Shores, Locally Sourced. At Home With ‘The Under Presents: Tempest’ (First Impressions)

I Scream. You Scream. The Meltdown At The Museum Of Ice Cream

We See You White American Theatre (Demands)

Webbed Toes: The DuckTales Footnotes - "Impossibly: The Spear of Selene" Jul 10, 2020

Our side-track podcast covering the 2017 DuckTales reboot returns with Zay and Noah.

This time out: The Living Mummies of Toth-RA The Impossible Summit of Mount Neverest & The Spear of Selene

Content Advisory: starting at around 53 minutes we discuss the evidence of mental abuse and sexual coercion perpetrated by comic book writer Warren Ellis. It had bubbled up on social media the day that we’re recording. It makes sense in context, and I’d even argue that to not bring it up would have been more inappropriate given the context. However, I know that it’s not a topic you’d expect in a conversation about what is, ostensibly, a kids' TV show. The discussion lasts until around 1hour and 12 minutes.

Episode 255: The Telelibrary Jul 03, 2020

Virtual spaces can exist without VR headsets, and they can truly be wonders. This is an episode about one such space.

Yannick Trapman-O'Brien, creator of The Telelibrary joins us to talk about how getting stuck traveling in the pandemic and a whole lot of phone calls contributed to the development of his unique creation.

Episode 254: Like Real People Do: Long Distance Relationships Division Jun 26, 2020

Linked Dance Theatre's Kendra Slack and Jordan Chlapecka join us to talk about Like Real People Do: Long Distance Relationships Division, the online edition of their dance-theatre series that explores relationships and memories. Blending character-based interactions, filmmaking, and site-responsive dance, this latest entry in the series overcomes the limits of online video to create a world that's equal parts whimsical and bittersweet.

Episode 253: Eschaton Jun 19, 2020

Brittany Blum and Taylor Myers, two of the creators of Saturday night's hottest ticket -- Eschaton -- join us to share how the project came to be and what they've learned about translating an immersive nightclub into a mysterious web-based phenomenon.

Episode 252: The One With The 2020 Industry Report Jun 12, 2020

Ricky Brigante and Sarah A.S. Elger, authors of the 2020 Immersive Entertainment Industry Annual Report, join us to talk about some of the big takeaways from this year's edition -- which is four times the size of the 2019 Report.

Show Notes

The 2020 Immersive Entertainment Industry Annual Report

Pseudonym Productions (Brigante and Elger's production company)

Everything Immersive - our new, searchable event website, now in PUBLIC BETA

Identifying airborne transmission as the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19 (Research Article - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)

Episode 251: David Liu May 29, 2020

A few weeks back David Liu -- Creative Director at AFVR.co, a virtual reality consulting firm, and formerly the Creative Director of Viacom Next and recently with the volumetric capture company The Lightframe Co. in NYC -- who tweets under the handle TheDak posted an interesting thread-- which David now refers to as “that thread” about the state of hiring practices in XR.

David and I are Twitter friends. I like the cut of his jib. He’s got a ton of experience, and he champions the multi-disciplinary approach to team building in XR, the most tech-heavy part of the overall immersive entertainment industry.

We start out on the thread, but this is No Proscenium, so we go all over the place. Especially because David and I have never really chatted before. I love it when these kidneys of episodes work out. I do, however, talk too much. Shock.

Plus: a few words about the current cultural moment(s) we find ourselves in at the top of the show from yours truly. -Noah J. Nelson

Webbed Toes: The DuckTales Footnotes - "House of Beaks" May 27, 2020

This time out Zay and Noah discuss three episodes of the 2017 DuckTales reboot. TERROR OF THE TERRA FIRMIANS, HOUSE OF THE LUCKY GANDER, and THE INFERNAL INTERNSHIP OF MARK BEAKS are all covered along with the show's views on billionaires and a side trip into Jerry Garcia's favorite movie.

It's the show about DuckTales, that's not really a show about DuckTales.

Except when it is.

Webbed Toes: The DuckTales Footnotes - "Come Out & Play" May 27, 2020

Continuing our miniseries where Zay Amsbury and Noah Nelson talk about the 2017 DuckTales, this edition covers the episodes "The Great Dime Chase" and "The Beagle Birthday Massacre," the movie Ben-Hur, Hollywood writers' obsession with subverting expectations vs. classical storytelling, and beer.

Get yourself comfy, we’re gonna be here a while…

Webbed Toes: The DuckTales Footnotes - "Woo-oo of Doom!" May 27, 2020

Welcome to a special miniseries from the creators of No Proscenium.

This is Webbed Toes: The DuckTales Footnotes, a show that is, ostensibly, about the 2017 DuckTales reboot. Only it's really about storytelling, character, and the grand sweep of pop culture.

Annnnd racecars, lasers, areoplanes.

This episode of the miniseries covers the pilot "Woo-oo!" (which for some reason is episodes 4 & 5 on Disney+, if you're watching along) and "Daytrip of Doom!"

EPISODE 250 May 22, 2020

250 Episodes.

Five years.

Our biggest show ever.

Come celebrate with us with returning guests Anthony Robinson, Bryan Bishop, David & Lisa Spira, Juliet Bennett Rylah, Kathryn Yu, Kevin Gossett, Ricky Brigante, and Zay Amsbury across three segments. Plus: some announcements about the next evolution of No Proscenium and Everything Immersive.

Segment One (The Now) --- 6:34 -- 1:19:04

Kathryn Yu
Juliet Bennet Rylah
Ricky Brigante

Segment Two (The Future) --- 1:23:23 -- 2:15:51

Kathryn Yu
Kevin Gossett
David & Lisa Spira

Segment Three (After Dark) --- 2:21:52 -- 3:47:40

Anthony Robinson
Zay Amsbury
Bryan Bishop

Episode 249: Sinking Ship Creations' Phone Adventures May 15, 2020

Writer Betsy Isaacson and performer/sound designer Jennifer Suter of Sinking Ship Creations join us to discuss the LARP focused company's foray into phone-based interactive adventures.

Episode 248: Arcana May 08, 2020

Producer Mali Elfman and puzzle/path designer Tommy Honton join us to talk about Arcana, the new ARG from the creators of All of Them Witches, the 2019 Overlook Film Festival Game.

There's an all-star LA immersive team behind these projects, and we get into how they came together, and why they're working on a new piece in the middle of this pandemic.

Show Notes

All of Them Witches’ (A NoPro Adventure)

Episode 247: Within Earshot: Anthems For The In-Between May 01, 2020

This week, we're joined by Jackson Teeley, Sarah Galante, and Dan Barron, the creative team behind the upcoming musical Within Earshot: Anthems For The In-Between, which is set in a New York City coffee house on "Single's Awareness Day" aka Feb. 15th. Plotted out as an immersive piece, the creative team finds themselves tackling unexpected challenges in the wake of the pandemic. This conversation begins our look at the evolution of the project.

Show Notes

Within Earshot: Anthems For The In-Between

Concept Album (Spotify)

Concept Album (Apple Music) The Supernatural Diaries Week One

The Newman Design Process Squiggle ★

Episode 246: Maxwell Planck of Adventure Lab Apr 25, 2020

The last time we spoke with Adventure Lab CEO Maxwell Planck it was about Siggraph 2019. Now he's back to discuss his own work, the upcoming -- and totally awesome -- Dr. Crumb's School for Disobedient Pets.

We get into that and the odd place that VR finds itself in at this moment: ready for all kinds of new experiences.

Episode 245: Soundself and Technodelics w/ Robin Arnott & Lyle Maxson Apr 17, 2020

I've been tracking Robin Arnott's SoundSelf for forever. Now, after taking a variety of forms, the experience -- which Arnott calls a technodelic -- is coming home in both VR and PCs.

We catch up with Arnott, who formed the company Andromeda Entertainment to explore transformational experiences, and Andromeda's Chief Strategy Officer Lyle Maxson to talk about the upcoming release of SoundSelf, technodelics, adventures in mind expansion in the Oregon forest, and the strange landscape experiential work finds itself in now. Show Notes Robin Arnott's The Technodelic Manifesto

The Coronation - Charles Eisenstein Immersive for 'Indoor Kids' Vol 5.: Where The Audience Is

Episode 244: Mikhael Tara Garver is HERE (The AMA) Apr 10, 2020

Originally scheduled as the Horizon keynote speaker for the second day of the HERE Summit, Mikhael Tara Garver is the Head of Experiential Entertainment for Category 41, a "global experience company that creates, incubates and syndicates location-based experiences."

She's also a long time friend of the show and one of the few people whose careers in immersive & experiential has stretched long and wide enough to gain true perspective on this always-changing domain.

In lieu of the speech, we took to the HERE Discord on March 28th and opened the floor up for an Ask Me Anything session. This is the result.

Episode 243: Sarah Ellis of the Royal Shakespeare Company Apr 04, 2020

Sarah Ellis, Director of Digital Development for the Royal Shakespeare Company, was originally scheduled as one of our featured speakers at the HERE Summit.

Since we're all on lockdown, Sarah joined us on the HERE Discord to talk about the innovative immersive work that the RSC has been exploring of late, and discusses how the current crisis is shaping some of the thinking the RSC has around digital and physical immersive projects.

Plus: thanks to the show being recorded via Discord, we take questions from the audience live on air. You can get in on that action in the future by becoming a backer of the NoPro Patreon.

Looking for immersive to explore from home? Check out Now Playing: Immersive for 'Indoor Kids' and Indoor Kids Vol. 3: Games Galore, both mentioned today on the 'cast.

Episode 242: Shawn Taylor Mar 27, 2020

Story Engineer Shawn Taylor, a founding author of www.thenerdsofcolor.org, and a founding organizer of the Black Comix Arts Festival, first hit my radar at the 2019 IDS thanks to Mikhael Tara Garver. Shawn brought a perspective that was rooted in pluralism and the power of story to move people to action... and at that moment I knew I had to get him on the show/get him back on our stage. Well, 2020 is being all 2020, so the chance to get him on the stage was taken from us for now, but we still find a way via the newly minted HERE Discord. Post Show Notes: Recommended Reading/Viewing from Shawn Books Hero With An African Face - Clyde W. Ford Rabbit in the Face of the Moon - Alfredo Lopez Austine Oven Ready Chaos - Phil Hine Film The Last Angel of History - John Akomfrah

Episode 241: The One Where The Gang Tries Discord Mar 20, 2020

It's an all-Everything Immersive episode with two segments.

Noah and Kathryn are in both, and for round one are joined by Ricky Brigante (Pseudonym Productions), David Spira (Room Escape Artist), and No Pro's VR correspondent Will Cherry.

For round two we change teams and No Pro team members Cara Mandel and Anthony Robinson join us.

It's kinda like an After Dark episode, but not. Everything is on the table this time out. Recorded in front of a "live" Discord audience.

Content Advisory: cursing, and a discussion of different content delivery platforms that, indeed, mentions porn. Hey: it's the Internet. Show Notes: Now Playing: Immersive For 'Indoor Kids' Cara Mandel’s Indoor Kids Activity Guide The NoPro Slack (gateway to the HERE Discord) LEIA Relief Fund for Artists

The NoPro Patreon

Episode 240: We'll get tHERE Mar 13, 2020

A special, host only, edition of the podcast that addresses both the postponement of the HERE Summit & Festival and our craft's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Show notes: COVID-19 & Freelance Artists (h/t to Michael Jung for sharing on FB.)

Sorry for the rambling nature, it's been a WEEK, y'all.

Episode 239: Everyone Agrees It's About To Explode Mar 06, 2020

We talk with actor Katie Peabody and actor/Ceaseless Fun company member Scott Monahan about the upcoming Everyone Agrees It's About To Explode, the new immersive show from Ceaseless Fun (Agnosia, Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Regan) set inside a cell of revolutionary activists. The show opens March 12th in LA.

Episode 238: DTLA's Alamo Drafthouse Goes Immersive Feb 28, 2020

Film fans know the Alamo Drafthouse, the Austin theater chain which has set the bar for transforming the experience of going to the movies.

For years Los Angeles anticipated the arrival of the Drafthouse, and it seems to have been well worth the wait. From rowdy screenings of CATS which have since swept the nation to full-on ARGs there's something special happening at the DTLA Drafthouse. Host Noah Nelson talks with Ash Minnick, who handles the programming inside the Video Vortex, which we've come to think of as "LA's neighborhood movie bar" on the eve of their immersive EMMA. tea party.

Plus: you can check out the HERE Programming Guide.

Episode 237: Jessica Creane of IKantKoan Games Feb 21, 2020

NoPro's Executive Editor Kathryn Yu speaks to multi-hyphenate artist Jessica Creane of IKantKoan Games, the creator of immersive shows such as Chaos Theory and Know Thyself.

They discuss the collision of theatre and games, audience agency, designing for meaningful choice, what keeps her going as an artist, creating safe spaces using immersive theatre, how her work bleeds into everyday life, as well as (spoiler) the time she cut off all her hair in front of a live audience. Catch Jessica as Dr. Genevieve Saoch in Chaos Theory at Caveat in New York City on March 5, April 2, and May 7.

Episode 236: 20 Years of Survivor Feb 14, 2020

NoPro's own Anthony Robinson (Survivor: Fiji) is joined by Peih-Gee Law (Survivor: China and Survivor: Cambodia) and Room Escape Artist's David Spira to talk about the 20th anniversary of the reality show, escape games, and more.

Show Notes:

The 2020 Immersive Design Industry Survey

Episode 235: Exploring the New Frontier - Sundance 2020 Feb 07, 2020

Last week we were fortunate enough to have two of our staff at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, exploring all the XR goodies at the New Frontier.

XR correspondent Will Cherry and our host Noah Nelson trade notes on a very exciting class of 2020. The verdict: VR storytelling is maturing rapidly alongside the tech, thanks to pieces like The Book of Distance, Scarecrow, Atomu, and All Kinds of Limbo.

Episode 234: Yuval Sharon of The Industry Jan 31, 2020

This week Yuval Sharon, Artistic Director of The Industry and co-director of that company's upcoming opera Sweet Land, joins host Noah Nelson to talk about his approach to making opera. Yuval has created the seminal works Invisible Cities and Hopscotch here in Los Angeles, propelling the conversation about how audiences engage with opera forward and raising the bar for immersive creators of every stripe.

Episode 233: Mister & Mischief Escape From Godot Jan 24, 2020

We first met Jeff and Andy Crocker at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2018, where their piece Escape From Godot turned the festival on its ear for a whole day, only to fade into the night. Since then Escape... has popped up at Indiecade, the Denver Film Fest, and will soon be a featured selection of the HERE Summit & Festival in Pasadena this March.

Host Noah Nelson talks with Jeff & Andy, aka Mister and Mischief, and Escape... and their new work The Builder and the Dove.

Episode 232: Cross Roads Escape Games Jan 17, 2020

Luke and Madison Rhodes of Cross Roads Escape Games join us to talk about how these horror-loving theatre kids wound up running one of the most innovative and immersive escape game companies in Southern California. Join host Noah Nelson as we talk about their smash debut hit The Hex Room, the game-changing The Psych Ward, and the 2019's pop-up theatre piece The Seance.

Plus: some updates on the HERE Summit & Festival.

Episode 231: EOY 2019/Kickoff 2020 Parts III-V Jan 10, 2020

The second half of our end of the year/beginning of the year roundtable with Anthony, Kathryn, Kevin, beer, and Noah.

Plus: the latest programming announcement from the HERE Summit & Festival, taking place March 27-29 in Pasadena, CA.

Beer Notes:

Enegren Belgian Dark Strong Ale 5th Anniversary edition. (Moorpark, CA)

Bruery Terreux's Tart of Darkness (2016, Placentia, CA -- we get this one wrong!)

Brewery Ommegang Valar Morghulis Dubble Ale (Cooperstown, NY)

WARNING: there is cursing because there is drinking.

Episode 230: Goodbye, 2019, Hello 2020 Parts I & II Jan 03, 2020

This week the team gets together for the first time in a long while, and then we add beer and whiskey to the mix and…

Anyway, join Noah, Anthony, Kathryn, and Kevin for the first of four parts. Then Blake gets added to the mix.

We’ll be dropping parts III & IV next week on the main feed, and a special Rise of Skywalker bonus episode with Zay and Noah into the Patreon feed (but open to all) over the weekend.

Take a break from the chaos of the world and return to earlier in the week, when life was simple!

ADVISORY: swears, probably. We were drinking.

Episode 229 - Odyssey Works Dec 24, 2019

This week we've got a special episode as Michaela Holland (NoPro NYC social correspondent) guest hosts a conversation with Abraham Burickson of Odyssey Works.

Michaela has attended the company's Master Classes in the past, and she and Abraham talk about that and dive into the ideas that drive the company, which has been making cutting edge work since 2001.

Speaking of: the deadline for the call participants for the next Odyssey is Jan. 5th, 2020.

Episode 228: The Under Presents Dec 20, 2019

Get ready to get weird as we touch base with the team behind 'The Under Presents,' the groundbreaking virtual reality experience that takes immersive theatre techniques and applies them to VR storytelling... and then layers in an experience with live actors dropping into the virtual world on top of that.

Samantha Gorman and Tanya Leal Soto of Tender Claws join us, along with actor James Cowan, one of the performers currently appearing inside The Under.

Plus: a little talk about California's AB5.

Episode 227: American Contemporary Ballet's Lincoln Jones Dec 13, 2019

This month I had the pleasure of checking out American Contemporary Ballet's take on The Nutcracker Suite -- the perennial holiday favorite -- which they frame with an immersive twist.

Interested in what I saw, and in the company's approach to using immersive techniques for a more traditionally tuned audience, I caught up with ACB's Artistic Director and Choreographer Lincoln Jones.

Plus: word on your chance to check out ILMxLAB's Lightsaber Dojo without needing an Oculus Quest of your own.

Episode 226: Crimson Cabaret Dec 06, 2019

Director Lola Kelly joins us to talk about her new work with The Unmarked Door -- 'Crimson Cabaret' -- which invites guests into a den of spies at the height of the cold war. With original songs by The Unmarked Door founder Rolfe Kent, and puzzles woven into the show by MOON/SHINE Experiential, the cabaret is an unexpected holiday treat for Los Angeles.

Join us for a talk about the show and the art of acting and directing for immersive.

Episode 225: 'Jumanji: Reverse the Curse' w/ Curtis Hickman & Jake Zim Nov 27, 2019

We've wanted to get Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer of The VOID, on the podcast forever. This time out we finally get him, and we get Jake Zim -- Senior Vice President, Virtual Reality at Sony Pictures -- as part of a twofer. We talk about Sony and The Void's longstanding collaboration, the latest example of which is 'Jumanji: Reverse The Curse,' which is the most fun I've had at The VOID yet.

Plus: we tease ticket info for the HERE Summit, but you can just click here to read it. And while you're at it: check out our 'Jumanji' review and the NoPro Holiday Gift Guide.

Episode 224: ILMxLAB on Vader Immortal Ep. III Nov 22, 2019

How did we get so lucky? Last week we sat down with Ben Snow (director of 'Vader Immortal'), Alyssa Finley (producer Ep. II and III), and John Nguyen (design director, Ep. III) of the ILMxLAB and Colum Slevin head of media in the AR/VR experiences team at Oculus to talk about Vader Immortal Episode III, the final chapter of the series.

We dig into what the team has learned across the arc of three episodes, and so much more.

Plus: two Noah rants. Woof.

Show Notes

- My review of Vader Immortal Episode III

- Will Cherry's review of The Under Presents

- Our bonus episode with Edward Saatchi of Fable Studio on Virtual Beings

- And Ari Herstand's article about how California's new freelance laws are going to hurt independent musicians.

Episode 223: Sam Dubois of The Avenue Adventure Nov 15, 2019

This week on the show we travel up to CalArts and talk with Sam Dubois, the creator of Albany CA's The Avenue Adventure. Sam, now a sophomore at the University, got his start by creating the Albany Haunt when he was 12-years-old. He then ran it for five years.

The Avenue Adventure was Sam's first crack at an Alternate Reality Game, and he managed to get the local Chamber of Commerce signed on. Look, what I'm saying to you is this: the next generation of immersive creators are here and they are going to run laps around everybody. Let's gooooo.

Episode 222: Safehouse '82 with Nick Rheinwald-Jones & Katelyn Schiller Nov 08, 2019

Nick Rheinwald-Jones & Katelyn Schiller are the co-writers of 'Safehouse '82,' a spy thriller that follows up on Rheinwald-Jones' 'Safehouse '77' which featured the two as actors.

Since that show Schiller has become co-artistic director of the company Rheinwald-Jones founded, with the pair collaborating on this summer's 'The Pod' at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

We talked with the co-writers on the eve of the opening of the new show, at the safehouse itself in an undisclosed location in the shadow of Griffith Park.

Note: there be cursing ahead.

Plus: a note about how tickets to next year's HERE Summit are going to work.

Episode 221: Bernie Su, co-creator of 'Artificial' Nov 01, 2019

Bernie Su is the multiple Emmy winning showrunner, co-creator, and executive producer of 'Artificial,' the first scripted narrative series on Twitch which also won Twitch its first Emmy.

Bernie's been at this for a while, with 'The Lizzie Bennet Diaries' being one of the seminal works of the transmedia age.

As live immersive and interactive creators look to expanding their work across mediums -- just check out our last podcast episode for an example -- we thought it would be a good time to check in on how the parallel track of online interactive storytelling has matured in the last half-decade.

Plus: updates on our Patreon campaign and on the HERE Summit in 2020.

Episode 220: The G8B4's keight leighn & Elisabeth Stranathan Oct 25, 2019

As individual performers keight leighn (bedrumplai, snow fridge) and Elisabeth Stranathan (blackout, bedrumplaii)have an otherworldly intensity to them, as if they existed both in our reality and in a metareality just two steps to the left of our own.

Together they form the G8B4 -- which so far specializes in one on one experiences for audiences in person and online.

, their current offering, puts the audience into the role of a cheating spouse whose fling comes back for revenge. The whole thing plays out via email and Instagram's video messaging, creating a campy emotional thrill ride that can be experienced wherever you are.

Show Notes: The rules for our Dismember The Alamo contest.

Episode 219: Alex Demers Oct 18, 2019

Actor Alex Demers (The Johnny Cycle: The Living, The Blue Blade) joins us to talk about the craft of acting in immersive and his own journey into the immersive field.

Plus: a big update on the 2020 Summit, as in DATES, LOCATION, and NAME and some notes on a new musical in LA -- CAGES.

Bonus Episode: "Avengers: Damage Control" Oct 15, 2019

Dave Bushore of Marvel Studios and Ian Bowie & Michael Koperwas of ILMxLAB join us to talk about 'Avengers: Damage Control' the all-new collaboration between their companies and The VOID.

The VR adventure is the biggest yet to hit The VOID's hyper-reality centers, and it puts you in the role of new recruits who must take the latest Wakandan/Stark tech and use it to help the post-Endgame Avengers defeat a resurgent evil.

Read our review.

Episode 218: Julia Henning of The Halogen Company Oct 11, 2019

Julia Henning, founder of The Halogen Company, is a familiar presence on the LA immersive scene. As an actor, she's performed with Just Fix It Productions (Haus of Creep), The Speakeasy Society (Johnny III), and in Darren Lynn Bousman's Lust Experience and Theatre Macabre.

As Creative Director of Halogen, she's taken the company into both traditional and immersive endeavors, with One Exit, and the planned Sea of Odds.

Show Notes: Inside Immersive: Haus of Creep (video)

Episode 217: After Dark w/ Ricky Brigante of Pseudonym Productions Oct 04, 2019

Last week, at VIFF Immersed, Ricky Brigante of Pseudonym Productions gave the opening keynote and our own Noah Nelson moderated the closing panel with the competition judges.

So naturally, the night before, Ricky and Noah stayed up drinking and talking, and recorded it all for you. This after the back and forth of first Noah’s and then Ricky’s column on growing the audience for immersive.

Recorded live in an awesome hotel room that the Vancouver Film Festival was kind enough to provide us with. East Coast meets West Coast all the way up in British Columbia!

Plus: an update on Pseudonym's Dark Passage, a quick check-in on 2020 Summit plans, head's up on our Delusion Talk Back, and a brief shout out to the brilliant folks at Cross Roads Escape Games. All this brought to you by our Patreon backers.

Episode 216: Eric Gradman of Two Bit Circus Sep 27, 2019

Eric Gradman, CTO and Mad Inventor at LA's Two Bit Circus meets up with Noah at their DTLA headquarters to talk about the technical side of immersive and their all-new story room Dr. Botcher's Minute Medical School.

Head's up: there's cursing.

Show Notes:

This week's Picks of the Week

Bonus Episode - Everything Else: Survivor Sep 25, 2019

Survivor: China and Survivor: Cambodia — Second Chance player Peih-Gee Law joins NoPro's Anthony Robinson (Survivor: Fiji) and Room Escape Artist's David Spira for a talk about how Survivor is the ultimate immersive experience for its players, and their shared love of escape games and puzzles.

All to celebrate the premiere of Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Originally scheduled as part of our Everything Else livestream series, this bonus episode heralds the beginning of new podcast programming initiatives.

Episode 215: John Henningsen of Thymele Arts Sep 20, 2019

John Henningsen, Artistic Director of LA's Thymele Arts sits down to talk with Noah about just what the performing arts incubator in East Hollywood is, its role in the immersive world, and the future of immersive in LA.

Note: John very graciously gives us a desk in the co-working space free of charge, but that's not why we're talking to him. We're talking to him because he and Thymele are an integral part of LA's immersive scene.

SHOW NOTES

Those Who Play: Notes on Building An Immersive Audience

Those Who Watch: Rediscovering the Alternate Reality Game Show

Delusion: Alt-Delete - Preview Discount Codes & Talk Back

VIFF Immersed

Episode 214: Koryn Ann Wicks Sep 13, 2019

Choreographer Koryn Ann Wicks stops by the studio to talk about her work exploring immersive in dance. Her I Love You So Much, SQUEEZE ME TO DEATH is getting a remount at the Bootleg Theater this October in LA, and her and her team recently took home the grand prize of the LA Immersive Invitational for their work CASTING.

We dive in on the language of dance and immersive in this one.

Show NotesOur review of I Love You So Much, SQUEEZE ME TO DEATHI Love You So Much, SQUEEZE ME TO DEATH fundraiser Daqri shutting down Venice VR: These Sleepless NightsKoryn's Instagram #bedrUmplaII(2) — [[bedroom play 2]]

Episode 213: Graham Wetterhahn of After Hours Theatre Company Sep 06, 2019

Graham Wetterhahn, Founder of After Hours Theatre Company (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience) joins host Noah Nelson to talk about the founding of the company, their immersive-adjacent work, and the first LA Immersive Invitational -- which was a total blast.

Show Notes: The 2019 Immersive Design Summit videos are here! Denver Immersive Retrospectacle highlights! Talking Spies with Nick Rheinwald-Jones. E.I. livestream on pop-ups. And bookmark next week's livestream on the stories of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge with Jeff Heimbuch (Horrorbuzz), Emmett Fuery (D&D, Ingress), and Anthony and Noah of NoPro.

And as always: help us by reviewing the podcast, sharing the work, and pledging on Patreon (if you can).

Episode 212: Blackout - Josh Randall Aug 30, 2019

The co-creator of Blackout Haunted House, Josh Randall, joins host Noah Nelson to talk about the storied show -- which has inspired many others in the horror genre -- and his storied career.

"Each and every conversation I've ever had with Josh has challenged how I see our field, and this is no exception. I look forward to years more of them." -Noah

Check out Blackout's Kickstarter.

Show Notes: VIFF: These Sleepless Nights, NYFF: Convergence, Delusion: Alt-Delete, Haus of Creep, Without Walls Festival

Episode 211: Pranks, Dreams, Cocktails -- Bar of Dreams Los Angeles Aug 24, 2019

This week Jonathan Pedigo and Alex Leff, the co-creators of Bar of Dreams Los Angeles, join host Noah Nelson to talk about pranks, comedy, and creating interactive experiences. It's a fun conversation that goes in directions you don't quite expect.

Plus: we check in with Scout Expedition Company about The Nest, the tickets for which went ON SALE today! And there are LIMITED DATES available already.

Note: while the interview with Jeff & Jarret of Scout is squeaky clean, there's some explicit language in the Bar of Dreams interview, which starts about 19 minutes in.

Episode 210: Nothing Cheezy Aug 16, 2019

Jacob Patterson of Think Tank Gallery and Bobby of the Pizzaboyzzz join us as we visit the Tank at the edge of the Arts District in DTLA.

The current show is Nothing Cheezy, a pizza-themed collaborative art show that acts as both a parody of the ubiquitous "selfie palaces" and, well, it's also a selfie palace. The show has been extended through mid-September and features special events pretty much every night for the price of admission.

Get ready for a freewheeling discussion about street art, selfie palaces, and the often complicated relationship between the two.

Plus: we announce a special auction of a pair of invitations to The College of Extraordinary Experiences, that has a shot at powering us through the end of the year.

Content Advisory: strong language and sensitive subject matter. Listener discretion is advised.

Episode 209 - SIGGRAPH 2019 Triptych Aug 09, 2019

Three interviews from the floor of the world's biggest computer graphics conference that explore the state of the art of immersive tech: From Magic Leap Studios, Dan Lehrich VP of Production; the CEO of Glassbox Technologies, Norman Wang; and the Chief Creative and GM of Intel Studios, Diego Prilusky.

Augmented reality, virtual production, and volumetric filmmaking are our topics of the day, so get ready to go into the future on this episode of the NoPro Podcast.

Want to keep the show going? Join our Patreon.

Show Notes: the interview with Meow Wolf's Caity Kennedy that I mentioned.

Episode 208: Matthew Webb of Jackalope Live Action Studios Aug 02, 2019

Jackalope Live Action Studio's Matthew Webb rejoins us to talk about their latest forays into making blockbuster LARPs. We talk Night City, their Cyberpunk 2020/2077 game (check out some awesome photos of the event along with us at the top of the show), and the revamp of The Night In Question, the Studio's successful Vampire: The Masquerade game which has led to their announcement at GenCon this week of The Elysium Chronicles, a serialized immersive LARP launching in 2020.

For more from Matthew, including an in-depth discussion on blockbuster LARP and the state of the art, check out Episode 149 of the podcast.

Episode 207 -- Linked Dance Theatre’s Remembrance Jul 26, 2019

Kathryn Yu sits down with Jordan Chlapecka and Kendra Slack of Linked Dance Theatre to talk about Remembrance, their 11th site-specific, immersive show coming soon to a historic house on Governors Island in NYC. In Remembrance, audiences will have the ability to explore the fading memories of a woman with Alzheimer's Disease as they enter her home as guests during her 65th birthday party.

The three discuss the company's approach to blending movement, text, and live music; what they’ve learned throughout their journey; the illusion of audience agency versus actual agency; their approach to narrative, on-boarding, and casting the audience; what it's like to make their first sandbox show; the power of immersive theatre to connect; using immersive to explore social issues; and their Kickstarter campaign for Remembrance.

Plus: a bonus lightning round where Kathryn forces Jordan and Kendra to choose their favorite children.

Episode 206: Dan Rutstein of Laduma Jul 19, 2019

Join host Noah Nelson and guest Dan Rutstein, president of immersive technology company Laduma, as they talk about the current frontier of immersive tech.

Episode 205 - Sarah Elger and Ricky Brigante of Pseudonym Productions Jul 12, 2019

Kathryn Yu sits down without Ricky Brigante and Sarah Elger of Pseudonym Productions who have recently moved their immersive theatre company from Orlando to Philadelphia. The three of them have a wide-ranging conversation about Sarah's background in architecture and theme park design and Ricky's background in theme park journalism, the forming of their immersive theatre company, creating their first show, running an immersive theatre business in a place like Orlando, their recent experience going through the Creative Startups accelerator program, the future and impact of immersive design as a field, as well as their thoughts on Disney’s influence on immersive, including the brand new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Read Interactive, Intimate, Experimental: The Impact of Immersive Design 2019 by Ricky Brigante [PDF].

Episode 204 -- NYC After Dark - Summer 2019 Jun 28, 2019

Managing Editor Kathryn Yu is joined by members of the NYC team --Allie Marotta, Asya Gorovits, Blake Weil, and Cheyenne Ligon -- to talk about what they've been seeing and what's on their minds: including the Great Gotham Challenge, which had some issues.

Episode 203: Overlook Double Feature Jun 21, 2019

Continuing our 2019 Overlook Film Festival coverage, we sit down with two of the creators of the fest's immersive offerings. First up is Ava Lee Scott, the veteran immersive performer, who crafted Home of Enchantments -- a piece that blew everyone who saw it away.

Then we check in with Andrew Preble of Delaport Ventures, the creator of Saintsbone, and the internationally known 'Escape My Room' in New Orleans.

That's right: it's a double feature show.

Advisory: some explicit language.

Episode 202: Robin Arnott, CEO of Andromeda Entertainment Jun 14, 2019

I first met Robin Arnott, CEO of Andromeda Entertainment, at E3 many moons ago when he was showing an audio-based thriller game Deep Sea at the Indiecade booth. It was a true oddity -- a video game without video -- an immersive experience before we were throwing that term around as we now do. In the years since Robin and I have crossed paths on his home turf of Austin -- when I was working a story on indie games for NPR -- at GDC, and Indiecade. In my mind he's always been one of the "weird art kids" making games in the space beyond the horizon.

So it was a shock when I was at an event months ago and learned that he had become the CEO of a start-up that was looking to redefine just what games could be. Robin? A CEO?

Get ready for an adventure as we catch up, road trip style, from the heart of DTLA to the Hollywood Hills -- and from Austin's indie game scene to the philosophical frontier.

Episode 201 - Overlooking All of Them Witches w/ Cara & Noah Jun 07, 2019

Join NoPro's Senior AV Content Producer/Festival Correspondent Cara Mandel and Founder Noah Nelson as they trade notes on the 2019 Overlook Film Festival Game All of Them Witches, plus some notes on the festival's other immersive offerings.

Episode 200 - Just Us May 31, 2019

Two. Hundred. Episodes.

Two hundred.

So how do we celebrate? By getting the gang together -- that being the senior editors -- Kathryn Yu, Anthony Robinson, Jessica Lachenal, and Kevin Gossett together to just chat.

Here's to 200 more.

Episode 199: Looking Ahead to SIGGRAPH 2019 May 25, 2019

Spoiler Warning: elements of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge discussed in the open and close.

Host Noah Nelson talks with Victoria Rege conference chair for AR/MR/VR and Maxwell Planck, VR Theatre Director for Siggraph 2019 about upcoming immersive elements at the world's premier entertainment technology conference, which returns to LA July 28 - August 1.

Show notes: Otherworld interview, The Why interview. The NoPro Patreon.

Episode 198 - Candle House Collective sings a 'moonlight serenade' May 17, 2019

NoPro managing editor Kathryn Yu sits down with Evan Neiden, the creator behind Candle House Collective. The group has been creating ephemeral immersive experiences -- usually for an audience of one -- both in-person and remotely.

Episode 197: Vader Immortal May 09, 2019

We visit Facebook's LA campus to talk with the team behind Vader Immortal, the launch title for the Oculus Quest that finds you captured by the Dark Lord of the Sith and set on a task only you can accomplish. Director Ben Snow, narrative designer Mohen Leo ILMxLAB and Oculus' Colum Slevin (Head of Media, AR/VR Experiences at Facebook) join us to talk about the brand new adventure which debuts this month.

Plus: host Noah Nelson's hands-on impressions of Vader Immortal and the Oculus Quest.

Read our review of Vader Immortal on the NoPro site.

Episode 196: Tribeca immersive Triptych May 03, 2019

NoPro Executive Editor Kathryn Yu speaks to creators at the Tribeca Film Festival, exploring three different pieces currently showcasing at the Virtual Arcade through May 4.

She sits down with Kevin Cornish of Moth + Flame to talk about 2nd Civil War, where participants have the power to change the narrative of the VR film using a voice interface; they also go through an immersive theatre one-on-one with a performer before and after the VR experience. (Note: this interview took place in a busy cafe area.)

She also talks to Brandon Padveen, Associate Producer at MWM Immersive, about War Remains on the rooftop of Spring Studios; he discusses working with Dan Carlin of Hardcore History to create this “immersive memory” and designing the free-roaming VR experience, which includes a large set, realistic props, wind effects, rumbling floors, and more. (Read her War Remains review.)

Then she chats with immersive creator and director of the Columbia University Digital Storytelling Lab Lance Weiler to talk about his latest project, Where There’s Smoke. The work is an immersive experience for four people exploring Lance’s relationship with his father (a former volunteer firefighter and hobbyist fire photographer), his father’s battle with cancer, and two mysterious fires that happened during Lance’s childhood. He describes the project as a non-linear documentary, an immersive theatre piece without performers, and an escape room without any escape. (Read her Where There’s Smoke review.)

Episode 195: Overlook Film Fest 2019 Preview Apr 26, 2019

Friend of the show Landon Zakheim and host Noah Nelson head to a park on a sunny Easter Sunday to talk about horror... um, kinda?

We dive into the immersive lineup at the 2019 Overlook Film Festival, which is full of fun surprises this May 30th - June 2nd in New Orleans.

Plus: Noah has some personal news.

Also: check out the LEIA Immersive Intensive, and a Behind The Scenes essay from Peter Billington of Fable on working with Third Rail Projects on 'Wolves in the Walls,' currently at Tribeca!

Episode 194 - I want to live in your mouth Apr 19, 2019

Writer/Director David Ruzicka (Creep: Lore, The Willows) and creative producer Eric Vosmeier join host Noah Nelson to talk about their dark fantasy confection, I want to live in your mouth, that has transmogrified North Hollywood's Zombie Joe's Underground Theater into the stuff of childhood fever dreams.

It's a conversation where we dig in deep into the various flavors of horror in immersive, and lessons learned over years of producing.

You can also read our own Kevin Gossett's review of the show.

Head's up: there's some cursing at the start (my bad) but most of the episode is clean.

Episode 193 - The Nest Returns Apr 12, 2019

The Nest -- which blended elements of escape rooms and podcast dramas -- was one of our favorite shows of 2017. The show's two LA-based creators Jeff Leinenveber and Jarrett Lantz, aka Scout Expedition Co., are bringing the piece back in an extended format this year.

This week they launched a Kickstarter campaign that will help with that effort, and they're on the show to tell us about what they have up their sleeve.

Show Notes:

LA Times Festival of Books: Noah's talk. The Scout Expedition talk. The Unsent Podcast. Dr. Alex Avila's Love University show.

The LEIA Immersive Intensive - April 27th in LA

Episode 192: Tales By Candlelight Apr 05, 2019

Co-creators Christoff Visscher (Cantrip Candles) and Spencer Williams (Walk The Night) join host Noah Nelson to talk about their new collaboration Tales By Candlelight. This scent guided storytelling experience mixes the best of tabletop roleplaying with an olfactory journey to create an artifact of a place that never was. A place drawn from your imagination.

Join us on the trip.

Also: if you're in LA this month don't miss our talk at the LA Times Festival of Books or LEIA's Immersive Intensive.

(Plus Noah rambles on about whatever at the end of the show.)

Episode 191: The Mystery of 'The Willows' Mar 30, 2019

On this very special episode, No Proscenium accepts an invitation into the home of a 'The Willows.'

Special thanks to Melinda DeKay, Misha Reeves, and Daniel Montgomery of Just Fix It Productions for helping us unravel the threads.

Episode 190: A Trip To Baltimore's Submersive Productions Mar 22, 2019

Managing Editor Kathryn Yu goes on the road to Baltimore for a conversation with four of the folks at Submersive Productions: co-artistic directors Glenn Ricci and Ursula Marcum, as well as artistic associates Susan Stroupe and Lisi Stoessel. Join us as we dig into topics like their devising process, making open world shows, the care and feeding of the audience, telling history “at a slant,” getting the audience to feel complicit during a piece, focusing on diversity and inclusion while making immersive work, and making their productions more accessible. We discuss their past shows such as The Mesmeric Revelations of Edgar Allan Poe; H.T. Darling’s Incredible Musaeum Presents: The Treasures of New Galapagos, Astonishing Acquisitions from the Perisphere; their episodic series The Institute of Visionary History which included an eight-hour durational performance called A Horse By the Tail in the Night; plus their upcoming movement-based large-scale participatory piece MASS/RABBLE which is coming April 3—14 to the Baltimore War Memorial.

Episode 189: Broken Ghost Immersives Mar 16, 2019

What happens when two Shakespeare nerds decide to ditch the proscenium and start incorporating their love of Dungeons and Dragons, board games, and video games into interactive and improvisational theatre projects?

That's the story of Ian McNeely and Austen Anderson of Broken Ghost Immersives who are the co-creators of experiences like The Wake, The Bunker, and Rogues' Gallery. NoPro's Managing Editor and NYC Curator Kathryn chats with Ian and Austen about procedural narrative, putting the audiences into the heart of a story, what happens when you give participants a lot of agency, controlling multiple characters remotely, how Henry V relates to The Bunker, writing your own comic book origin stories, and more.

Episode 188: IDS 2019 Part I -- Fri Forjindam & Jenni Cook Mar 08, 2019

From the halls of the Immersive Design Summit to your ears!

Guest hosts KJ Knies and Michaela Holland tag in to interview Fri Forjindam of Mycotoo, and we follow that up with an interview of Jenni Cook of Dreamscape Immersive by KJ.

It's the first in what will be a handful of episodes emerging from the 2019 IDS.

Episode 187: Kellian Adams Pletcher and Brian Pletcher of Green Door Labs Mar 03, 2019

NYC Curator and NoPro Managing Editor Kathryn Yu tracks down the always busy Kellian Adams Pletcher and Brian Pletcher of Green Door Labs for a wide-ranging conversation about the collision of immersive theatre and game design. They discuss Kellian and Brian's work on shows like Club Drosselmeyer and Save the Munbax and how their approach to audience agency and interactive storytelling has changed over the years, as well as touching on topics such as designing diegetic puzzles, allowing the audience to choose their level of engagement, incorporating different types of game mechanics, designing experiences for both the general public and "super-puzzlers," writing bad endings on purpose, and much, much more.

Episode 186: Saying Goodbye to the Old Tank, Hello To The New Feb 15, 2019

Seasons change, time passes, friends move away... or up the street.

Think Tank Gallery is moving from its home at 939 Maple, the site of many a memory for immersive LA, to a new space at the edge of the Arts District and Little Tokyo. We get together with Jacob Patterson of Think Tank in the podcast studio at the Old Tank one last time to reminisce, talk about ongoing relations with the city of LA, and what's next for Think Tank.

Content Advisory: we curse. As we often do.

Episode 185: Tom Pearson, Third Rail Projects Feb 09, 2019

Managing Editor and NYC Curator Kathryn Yu catches up with Tom Pearson, one of the Artistic Directors of Third Rail Projects (Then She Fell, The Grand Paradise, Ghost Light, Behind the City) in New York City as the company prepares to launch a new show in DC, Confection.

They discuss the creation of Then She Fell, its influence on immersive creators, as well as Tom’s work as an immersive educator, as a poet with The Sandpiper’s Spell, as a documentary film producer on Between Yourself and Me, and also with TRP’s Global Performance Studio in Russia and China.

(Tom also hints at an upcoming Third Rail Projects’ show that is currently in development and planned to premiere in late 2019.)

Episode 184: Jay Rinsky of Little Cinema Feb 01, 2019

Little Cinema is a fixture in New York City's art scene, bringing films to life at the House of Yes and the Brooklyn Museum. They've also spread their wings to Bonnaroo, and have crafted a number of immersive premieres for television series from TNT. The latest of these for the series I Am The Night, which debuted this week on the network.

We talk with founder Jay Rinsky about the company's arc, the striking work at the heart of the I Am The Night premiere, and forging a path between art and commerce.

Also: creators should take note of the industry survey the Immersive Design Summit is conducting for an industry report to be released -- for free -- during the summit to the public.

Episode 183: Checking in with Room Escape Artist on the Poland fire and more Jan 26, 2019

A somber lead topic this week, as we talk about the escape room fire in Poland that left five teenage girls dead earlier this month with our collegues from Room Escape Artist: David & Lisa Spira.

That plus notes on their upcoming tours, the immersive Industry Survey we're compiling for an upcoming Industry Report to be released for free during the Immersive Design Summit, and a bit about a special moment at a recent event in LA.

Episode 182 - NYC After Dark Jan 19, 2019

Kathryn gathers up part of the New York City team -- Leah Ableson, Edward Mylechreest, and Michaela Holland -- for one of our patented After Dark episodes. Come along as we meet the team!

Then, in LA, Noah finally gets down to an old fashioned rant about price/value.

Welcome back!

NoPro is a labor of love supported by our amazing Patreon backers, with office facilities provided by Thymele Arts in Los Angeles.

Episode 181: NoPro Live - The Fifth Anniversary Show Jan 11, 2019

For our fifth anniversary, we wanted to do something special, and we maybe went a little over the top.

We hit up Two Bit Circus, where Josh Randall (Blackout) co-ordinates immersive experiences and got ahold of Club 01... and kicked the tires on a "late night" format.

Brent Bushnell and Eric Gradman - the founders of Two Bit Circus are our first guests. Followed by Lauren Ludwig and Monica Miklas of Capital W, birthday boy Josh Randall (no, really, it was his BIRTHDAY and he did this for us), Stashhouse LA's Tommy Honton, and Steve Boyle of Epic Immersive who came down from SF.

Anthony Robinson announces. Chris Porter does the music live. Ian Momii jumped in to run the soundboard at the last minute, and Noah Nelson is your host.

Recorded live (so expect bumps) and listener discretion is advised.

Episode 180: Carl Choi of The Great Company Jan 04, 2019

Carl Choi is the founder and CEO of The Great Company, an experiential studio which in the past few years has emerged as a leader in producing and creating space for immersive work in LA. GreatCo teamed up with Jon Braver to produce Delusion and recently played host to Chained: A Victorian Nightmare. Like us, GreatCo is all in on immersive -- keeping the engines running by whatever means necessary while getting great projects out the door.

We've been meaning to get Carl on the show for a while now, and sat down for a good long chat before the holidays.

This episode is brought to you by listeners like you and Thymele Arts in LA, which provides office facilities for NoPro.

Episode 179 - 2018 After Dark Dec 29, 2018

Hosts Noah Nelson (LA) and Kathryn Yu (NYC) are joined by NoPro's Anthony Robinson (new title: Features Editor) to close out 2018 on this hella long After Dark episode.

What? It's a WHOLE YEAR.

Warning: Noah curses. We digress. A lot. There's talk of Star Wars land and video games. By EVERYBODY.

Episode 178 : Samantha Gorman of Tender Claws Dec 21, 2018

Samantha Gorman is the co-founder -- along with Danny Cannizzaro -- of Tender Claws, a groundbreaking digital studio that mixes tech, art, and a wry sense of humor to create virtual and augmented reality works that push the narrative boundaries of the medium while maintaining a real heart. No small feat, that.

We talk with Samantha about what goes into making their work, focusing on their latest Tendar, and AR app currently available on the Google Play store.

Brought to you by listeners like you!

Episode 177 - Nancy Baker Cahill Dec 14, 2018

Multidisciplinary artist Nancy Baker Cahill invites us to her LA studio to check out her VR artwork and talk about how the world of fine art is meshing with the immersive and site-specific movements. Buckle up for one of our patented philosophical conversations!

Want to check out Nancy's work for yourself? Check out the 4th Wall AR app.

Episode 176 - Dec 2018 Minisode Dec 07, 2018

Hey!

Just a few quick notes about events and the IDS application process this week. Back to a full episode next week as we round out the year.

Episode 175 - Jesse Damiani talks Spatial Reality Nov 30, 2018

Jesse Damiani, longtime friend of the show, drops by to talk about his continuing adventures in the world of XR. (That's virtual, augmented, and mixed reality for those playing the home game.)

Recently he curated the art show Spatial Reality, which brought together multiple artists from across the reality spectrum for what was one of the biggest -- if not the biggest -- gatherings of XR art to date.

We sit down with Jesse, drink my favorite beer, talk about that show and wax philosophical as we are won't to do. Come, join us.

This episode is brought to you by listeners like you and The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, who are seeking faculty candidates.

Episode 174 - Karlie Blair of DR3AMLOGiKK Nov 24, 2018

In the past year actress Karlie Blair has become a mainstay of the LA immersive theatre scene. She's performed in such shows as Whisperlodge, the original production of Safehouse '77, and The Lust Experience. With actress Keight Leighn she co-founded DR3AMLOGiKK, which has presented the improvised experience Snow Fridge, and a workshop production Broken Clocks. She's also one of the leads in Shine On Collective's Echoes in the Dark.

We caught up with the busy lady to talk about her work and her background as a graduate of UC Berkeley's theatre program.

Brought to you in part by The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, who are seeking faculty candidates.

Episode 173 - Consent & Agency w/ Amanda Rose Villarreal Nov 16, 2018

We met Amanda Rose Villarreal at the Denver Immersive Summit, where we shared a panel with her and Jenny Weinbloom of Meow Wolf Denver on Consent & Agency in immersive. Amanda Rose is getting her Ph.D in Theatre Arts at Colorado University at Boulder, and her practice involves training "police officers, lawyers, and counselors to use effective communication and de-escalation techniques during crisis intervention and conflict management."

Amanda Rose is both a practitioner and a researcher, so we're getting a full spectrum look.

That work has given her incredible insight into the challenges facing immersive creators around issues of agency and consent, and we dig into that on today's episode, recorded live in the field at The Molecule Effect cafe in Denver.

This week's episode brought to you by listeners like you and The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts.

Content Advisory: language and mature themes.

Episode 172 - Tad Shafer of Drycraeft LA on the Wolf Trail Nov 09, 2018

You might know Tad as the actor who played the dad, and whose own childhood informed Drycraeft LA and Capital W's Rochester 1996, or you might know him as a gentle seeker whose life got caught up in The Society and who is now working for the group that is unraveling the mystery of the Wolf Trail.

Tad is all this, and more.

Get ready for a special in-the-field edition of No Proscenium as we join Tad on the Wolf Trail, where we've encountered a Moonglow.

This episode is brought to you by listeners like you, with the support of The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts.

Episode 171 - Cafe Play Talkback Oct 27, 2018

Kathryn Yu moderates and This Is Not A Theatre Company's Erin Mee is the featured guest in this talkback session for Cafe Play recorded on September 30th, 2018.

Featuring guest appearances by the cast of the show, Alyssa Kim, Christy Casey, and Andrew Hoepfner.

Plus: Noah rambles a bit about his recent trip to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Episode 170 - Ayden LeRoux of Odyssey Works Oct 19, 2018

Odyssey Works is a legendary company that started in San Francisco around the turn of this century. They're best known for making elaborate, immersive pieces of theatre for one. Ayden LeRoux is an installation artist and writer who is a part of Odyssey Works' team of collaborators, and she joins NoPro's Kathryn Yu in NYC to talk about her work and Odyssey Works.

ALL NEW: EVENT SCHEDULE

Are we coming to your town soon?! Find NoPro at these upcoming events!

#SantaFe: 10/22: The Art of Presence by Noah Nelson

http://bit.ly/2OzHyjK

#LA: 11/5: Meet the Press featuring Bryan Bishop, Juliet Bennett Rylah, and Noah Nelson

http://bit.ly/2S0VFNq

#NYC: 11/5: Everything Immersive meetup

http://bit.ly/2P08chW

#Denver: 11/10: Denver Immersive Summit, featuring Noah Nelson

http://bit.ly/2QX75RI

And applications for the Immersive Design Summit are OPEN.

Episode 169: Shine On Collective's Echoes in the Dark Oct 12, 2018

Shine On Collective's writer-director duo Anna Mavromati and Marlee Delia join host Noah Nelson in LA to talk about their latest work Echoes in the Dark, a 2018 update of the Frankenstein story, and how their collaboration has evolved over the last two years of work.

Plus: we touch on a bunch going on in LA right now, like the amazing Spatial Reality gallery exhibition, Delusion, CreepLA: Awake, the upcoming workshop from Tara O'Con and Marissa Neilsen-Pincus, and much much more.

Support us via Patreon!

Episode 168 - Wildrence Oct 05, 2018

Yvonne Chang and Jae Lee of NYC's Wildrence join guest host Kathryn Yu to talk about their unique storytelling space and consulting studio on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Plus: quick notes from Noah about the beautifully constructed site-specific work Nightwalk in the Chinese Garden currently in Southern California.

Episode 167 - Carlo D'Amore, Live In Theater Sep 29, 2018

From NYC: Kathryn Yu talks with Carlo D'Amore, founder of interactive theatre company Live In Theater, about their latest work, the Nordic LARP influenced This Is When We Rest. Carlo is a Drama Desk Nominated director and he and LIT have been re-imagining the mystery genre since 2009.

This year he was part of the Interactive PlayLab's Deep Dive team in Austin.

Meanwhile, in LA: Noah is on Tylenol with codeine. Uh oh.

Also: be sure to check out this week’s edition of Everything Immersive This Week. Always a doozy! And follow us on The Gram!

To learn more about Deep Dive Austin and the SimuLife project, check out our previous podcast interviews with Bryan Bishopand Jeff Wirth.

Episode 166: Matt Dorado of Drunken Devil Sep 21, 2018

Matt Dorado's Drunken Devil has been a fixture of the LA immersive scene for years now. Starting out as a haunt, the company transitioned to nightlife events with a flair for horror themes and immersive elements.

This Spooky Season the company will present the next in its series of deadly sin themed soirees: Bacchanalia, a trip back to Rome sans togas. (No one wants togas.)

Dorado sits down at NoPro headquarters with host Noah Nelson to talk about the company's origin story and what's on tap this Fall.

CONTENT ADVISORY: we discuss the lives, and actions of serial killers -- the subjects of To Live and Dine In LA -- in this episode. There are details, including discussion of sexual violence.

Episode 165 - David Wally of Mycotoo Sep 14, 2018

David Wally, Chief Creative Officer of Mycotoo --the design firm that collaborated with marketing agency Giant Spoon on the SXSWestworld and InkHole activations -- joins us to talk origin stories: of the Westworld activation, Mycotoo, and his own journey from filmmaker to theme park and immersive designer. Oh, and he's ALSO the director of the annual Dark Harbor haunt at the Queen Mary to boot.

Get ready for a deep dive.

Plus: a slew of announcements including The Immersive Design Summit venue, LEIA's latest organizing efforts in LA, and a few thoughts about value and transparency around costs.

Episode 164: Theatre Macabre Sep 07, 2018

Darren Lynn Bousman, Clint Sears, and Gordon Bijelonic are the terrifying trio behind the all-new Theatre Macabre, which recreates Paris' infamous 19th Century Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol in 21st Century LA, with an immersive twist.

This is, of course, the team that brought us the often controversial Tension and Lust experiences and who made a splash by partnering with the Russo Brothers to bring that universe to Las Vegas.

Theatre Macabre is an all-new stand alone show, and the team is bringing their A game as they look to reinvent how they tell immersive stories. Whatever happens next: we're bound to be talking about it for months to come.

Episode 163: After Dark w/ Kathryn & Anthony Aug 31, 2018

Kathryn Yu and Anthony Robinson -- the keystones of our editorial board -- join Noah Nelson for a talk about the state of immersive as we see it now.

So grab your beverage of choice and pull up a chair, it's NoPro After Dark.

Episode 162 - Michael Borys of The 49 Boxes Aug 24, 2018

The 49 Boxes is a singular puzzle based storytelling event, the latest incarnation of which focuses on the life of Floyd G. Thayer-- one of the most famed illusion creators of all time.

Host Noah Nelson sits down with Michael Borys, the information and story architect of The 49 Boxes to talk about the origins of the show and his career as an untraditional storyteller.

Look for announcements about the next set of experiences from The 49 Boxes this week.

Episode 161: Sara Beil and KJ Knies Aug 17, 2018

Sara Beil and KJ Knies are one of LA's most interesting behind the scenes pairs in immersive.

By day Sara works for ThinkWell, the major themed entertainment design firm, as a multimedia writer and producer. KJ, meanwhile, works for Giant Spoon, the company that has been behind some of the splashiest immersive activations (SXSWestworld, The InkHole) this year.

By night the two work on indie projects, like the Hollywood Fringe sleeper hit What Went Wrong, and the immersive enhanced production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest that got LA audiences talking.

Disclosure: KJ writes for us from time to time, but we're the one's who are lucky to have him.

Episode 160: Jeff Wirth of Interactive PlayLab Aug 10, 2018

Jeff Wirth has been a lot of things in his life: university professor, computer programmer, ballroom dancer, and clown. These days he's the wandering sage of interactive performance, leading the Interactive PlayLab which is best known for the Deep Dive think tank that created work that was both intimate and large scale at the same time.

Wirth has been crisscrossing America leading workshops in interactive acting techniques and design, and after a recent stop in Los Angeles he sat down with our own Noah Nelson for a philosophical deep dive of their own.

Also this week: we kick things off with an impromptu field report from The InkHole, the latest promotional pop-up from the Giant Spoon/Mycotoo team, which brings the curious into the fabulously felt world of The Happytime Murders.

Episode 159: Mikhael Tara Garver on Social Impact Aug 03, 2018

Our friend Mikhael Tara Garver dropped by this morning for a chat about how she integrates social impact into her work -- for entertainment, causes, and brands -- and how immersive and experiential work are uniquely suited for creating long term social change.

Here's one we wish could be longer, and it pairs well with the conversation we just had on EXP*DSN.

Mikhael Tara Garver has been directing and creating immersive work for 18 years. She is an experiential architect integrating live and technology for brands, social impact, and storytelling.

Catch up with MTG on Instagram.

Episode 158: Damian Madray of Presence Jul 27, 2018

We sit down with the founder of Presence, which aims to be a kind of Patreon for experiential artists, Damian Madray to talk about his own life as an experience designer and why he decided to built a platform for other makers.

Damian is also the co-host of the upcoming EXP*DSN, aka Experiential By Design, a live web show that features conversations between pioneers in experience design. The show kicks off on August 2nd, and will feature director Lynsey Peisinger who produces participatory work with The Abramovic Method. It will also have some weirdo named No Ha Nel son.

Oh, wait. That's me.

Episode 157: Think Tank's Triple Threat Summer Jul 20, 2018

Think Tank Gallery impresario Jacob Patterson invites Noah over to the studio to share the scoops on Think Tank's latest projects in LA. They've got three big shows opening in the next few weeks, including the Sea-Saw residency on the Santa Monica Pier which will feature local favorites like The Guest & The Host, #Metaforyou, and Lola Kelly.

Plus it's Jacob and Noah, so you know the convo gets off the rails and into some ish.

Brought to you by Meow Wolf and our generous Patreon backers.

Episode 156 - Sean Stewart & The Birth of the ARG Jul 13, 2018

Once upon a time Sean Stewart was a science fiction novelist. Then, one day, he got a call asking if he wanted to take part in a little world-building project. One based around a Steven Spielberg movie.

That movie was A.I. and that project would become known as "The Beast," the first Alternate Reality Game. Now Sean works for Magic Leap, the secretive company in Florida that is working on augmented reality. But we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about making participatory stories.

Sean plays Jedi Master to Noah's padawan learner. This is a very, very good episode.

Episode 155: International Relations Jul 06, 2018

Last week your host, Noah Nelson, was in Qingdao, China for the Sandbox Immersive Festival. This week he's back, solo, to talk about some of what he observed there and about the emerging thinking around XR -- the term being given to all of immersive technology -- and how that relates to live immersive.

This being Noah talking into a microphone, you know that we get into a few tangents, including thoughts about what it means to become a bit jaded as a reviewer, and what incoming designers need to be thinking about when they approach immersive work for the first time.

Show Notes: Jesse Damiani's piece on XR UI design. Room Escape Artist on tariffs.

Episode 154: D&D Gets Immersed Jun 22, 2018

At the heart of many an immersonaut's journey is #SOMEDND, the "DND" being Dungeons & Dragons, and as it just so happens that hashtag stood for a recent livestream extravaganza called the Stream of Many Eyes.

Now, why is NoPro talking about live-streaming D&D?

Well for one, the lead up to the stream was a multiverse hopping alternate reality game (#NoStoneUnturned) that called upon the powers of transmedia producer Emmett Furey and puzzle designer Elisa Teague, who join us on this week's episode to talk about the ARG, mixing tabletop gaming with escape room like puzzles, and the renaissance in roleplaying games.

Look: we always knew it was going to come down to Dungeons & Dragons. It's almost a surprise it took this long to get here.

Episode 153 - The Count's Den Jun 15, 2018

Our hard-hitting reporters have revealed a nest of bloodsuckers in the beating heart of Los Angeles. This den of the undead appears to the outside world as the lobby of one of those newfangled "escape rooms" co-owned by a woman named Rachel Foti. Our intrepid host dares to enter this lair of sin and uncover the secret origin of this nefarious gathering point for a "micro-community" of the vampire's mortal pawns.

Follow us into The Count's Den if you dare.

Episode 152 - The Secret of Play Jun 08, 2018

There's something magical going on in Downtown Los Angeles. Something simple, and oh-so-needed in this day and age.

It's called The Silent Play Experiment, and it is exactly what it says on the tin. Host Noah Nelson sits down with its co-creator Olivia Hamilton to talk about the experience, the company that gave birth to it, and the road to embracing play.

Episode 151 - Bringing Immersive Magic to the Santa Monica Pier Jun 01, 2018

Negin Singh has been a lot of things: founder of Cartel Arts Collaborative LA, leader of the Inspiration team at AR pioneers DAQRI, and now she's the Executive Director of the Santa Monica Pier.

She's bringing her experience as a producer of immersive and interactive events to one of the biggest travel destinations in all of Southern California, and taking our friends at Think Tank along for the ride. This episode is a barn burner: art, augmented reality, and how theatre kids are stealth taking over the world. Okay. That last one is implied. We don't say it, but it's soooo there.

Brought to you by the generous support of Meow Wolf (!!!!) and our amazing Patreon backers.

Episode 150 - NoPro Gets Meta May 26, 2018

This edition replaces the messed up original file.

Lisa & David Spira of Room Escape Artistand Michael Andersen of ARGN.comjoin us to talk about how we talk about this immersive thing of ours.

From how to handle spoiler discussions online to designing for discovery after the fact, this conversation is all about the unique problems that face immersive entertainment of every form -- from live theatre to escape rooms to Alternate Reality Games.

Good thing we've got people who specialize in each of those on the show today!

Episode 149 - The Night In Question May 18, 2018

It's no secret that we have LARP roots here at No Proscenium, specifically VAMPIRE LARP roots. So when we heard that there's a "blockbuster" (aka bespoke) Vampire LARP coming to Texas in November -- part of the relaunch of Vampire: the Masquerade which is happening all year long -- we got very, very intrigued.

Which is how we ended up talking to Matthew Webb of Jackalope Live Action Studios, the company that is putting on this event called The Night In Question.

That's not all Jackalope is up to, as they're working on the Cyberpunk license and more, looking to introduce an emerging style of play to brand new audiences.

Break out the fangs, we're going in.

Episode 148 -- Snapshot Minisode May 11, 2018

Just time for a real quick update about a few things.

Episode 147: The Guest & The Host Make Music May 04, 2018

Director Spencer Williams (Walk The Night) and music producer Andrew Heringer have created a unique music experience in the form of The Guest & The Host: Make Music, which will be debuting alongside the Hollywood Fringe Festival this June in LA.

Plus: Noah's initial thoughts on the Oculus Go.

Episode 146 - Rochester, 1996 Apr 27, 2018

What happens when two immersive theatre companies meet at a bar in San Francisco?

They make a show in LA, that's what.

Rochester, 1996 is a collaboration between Capital W and DryCræft Los Angeles that will be hitting this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival. We talk with Lauren Ludwig & Monika Miklas of Capital W, and Thaddeus Shafer of DryCræft Los Angeles whose life as the son of a pastor provides the inspiration for the show.

(They're raising money/selling advance tickets on IndieGoGo right now.)

All that plus a touch of the usual shenanigans.

Episode 145 - Jon Braver, creator of 'Delusion: Lies Within' Apr 20, 2018

Every fan of immersive in Los Angeles know the name Jon Braver: he's the creator of the wildly popular Delusion interactive horror theatre company.

Each instance of Delusion is an event into and of itself, and Jon has been creating his dark wonderland in our reality for years now.

This week Delusion goes virtual, with the cinematic VR version of Delusion: Lies Within debuting at The Overlook Film Festival. We talk with Jon about that, the future of the LIVE Delusion shows, and just about everything else under the sun in this, our first full interview with Jon.

Episode 144: After Dark with Ceaseless Fun Apr 13, 2018

Derek Spencer and Meredith Treinen of Ceaseless Fun drop in with beer and pecan pie to talk about their most recent show -- Agnosia -- and the upcoming They Who Saw The Deep in Los Angeles.

Don't worry, we save the pie for afterwards. But it is one of THOSE episodes thanks to the beer. In fact, it's officially an NoPro After Dark.

We get into process in this one, so you know I love it.

Episode 143 - More Human Than Human: MacInnes Scott Apr 06, 2018

John MacInnes and Remington Scott met while making Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, kicking off a collaboration (MacInness Scott) that is exploring the bleeding edge of photorealism. But these two are about more than brain melting tech that can turn Hollywood actors and politicians into digital humans: all that is just the groundwork for exploring the art of storytelling on the immersive digital frontier.

Host Noah Nelson talks with John and Remington about the history of their collaboration, their work for Netflix on an Altered Carbon promotion, and just where all this is headed.

Episode 142: The Tension Experience Goes To Vegas & Beyond Mar 30, 2018

The madmen went and did it.

Last week the creative team behind The Tension & Lust Experiences announced that they were taking on new partners, a company called AGBO -- which is The Russo Brothers' new company.

You know, the guys who are directing Avengers: Infinity War.

So yeah, that's some big news. And Tension creators Darren Bousman, Clint Sears, and producer Gordon Bijelonic sit down with host Noah Nelson to talk about what all this means for The Experiences now and in the future.

Oh, and Joe Russo calls in during the show to explain why and how he got mixed up with all this.

Plus: a word about our editorial policy updates.

Episode 141: Bryan Bishop's Deep Dive Mar 23, 2018

Our dear friend Bryan Bishop of The Verge has just come back from a once-in-a-lifetime experience at SXSW. There he was one of just two participants in an elaborate, four day long immersive experience called a "Simulife" by the creative think tank known as Interactive Deep Dive.

Host Noah Nelson, who walks in clueless (What else is new?), journey's with Bryan into the heart of what made this so special. The answer: Soylent Green. (I mean, from a certain point of view.)

140: Edward Robles of Here Be Dragons Mar 16, 2018

Writer and director Edward Robles of Here Be Dragons drops by to talk about Dispatch, his episodic VR narrative for Oculus that debuted at Sundance.

Well that and a wide ranging conversation about how he landed in the business, writing, and more.

That plus a #NoProGoesPro campaign update.

Episode 139: Justin Denton of Here Be Dragons Mar 09, 2018

You may not know Justin Denton's name, but you certainly have heard of his work. He's the director of the much buzzed about LEGION FX activation at last year's San Diego Comic Con (which had an encore at FoST Fest in NYC) and part of the core team at Here Be Dragons, the production studio that has helped put VR on the map.

Get ready, because Noah and Justin are about to have one of THOSE conversations.

This is my favorite episode in a long while.

Plus: we sing the praises of our SXSW crew, and detail the NEXT STEP in our March NO PRO GOES PRO campaign. (GIVE US YOUR MONEY!)

Episode 138: (Not So) Bitter at the End Mar 02, 2018

Aaron and Austin Keeling of E3W Productions join Noah to talk about their new show Bitter at the End and how their surprise debut -- the absolutely wonderful In Another Room -- came together in the first place.

Keep an eye on these guys, they're got the touch.

Plus: the first part of our NoPro Goes Pro campaign BEGINS.

Episode 137: Taylor Myers of Roll The Bones Feb 23, 2018

Kathryn sits down with Taylor Myers of Roll The Bones to talk about his storied career (Sleep No More, Then She Fell, Grand Paradise) and the upcoming narrative feature film Hamlet in the Golden Vale an adaptation of Shakespeare's play.

Episode 136 - Terence Leclere Feb 16, 2018

Actor, poet, and entrepreneur Terence Leclere joins host Noah Nelson to talk about how he became an immersive person, and just what he's up to with his company Metaforyou, which offers immersive and interactive services for hire in the LA area.

Philosophy with a side of business. Plus: Noah totally gives a reading list at the end of the show. What? I know.

Join the conversation at the NoPro Slack.

Episode 135 - Safehouse '77 Feb 02, 2018

Creator Nick Rheinwald-Jones & Creative Producer Lyndsie Scoggin of Safehouse '77 invite Noah to the safehouse for a chat about how the show came to be... and how it is returning to LA.

That plus: a but about this week's LEIA Town Hall in LA, and a shout out to our friends at the A.R.T. Artist Real Talk podcast, who are kicking off their second season with a bang!

Brought to you by our amazing Patreon backers.

Episode 134 - Say Something Bunny Jan 26, 2018

Alison S. M. Kobayashi joins Kathryn Yu to talk about Say Something Bunny, a feat of theatrical documentary that draws audiences into the lives of a New York Jewish family in the 1950s. It is quite unlike anything else on stage in NYC, and it drew the attention of our New York team.

Plus: Noah without his coffee.

Episode 133 - A Wild Party by way of Kansas Jan 19, 2018

Our friends from LA's Speakeasy Society return to talk about two -- or is it three??? -- upcoming projects including their take on The Wild Party, which is part of The Broad Stage's 10th anniversary season.

Connect with us via Slack.

This episode is dedicated to Prof. Mohammad Kowsar (1943 - 2018).

Episode 132 - The Doubtful Guest Jan 12, 2018

Surprise!

Zay Amsbury returns to talk with Caitlin Cassidy and Geoff Kanick of Lubdub Theatre Company about The Doubtful Guest.

Plus: Noah talks about the initial impact of the Immersive Design Summit.

Episode 131: Wishes for 2018 Dec 29, 2017

This week we turn to YOU, the NoPro audience (and our team), to find out what you're looking forward to in the coming year.

Episode 130 - Ida Benedetto Dec 22, 2017

Ida Benedetto is the author of Patterns of Transformation: Designing Sex, Death and Survival in the 21st Century. That work came about thanks to years of practice as an experience designer, including being part of the legendary Night Heron speakeasy brain trust. She joins NoPro NYC curator Kathryn Yu to discuss her approach to experience design.

This is one we've been waiting for.

Episode 129 - Tommy Honton: The Museum of Selfies/Stash House Dec 15, 2017

Tommy Honton wears a lot of hats: escape room designer, founding member of LEIA, and now the co-creator of The Museum of Selfies, a gloriously self-aware "Instagram Museum" which is opening up in the immersive-friendly SoCal city of Glendale.

We talk with Tommy about the very real, and very tongue in cheek, themes of the Museum and about his upcoming escape room "Stash House," which is coming out of testing.

Get ready for one of THOSE episodes.

Episode 128 - After Dark: Passing The Torch Dec 08, 2017

Zay Amsbury, our man in New York City, is setting out for some traveling. Stepping into his shoes is Kathryn Yu, our not-so-secret-weapon.

In this AFTER DARK episode that duo join Noah to talk about, well... whatever we want to talk about. It's one of THOSE episodes. (Which are a lot of fun.)

Plus: what starts out as a media rant at the end of the show turns into something decidedly more, um, spiritual?

Episode 127: Rogue Artist Ensemble's Kaidan Project Dec 01, 2017

Sean T. Cawelti, Chelsea Sutton, and Lori Meeker of LA's Rogue Artist Ensemble stop in to talk about Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin. We dig into the long gestation process, and lessons learned from the Rogue's first foray into large-scale immersive work.

Plus: Rolfe Kent of The Unmarked Door stops by to talk about their first show, 'The Heart of Winter' which debuts in Culver City this month.

Episode 126 - CAUGHT Nov 25, 2017

Louis Changchien and Steven Klein of the LA and immersive premiere of the Obie-Award winning CAUGHT (currently at Think Tank Gallery in DTLA) join Noah for a look into the twisty reality of this barnburner of a play.

Spoilers abound! But you still have two weeks to catch (accidental pun) the show at Think Tank Gallery, then come back here and listen to this deep dive into the history of the production.

THIS. IS. A. GREAT. SHOW. JUST. GO.

Episode 125 - Vance Garrett, Immersive Producer Nov 17, 2017

Before he was the Vice President of Experiential Global Entertainment for Westfield -- yes, that Westfield -- Vance Garrett was a producer on 29 Rooms and The Museum of Ice Cream.

Before THAT he was a key player in the opening of the McKittrick Hotel, home of Sleep No More.

On this episode of the podcast we take a trip down memory lane with Vance.

Episode 124 - Amos: A Play With Music Nov 10, 2017

Eva Anderson and Michael Cassady, the co-writers of 'Amos: A Play With Music,' join us to talk about the EDM infused, site-responsive musical that audiences in LA are eating up.

Plus: Steve Boyle of Epic Immersive joins us to make a VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT about The Immersive Design Summit, which is coming up in San Francisco this January. (Applications are OPEN NOW, and they CLOSE THIS SUNDAY!)

Episode 123 - Derek Spencer of Ceaseless Fun Nov 03, 2017

Get ready for some brain-twisty-ness on the latest episode.

First: we have Lin Bo, of China's dissident Xiong Collective joining us for a hot second at Think Tank Gallery where he is hanging their new collaboration 'District 798.' Lin Bo is the subject of the show 'Caught,' which is also making its bow at Think Tank.

How does that work? We have no idea.

Then it's time for one of THOSE episodes, as we sit down with Derek Spencer of Ceaseless Fun (and the League of Experiential and Immersive Artists) to talk about... well, everything.

Plus a short rant about Gothamist shutting down, word on the Immersive Design Summit, and strange interruptions galore.

This one really is like hanging out with us.

Episode 122: Minisode Oct 27, 2017

Just a quick check in with a few announcements about some upcoming events!

Episode 121 - Venetia Harpin, Immersive Producer Oct 20, 2017

London based immersive producer Venetia Harpin joins Noah to talk about the scene in London, her work in experiential marketing and the way that world and the world of immersive theatre overlap.

All that plus more on this January's Immersive Design Summit.

Episode 120 - Hall and Mirror's YOU Oct 13, 2017

This week: the creative team at Hall and Mirrors -- creators of the $5000 a ticket, one guest at a time show YOU -- sit down with us to talk about upending the traditional theatre market, making art for one, and what led to the creation of this audacious experiment.

Writer-producer Edward Tucker, director Daniel Student, and actor Lola Kelly join host Noah Nelson for a lively discussion.

Plus: a tease of this January's Immersive Design Summit.

Episode 119 - David Ruzicka of Creep LA Oct 06, 2017

This week David Ruzicka, the Artistic Director of Creep LA, joins us to talk about his career path in immersive -- from his earliest days as a kind of haunt prodigy (my term, not his) to working operations and then design in the theme park industry.

And then, of course, teaming up with Just Fix It Productions for The Willows and now Creep: Lore.

It's a great conversation with a great guy. And then Noah ruins it all by rambling for ten minutes at the end of the show. Like always.

Episode 118 - Woodshed Collective’s Teddy Bergman Sep 29, 2017

This week Zay sits down with Woodshed Collective’s Artistic Director Teddy Bergman (K-POP) to talk about the storied NYC group's approach to immersive theatre. Bergman and Woodshed's The Confidence Man was Zay's intro into the realm of immersive, so he's been looking forward to this one... and I've been looking forward to listening to it! --Noah

Plus: some rambling thoughts from our master of ceremonies.

Episode 117 -- On Safewords and Consent w/ Dr. Liz Powell Sep 22, 2017

This week on the show: a kind of psychological sequel to last week’s episode on physical safety.

We have sex-positive psych Dr. Liz Powell -- a licensed therapist and coach who specializes in LGBTQ/Poly/Kink-Friendly therapy joining us to talk about the mental side of safety and emotional risk.

Plus Elan Lee -- co-creator of Exploding Kittens and former Chief Design Officer at Xbox joins us to talk about his passion for escape rooms.

Head's up: strong language and frank discussion throughout!

Episode 116 - The Safety Talk Sep 15, 2017

Immersive productions can be challenging, both physically and mentally for creators and audiences alike.

Even when they are challenging, there is a reasonable expectation that they are safe. That every effort has been made to make sure that even experiences that seem dangerous are, in fact, not dangerous. That the risks that are being taken by audience and performers are the agreed upon ones -- not one of shoddy construction and poor design.

What sort of mindset should creators have when taking safety into consideration? What should audience members accept when it comes to safety issues? These are the questions we get into with our expert panel: from Delusion come production designer Kevin Williams and lighting designer/technical director Iam Momii. Joining them is David Ruzicka, a creative consultant who is part of the Creep team and who works in the theme park industry.

Plus: Charlie Melcher, founder of The Future of Storytelling, joins us for the "A" segment. (Use the code NP20 for 20% of FoST Fest tickets.)

Episode 115 - Talking 'The Nest' w/ Scout Expedition Co. Sep 08, 2017

Two of our favorite creators in the Southland, Jeff Leinenveber and Jarrett Lantz return to talk about lessons learned from their first show: the very much beloved The Nest.

Before that: Meredith Treinen talks about her upcoming debut work grief.

Before that: Noah formally announces the formation of LEIA: The League of Experiential & Immersive Artists.

Before that: we address the safety issues raised last weekend at one show in LA, and what we're going to be doing about it as a community.

Before that: you download the podcast.

PLUS: WE. HAVE. FOST. TICKETS. FOR. YOU. Listen for giveaway rules!

Episode 114- Gil Baron of Mindshow Sep 01, 2017

MINDSHOW!

There is pretty much NOTHING that gets me more excited about virtual reality than Mindshow: which turns an HTC Vive into a performance capture tool, allowing users to create animated stories with digital puppets. It's like having a film FX pre-visualization tool to play with.

For years now I've been anticipating Mindshow's release to the public and now, this week, it is finally HERE. You can roll onto Steam right now and get it for free.

To celebrate, we've got Mindshow CEO Gil Baron on to talk about it and the philosophy behind the software. Gil is one of my favorite people to talk all things immersive with, and I've been dying to do this episode for years now. If you're in NYC in October you can check out Mindshow and meet the team at the FUTURE OF STORYTELLING FESTIVAL, who are hosting them this year. (You should go.)

This is a big episode in every sense. Gil's interview starts a bit after the half-hour mark (WHAT?) because our friend Ricky Brigante of Inside The Magic stops by to talk about the jam packed summer he's had.

Hey: it's a holiday weekend. Consider this two shows for the price of one.

Episode 113 - Kevin Williams of FOIL Aug 25, 2017

If you're in the amusement industry, Kevin Williams is a name you probably know. Once upon a time he headed up the "DisneyQuest" project in Orlando for the Mouse House, and beyond that he's a consultant on numerous projects, the editorial voice of The Stinger Report and founder of The DNA: Digital Out-of-Home Interactive Entertainment Association.

This year he's starting an all new conference focused on the Future of Immersive Leisure. We talked about that, his history in the amusement industry, and a whole lot more.

Plus: David & Lisa of Room Escape Artist stop by to talk about the state of Escape Rooms, and I go into a little more about LEIA: the League of Experiential & Immersive Artists, which is coming together in the Southland.

Episode 112 - From The Sudden Loneliness Gift: Meet The Davidsons Aug 18, 2017

Oh, do we have a multi-layered episode for you today.

First, we turn to Jacob Patterson of Think Tank Gallery, as we drop in on the night of their media preview for their next big show Drinkin', Smokin', West Coastin'.

Then we unlock the No Pro time machine (Where do you think all that Patreon money goes to?) to enter the world of Nocturnal Fandango before The Sudden Loneliness Gift disrupted their dreams and plans. That's where we find Jason and Kevin Davidson, the couple at the heart of that company, weeks after Have You Seen Jake? ended, before a tragic fire--an uncanny echo of stories past--took Kevin away from Jason.

All that, and Noah shares his tale of a Technodelic experience.

Wait, what?

Episode 111: Christian Dieckmann of 3D Live Aug 11, 2017

Christian Dieckmann is the Chief Strategy Officer of 3D Live, a technology studio in Los Angeles that specializes in creating "holographic" 3D.

Their LED video wall has made appearances at VRLA and other gatherings, showing that there is something magical to letting those of us outside a virtual space see what happens when participants and performers are interacting with virtual worlds.

Christian is going to be speaking at the Future of Immersive Leisure conference at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this September 13th & 14th. The conference organizers were gracious enough to set us up with Christian for this interview and our audience up with a 20% discount for the conference when they use the code NOPROSCENIUM.

Shouldn't be too hard to remember.

All that, plus the end of the show notes where I talk a little about In Another Room, which makes its bows this week in LA.

Episode 110: Annie Lesser-- creator of The ABC Project/Infinitely Dinner Society Aug 04, 2017

After two years (!!) we're back with Annie Lesser for a conversation on how her work has evolved as she's become a mainstay of LA's immersive theatre scene.

Plus: field reports from Noah about Midsummer Scream and a pop-up event for HBO's Big Little Lies that pulled in some of LA's best immersive actors and creators.

What a week.

Episode 109: The Immersive ComicCon That Was Jul 28, 2017

At this year's San Diego Comic Con the most buzzed about things weren't movies: they were immersive.

Pop-up "marketing activations" for Westworld, Blade Runner 2049, and Mr. Robot drew on the talents and skills of immersive theatre makers and ARG crafters to created the biggest tentpole for immersive this side of Sleep No More.

We check in with Daphne Mir and Maxwell Robison who checked out Westworld and Blade Runner 2049, respectively, to get a connoisseur eye view of these immersive gateways into some of Hollywood's biggest properties.

Plus: our neighbor uses a garden hose throughout a very special announcement from Noah.

Plus-plus: in LA this weekend? Swing on by MIDSUMMER SCREAM and catch our "STAGE & SCREAM" panel on Sunday. Featuring Zombie Joe, Shine On Collective, The Overlook Film Fest, and Unbound Productions.

Episode 108 -- Open Forum July 2017 Jul 23, 2017

What can we say about this Open Forum edition?

Well: we crack open a can of worms and we go right in. That's what.

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

Episode 107 - The Infernal Motel w/Steve Boyle of Epic Immersive Jul 14, 2017

Steve Boyle, the CEO of the SF Bay Area's Epic Immersive stops by to talk about their work in immersive theatre and VR... and about their new show The Infernal Motel.

Plus:

A bit about the Future of Immersive Leisure conference this September in Las Vegas
A call for submissions in next weeks OPEN FORUM episode
An op-ed from Noah about some of the issues popping up in the SoCal immersive scene

All brought to you by our generous Patreon backers.

Sustaining Backer: Ross Sigworth

Music By: Chris Porter

Episode 106: Go To Hell Jon Hamm w/Lauren Ludwig Jul 07, 2017

Lauren Ludwig of Capital W stops by to take a deep dive into the process behind her latest, the much talked about Red Flags. Which means we dive deep down the acting and process rabbit hole.

What does that have to do with Jon Hamm?

You'll see. You'll see.

Plus: "live events locksmith" Simon Rust Lamb jumps in to answer YOUR questions about getting a new production company off the ground.

John Bucher: Storytelling For Virtual Reality Jun 30, 2017

John Bucher of Sideshow Media Group joins us to talk about his upcoming book Storytelling For Virtual Reality, and in the process gets Noah to go way, way off script. (Warning: content advisory.)

Plus the creator of the augmented reality/immersive theatre piece Transmission, which will be making its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe stops by.

Brought to you by our Patreon backers, including sustaining backer Ross Sigworth.

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Episode 104 - Mentalist Vinny DePonto Jun 23, 2017

Vinny DePonto is an amazing mentalist based out of New York City who knows a thing or twelve about immersive theatre: he's been working for the past few years with Third Rail Projects on shows like Sweet & Lucky and the recently opened Ghost Light.

While on tour in LA, Vinny stopped by NoPro headquarters to talk with Noah about how magic is the original immersive theatre and his own background in working in both magic and immersive.

Plus: we get Meiyin Wang, the new Festival Director of the Without Walls Festival, on the line to talk about their big announcement this week and Lauren Ludwig of Capital W (Red Flags, Hamlet-Mobile) stops by to talk about the launch of NoPro's brand new workshop program: because she's teaching the first class next month!

In other words: this is a MASSIVE episode, all in a tiny little space.

Because we know you like it that way.

(Oh, and dig our new logo by Dino Nama, cool, right?)

Episode 103 - By Night Studios' Jason Carl Jun 16, 2017

"When in doubt, LARP it out."

That, thanks to Andrew Hoepfner is one of our unofficial mottos here at NoPro. So it is with great exuberance that we introduce today's guest: Jason Carl of By Night Studios.

By Night Studios are the folks who publish the Mind's Eye Theatre series of LARP games-- live action versions of the classic RPGs Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse. These are among the NoPro crew's formative immersive experiences, and the lines have been going strong and maturing for years now.

In this episode we do more than talk about what the games are and how they cross over with all things immersive, but about the lessons in consent and safety that have been developed through years of experience in the LARP world: lessons immersive creators and participants would do well to heed.

All that plus: GHOST LIGHT notes from Zay Amsbury in NYC, and something SPECIAL from the gaps of the Hollywood Fringe. #theboanthropic

Episode 102 - The Overlook Film Festival's Landon Zakheim Jun 09, 2017

This week on the show, the co-director of The Overlook Film Festival--Landon Zakheim--joins host Noah Nelson for a lively discussion.

We also check in with Mike and Russell of My Haunt Life to see how the Hollywood Fringe is going.

Plus we tease OUR panel at the Hollywood Fringe: The Fringe of the Fringe! This Saturday June 10th at 11AM!

For even more news: check out NoProscenium.com

Episode 101 - The 14th Factory Jun 02, 2017

Welcome to the all-new No Proscenium Podcast.

The format has changed!

But we've still got an amazing guest for you: contemporary artist Simon Birch, the creator of The 14th Factory, which has been turning heads in Los Angeles since it opened. The 14th Factory is three acres of art--much of it immersive--and all of it designed to create a sense of awe and wonder.

It's a can't miss spot in LA this summer.

Plus we check in with Ricky Brigante of Inside The Magic to talk about an otherworldly attraction in Orlando.

All that and more on the all-new No Pro: brought to you by listeners like you!

Episode 100 - THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL May 26, 2017

Two years.

One hundred episodes.

Guiding you through everything immersive.

This very special episode of NoPro features the voices of some of our friends--all looking forward to the future of immersive entertainment.

(It's also super short, as these things go!)

We'll see you back here next week, for the ALL NEW No Proscenium.

Episode 099 - The Big "I" and other Terms of Endearment May 19, 2017

Our man in NYC -- Zay Amsbury -- and Bryan Bishop (Senior Reporter for The Verge) join master of ceremonies Noah Nelson for a wide-ranging talk about how we talk about this immersive thing of ours.

Oh, yeah, it's one of THOSE episodes.

The "I-word," ARX vs. ARG, virtual reality and more come up as three dudes try and figure out which part of the elephant they are holding. All part of the lead up to episode One- Zero-Zero.

Plus a flash facts version of News & Notes.

WARNING: WE CUSS.

Episode 098 - The Willows May 12, 2017

The proprietors of LA's most deliciously strange haunt--Creep LA--invite you to meet the family: The Willows family, that is.

Planned as a year-round production, The Willows is the Creep take on the classic murder mystery dinner. If 'Clue' were staged by The Addams Family and viewed through a disturbed gothic indie horror lens.

Naturally, we love it.

We dig deep into what makes the show possible and the vision Justin Fix and Daniel Montgomery have for it and their production company on this blockbuster episode.

Plus News, Notes, and a call to action for the upcoming Episode 100!

Episode 097 - The Other Side w/Sophia Stoller May 05, 2017

The LA immersive renaissance is really heating up, and choreographer Sophia Stoller is bringing some stunning dance chops to the table this month with her piece 'The Other Side,' which uses some infamous experiments in social control as her inspiration.

We dive into the inspiration for the show and Stoller's craft... and you get a nice dose of news, notes, and an old fashioned Noah rant after the interview proper.

All brought to you by listeners like you.

Episode 096: After Dark w/Julianne Just of LA's The Speakeasy Society Apr 28, 2017

This is a first: an After Dark episode with someone who isn't on the No Pro team.

Here's another first: talking to a member of The Speakeasy Society solo... well, mostly solo. Maybe there are special guests. Maybe not all of the are human. Maybe you'll have to listen to find out what we mean by that.

This is one of those lovely philosophical discussions about the form where we really get our hands dirty. And occasionally curse. So grab a drink (but don't drive!) and join us After Dark, won't you?

OH, YEAH: I totally give you a hint at what's going on with the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the tickets for which go on sale at MIDNIGHT MAY 1st.

Episode 095 - Kent Bye & The Elemental Theory of Presence Apr 21, 2017

Story time: months ago, while driving Interstate 5 in California, I listened to Kent Bye's interview with Jessica Brillhart of Google. In that episode of his "Voices of VR" podcast Kent offered up an "elemental theory of presence," mapping the classical elements onto the different building blocks of immersive experiences.

It was like a door opened up in my head. Luckily, I didn't drive off the road.

I knew at that moment that I had to have Kent on the show. I knew I had to bring him into our little corner of the immersive world to share what he discovered.

In other words, get ready for one of those episodes of No Proscenium, because we're not going to be the same after this one.

Oh yeah: all the news and notes--and then some--are here in our pursuit of EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE.

Brought to you by Patreon backers like you.

Episode 094: Immersive Actors Dasha Kittredge and Keight Leighn Apr 14, 2017

What can we say about Dasha and Keight, Keight and Dasha?

If you're a fan on the LA immersive scene you've probably encountered their work with Annie Lesser (Getting To Know You, Covell), or seen Dasha in Delusion or had the most disturbing one-on-one possible with Keight in Lesser's A(partment 8)--which is getting a reprise this year at the Hollywood Fringe and is appearing at the Overlook Film Festival as The Chalet.

But that's their resumes.

What's it like to, you know, just hang out with Dasha and Keight?

It's awesome. Enjoy.

All that plus another ridiculously huge raft of News. Honestly people, you need to calm down.

Episode 093 - Jon Lawrence Rivera/The Hotel Play Apr 07, 2017

This week Noah is joined by Jon Lawrence Rivera, founder and artistic director of LA's Playwright's Arena to talk about their 25th-anniversary show "The Hotel Play," a site-specific piece that unfolds in a series of hotel rooms at the Radisson by USC.

We get into their writing process behind telling a mosaic story with a writer's room of playwrights. (Apologies for the slightly off sound quality. SOMEBODY forgot a cable and we recorded on the laptop... but it sounds better than the pre-Yeti mic episodes somehow!)

All that plus a MEGA News&Notes (sorry, not sorry, but kinda sorry) and the announcement of EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE our new GLOBAL Facebook group for... everything immersive.

Episode 092: Marissa Nielsen-Pincus of Third Rail Projects Mar 31, 2017

Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Associate Artistic Director of Third Rail Projects, joins us to talk about the a of immersive performance. Marissa has had a major role in crafting and keeping up Third Rail's most famous shows, and we get into the spirit of the craft and her approach.

All that plus the usual News & Notes, brought to you by Patreon backers just like *you*.

Note: the News & Notes section is a bit long this time out. Interview starts at 19:39.

Episode 091: The Hollywood Fringe Festival goes immersive w/Ben Hill Mar 24, 2017

I first met Ben Hill in 2011, on the eve of the second Hollywood Fringe Festival. We became fast friends. In the years since the Hollywood Fringe has become an important incubator for the immersive arts here in LA. Capital W, Annie Lesser, and Shine On Collective all got their start at the Fringe. This year is poised to be the most important year for immersive at the Fringe yet: for reasons we delve into in the podcast.

Join festival co-founder Ben Hill and myself as we take a tour through what it takes to make immersive at the Fringe--the registration deadline is April 1st--and have a few laughs along the way. -Noah

Plus the usual News & Notes.

Episode 090: Vicki Dobbs Beck of ILMxLab Mar 17, 2017

This week: we travel up to the Presidio in San Francisco to talk with Vicki Dobbs Beck, the executive in charge of ILM's xLab. That's the part of Lucasfilm--yes, that Lucasfilm--whose mandate is to explore the immersive frontier. They're working on a whole range of immersive, virtual reality powered projects, and host Noah Nelson talks with Beck about how she views the world of immersive entertainment.

Join us as we gaze into the future, and get incredibly excited about how the digital and physical realms of immersive entertainment are merging.

All that, and the usual News and Notes. Brought to you by Patreon backers just like YOU.

Episode 089: Rimini Protokoll's Remote L.A. w/ Jörg Karrenbauer Mar 10, 2017

It's always a big deal when an internationally known theatre company like Rimini Protokoll hits Los Angeles. It's an even bigger deal for our team when they hit LA with an immersive, headphone driven show like Remote X. And it's a really big deal that they're doing it under the auspices of Center Theatre Group, the biggest theatrical producer in LA.

So naturally we just nerd out with director Jörg Karrenbauer and talk about process and theory, because No Proscenium is a podcast for theatre nerds by theatre nerds.

Oh, and there's the usual NEWS AND NOTES... and an announcement we're just going to tease you here with.

Episode 088: The Big Picture in LA with David Mack Mar 03, 2017

We've wanted David Mack, the strategic director for Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre and a consultant and producer in his own right, on the show for ages. David is a fellow traveler in the LA arts scene and knows more than almost anybody here about what's what.

So naturally we start talking about the Big Picture: how the real estate market and the demographics of LA impact and influence the art that is made here. This one works as a solid compass point for producers of *any* kind of performance art here in LA. And for fans: it gives you a real nuts and bolts look behind the scenes that explains why things are the way they are...

All that plus a raft of News and Notes.

Episode 087: Into The Virtual with Jesse Damiani Feb 24, 2017

Live from the ThinkTank Studio... well, virtually live anyway: we talk with VR Scout editor-at-large and immersonaut extraordinaire Jesse Damiani about his exploration of Sundance's New Frontier, his development of scripting tools for digital and live immersive experiences, and a whole lot more.

PLUS: so many notes you will run out of sticks to shake at them. Including details on our first unofficial Fringe Town Hall: putting two great tastes--the Hollywood Fringe and immersive--together in a formal way at last. Better than chocolate and peanut butter! (That's a damn lie and I know it. Nothing is better than chocolate and peanut butter. Unless you have an allergy.) LINK: http://hff17.com/4496

All this brought to you by our generous Patreon backers and the support of Think Tank LA--check out their podcast Artist Real Talk! Stalk their shows as they go mobile!

CONTENT ADVISORY: Noah says a BAD WORD!!!

Episode 086: Introducing Scout Expedition Company Feb 17, 2017

Jeff Leinenveber and Jarrett Lantz have been around the immersive scene in LA for a minute. The two Imagineers (you know what this is, right?) have worked on Delusion and helped out Third Rail Projects when they popped into town.

Now they are turning their theme park sharpened skills on their own immersive work with the newly announced The Nest, coming this April: and we're here to tell you all about it.

Well, that and the usual nonsense we get up to.

All that plus a massively NEWS focused News and Notes.

Episode 085: Broken Bone Bathtub's Siobhan O'Loughlin Feb 10, 2017

Rubber Ducky Optional!

Thrills! Zay-our man in NYC-sits down with Siobhan O'Loughlin, creator of Broken Bone Bathtub, the globe-trotting solo show that takes place in bathtubs.

Chills! Noah butchers some names, as usual!

News! Notes! Surprises! Stick around for the end credits: there's one!

ALL BROUGHT TO YOU BY WONDERFUL PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU!

Episode 084 - Serial Killer Speed Dating Feb 03, 2017

Friend of the show Abel Horwitz‬ stops by to talk about the month-long residency of his Serial Killer Speed Dating at The Bunker Experience escape room in Pasadena. It's been a while since Abel and Noah have had a face-to-face chat so, naturally, things get weird.

Also: in the News & Notes section this week a little tale of community and connection from our MC.

All this is brought to you by our amazing Patreon backers. Like Jessica Lachenal and Brett Kuehner, who are the latest to join the cause!

Episode 083: But really... Have You Seen Jake? Jan 27, 2017

They call themselves THE ORGANIZERS and they're looking for a man named Jake. You know him. That Jake.

Welcome to another great episode of the No Pro podcast as we get wonky with two members of the creative team from the immersive event series Have You Seen Jake? which involves a search for a missing man through a surreal mindscape.

We're protecting the creator's identities, since there's a whole metafiction going on, but to be clear: this is NOT an in-character podcast. This is a full-on, glorious No Pro wonkfest.

These folks GET the power of immersive, and I think you can learn a lot from this episode whether you're a new maker, a fan, or an old hand. One of my favorites. -Noah

BROUGHT TO YOU BY LISTENERS LIKE YOU, THANKS TO PATREON!

Episode 082 - Talking the Biz with John O'Malley Jan 20, 2017

John O'Malley has had a storied career behind the scenes in immersive theatre. He was part of the producing team on Sleep No More back when the show started up in NYC, and he currently works for Space in the Raw--a group who navigates the liminal space between real estate developers and artists.

Host Noah Nelson sits down with John in his West Hollywood apartment and the two talk about the business, John's career journey, and a certain Mouse House. In other words: we get hella wonky in this one. A great episode for you immersive nerds.

Brought to you by our fantastic Patreon backers. Folks like Tim Redmond and Taylor Winters of haunting.net. Find out how you can join the cause at patreon.com/noproscenium.

Episode 081 - Fear Is What We Learned Here Jan 13, 2017

Screenshot Productions' Nicholas Sherwin & Meghan McHale-Sherwin join host Noah Nelson to talk about the all-new version of Screenshot's Fear Is What We Learned Here that they are bringing to SF. They also chat about adjusting to life in the Bay Area, the ART side of immersive, and more.

All THAT plus a RAFT of news & notes from around the country.

Brought to you by PATREON backers like you!

Episode 080: News & Notes Jan 07, 2017

A wrap up of immersive theatre news and notes from NYC to LA with a stop in one of our new haunts--Atlanta--by host Noah Nelson.

Episode 079: 2016 End of the Year Special Dec 30, 2016

We check in with Zay, Dean, and Albert--the curators of the New York, Chicago, and San Francsico newsletters--to get their immersive highlights for 2016.

Oh, and we also check in with some of YOU to get a broader picture of our immersive world.

Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com.

So long, 2016. You've been... a thing.

Episode 078: 2016 Favorites with Juliet Bennett Rylah Dec 23, 2016

The first part of our two part end of the year spectacular. This episode sees friend of the show Juliet Bennett Rylah (LAist, Thrillist) joining host Noah Nelson to talk about some of their favorite immersive experiences of the year. Juliet's a big fan of the haunt stuff, bringing a Team Spooky perspective to the festivities.

All that plus the usual News & Notes.

Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com and Patreon backers like you!

Episode 077 - Capital W's Lauren and Monica Dec 17, 2016

Friends of the show Lauren Ludwig and Monica Miklas stop by to talk about lessons learned from the recent remount of Hamlet-Mobile, which was pretty much host Noah Nelson's favorite thing in 2015 that wasn't a Star Wars movie.

All that plus: we've got some free tickets in the Bay Area to David Byrne's Neurosociety thanks to our friends at Epic Immersive, Noah embarrsess himself no less than TWICE during the news and notes, and you can update your NYE plans in LA.

It's No Proscenium! Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com and Patreon backers JUST. LIKE. YOU.

Episode 076 - Delusion's Jon Braver Dec 09, 2016

Jon Braver, the mastermind behind Delusion--backbone of LA's immersive horror world--joins host Noah Nelson for a quick chat on the patio lounge of the show. Get a glimpse behind the forces that put this powerhouse show together, and peer into the virtual future of Delusion on this episode of your faborite (we hope!) immersive entertainment podcast.

Oh, yeah: News & Notes and a Call to Action! Plus we promise you a Christmas present.

All brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com and Patreon backers like YOU!

Episode 075: Linked Dance Theatre Dec 02, 2016

From NYC: Zay Amsbury talks with Kendra Slack and Jordan Chlapecka of Linked Dance Theatre, who have been working on some exciting stuff.

Meanwhile, in LA, Noah makes some dumb jokes about Krampus and pitches us all on becoming Patreon backers. Whatever, Noah.

All that and a modicum of News.

Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com and brave, tolerant Patreon backers like you.

Episode 074: News & Notes Minisode Nov 26, 2016

Noah here with some updates, a call to action for our End of Year episode, and the latest show annoucements we've got!

Back next week with a full show!

Brought to you by our friends at Drafty (drafty-app.com) and Patreon backers like you!

Episode 073 - Room Escape Artist Nov 18, 2016

Lisa and David Spira of Room Escape Artist join Zay in New York City to talk about how they got into reviewing escape rooms, and the trio breaks down their reaction to Paradiso: Chapter One--the theatrical escape room game that's been the talk of NYC.

All that plus news and more.

Brought to you by our friends at Drafty (drafty-app.com) and Patreon backers like YOU.

Theme music by Chris Porter.

Episode 072- Shine On Collective Nov 11, 2016

Marlee Delia and Anna Mavromati of Shine On Collective join host Noah Nelson to talk about their show Devoted, one of the gems of LA's Spooky Season.

Plus News & Notes.

Brought to you by our friends at Drafty: drafty-app.com and Patreon backers like you.

Episode 071 - Bryan Bishop Nov 04, 2016

Bryan Bishop, senior reporter for The Verge, has been on a quest for all of October. He's been digging into the immersive horror scene in Los Angeles and joins host Noah Nelson to talk about The Tension Experience, how immersive is bigger than any one medium, and what gets him excited about our rapidly evolving art form.

And, yeah, the News & Notes.

Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com and Patreon backers like you!

Head's up: there's some profanity if you listen open air style.

Episode 070: Revenge of the Open Forum Oct 28, 2016

This week, a vacationing Noah takes some audience questions about the nature of immersive and the International scene. Then he delivers a rant about value and cost in live immersive entertainment.

Plus the usual News & Notes!

Episode 069 - Get The F Out w/ Bob Glouberman Oct 21, 2016

Noah journeys into the man cave of Bob Glouberman... wait. That's not right.

Nevermind!

MEET: the creator of Get The F Out: The Virus, one of the most enjoyable escape rooms in LA!

MARVEL: at how he and host Noah Nelson pack so much nerditry into such a short span of time!

WONDER: how many more exclamation marks we have in this Costco pack we bought last week!!!!

All this plus the news, notes, and a reminder to send us your questions for next week's OPEN FORUM via email and voice message to no_proscenium@outlook.com.

Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com and Patreon backers like you!

Episode 068 - Whisper Lodge Oct 14, 2016

Zay talks to Andrew Hoepfner and Melinda Lauw of Whisper Lodge, a recent experiment in live ASMR experiences in New York. Zay caught up to the creators right after his experience in the lodge, so it's all super fresh.

Meanwhile: we've got a raft of News & Notes from headquarters-- new shows, new reviews, and a tiny little breakdown of what's up at IndieCade's NIGHT GAMES this Saturday night in LA.

Brought to you by our friends at Drafty (drafty-app.com) and the generous support of Patreon backers (patron.com/noproscenium).

Episode 067 - Wise Guys Oct 07, 2016

Before you go any further, we just want to remind you that puns were once considered the highest form of wit...

What happens when you put old friends in a room and get them talking about theatrical games? This episode of No Pro, that's what. Noah sits down with Myles Nye and Greg Snyder of The Wise Guys--whose careers have involved building challenges for Survivor-- to talk about their upcoming immersive gaming event Heritage Scare: An Evening of Competitive Murder on Oct. 30th in LA.

Bonus: you can catch a preview of one of the games at the upcoming IndieCade: Night Games event on Oct 15th.

All that plus the usual News & Notes, and a coda about The Grand Paradise from Myles.

Episode 066 - After Dark II Sep 30, 2016

East Coast Represent! West Coast Represent!

It's the return of the AFTER DARK podcast. Hosts Noah Nelson and Zay Amsbury plug in their microphones and open up the good stuff to get down to some no holds barred talking.

Bad marketing, hidden burlesque shows, what drives us nuts and what keeps up turning up for show after show.

Pour yourself your favorite drink and settle in. But only... After Dark.

Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com.

Episode 065: Jenapher Zheng Sep 23, 2016

Host Noah Nelson sits down with creator and performer Jenapher Zheng to talk about her "video game theatre" piece Oblivious, performing in immersive, movement-based work, and how gaming influences her sense of design.

All that plus the usual News & Notes!

Episode 064 - Think Tank's Traphouse.LA & more Sep 16, 2016

From the Think Tank podcast studio in DTLA comes the latest episode of NO PRO.

Host Noah Nelson is joined by Think Tank's Jacob Patterson to talk about Traphouse.la, the art show/escape room/immersive venue that Think Tank is popping up for Spooky Season in LA. Annnnnnd to announce the advent of Think Tank's own podcast A.R.T.- Artist Real Talk, which is bowing this week.

All that plus the News & Notes-- featuring the announcement of No Pro's involvement with IndieCade's NIGHT GAMES event on October 15th, and our BRAND NEW THEME MUSIC by Chris Porter.

So, you know, just your average episode. ;-)

Episode 063 - Wicked Lit w/Unbound Productions Sep 09, 2016

Jonathan Josephson, Paul Millet and Jeff Rack are the creators of the perennially popular WICKED LIT in Altadena--a triptych of literary adaptations that provide an immersive twist on Halloween fun. The team, best known as Unbound Productions, sits down with host Noah Nelson in the Think Tank Podcast Studio to talk about this year's Wicked Lit, the history of the company, and the non-Spooky Season shenanigans they get up to.

All that plus the News & Notes, and Noah makes the case for why you should be backing No Pro on Patreon. (Hint: because we need you to!)

Episode 062 - Spooky Season w/My Haunt Life Sep 02, 2016

THE TIME OF THE HARVEST IS UPON US! ALL SHALL... oh, sorry. Wrong podcast.

THIS WEEK ON THE SHOW: Mike Fontaine & Russell Eaton of My Haunt Life join us to talk about the best that LA's Spooky Season has to offer. We go IN on haunts large and small, extreme and home. If you want to know what to do in LA for Halloween scares THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE.

All that plus a whole lot more. (How "a whole lot more" is even remotely possible, I don't know. But it is!)

Episode 061: The Tension Experience Aug 26, 2016

For the past few months in Los Angeles a mysterious cult has been up to no good... or so the makers of The Tension Experience would have you believe. After months of speculation and rumors the cat was finally let out of the bag when what appeared to be an Alternate Reality Game turned out to be the lead up to: an immersive horror experience.

So that's a two-fer for NoPro. Our interest was piqued.

Yet there was still little in the way of information on just who was behind all the cloak and dagger shenanigans. That is, until today. The Tension Experience pulled back the curtain for the LA Times and revealed its creator as Darren Lynn Bousman, director of Saw II, III, IV and of Repo! The Genetic Opera.

We were lucky enough to sit down with Bousman a couple of weeks back to talk about The Tension Experience, how a filmmaker finds himself doing immersive horror, conspiracy theories, and his deep passion for immersive theatre. Oh, and we also talk about how hard it is to get a show up and running in LA.

This is one of my favorite interviews in the who series so far. I hope you dig it too.

Episode 60: Hella Fresh Theater's John Rosenberg Aug 19, 2016

This one's for the record books.

John Rosenberg of the (currently) Culver City-based Hella Fresh Theater joins host Noah Nelson for what can only be described as a late-night dorm conversation about high school theatre, putting plays on in your own living room, and the living legacies of the worst people ever.

Not exactly the usual chit chat.

All that plus News & Notes on this, the 60th episode of No Proscenium.

(Contains strong language.)

Episode 059 - The Play Campaign Aug 12, 2016

Last year play collaborative arts venue, one of the producers of immersive and interactive shows in LA, was shut down by the vice squad for running a DIY performance venue.

For the past month Noah--our host--has been helping out the campaign to "legitimize play" and bring performing arts back to the space that until now has been zoned as an art gallery. You've probably heard us talk about it on the show.

In this episode Noah talks with the power trio at play--Nicole Rosner, Meredith Treinen, and Scott Monahan--about how the campaign came to be, the obstacles they've faced in bringing the space back, and more.

Check out the play IndieGoGo campaign at https://igg.me/at/playdtla/x/7051521

Episode 058 - Escape Authority Aug 06, 2016

In the experimental Think Tank podcast studio Noah sits down with Ben Taylor of Escape Authority--a new site focusing on escape room games--and calls up Ben's partner Chris Moschella in Orlando to talk about their new site and what makes a great escape room.

All that and a Noah riff on the VRLA Expo that took place this weekend in LA as part of the News & Notes.

Brought to you by our friends at Drafty, the lighting, projection and sound design tool for theatrical designers: drafty-app.com.

Episode 057 - Ephemera Jul 30, 2016

In NYC: Zay talks with choreographer Avital Asuleen, co-creator of the immersive dance theatre piece Ephemera about this dream ballet fueled by drinking and debauchery.

Meanwhile, in LA, Noah has the news and notes. And he probably shares TMI. That is his M.O. these days. (That and writing in the third person again.)

Brought to you by our friends at Drafty: the CAD program built from the ground up for theatrical designers by a theatrical designer. Learn more at drafty-app.com.

Episode 056 - Johnny: The Shell w/The Speakeasy Society Jul 15, 2016

This week host Noah Nelson is joined by Julianne Just, Genevieve Gearhart, and Matthew Bamberg-Johnson of LA's The Speakeasy Society to talk about their latest production Johnny: The Shell. This is the second part of their cycle of work exploring Dalton Tumbo's Johnny Get Your Gun, which opens on July 21st at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Glendale and runs through August 13th.

All that plus our usual news and notes. Brought to you by our friends at Drafty--the theatrical design program built by and for theatrical designers--check it out at Drafty-App.com--and the support of our Patreon backers.

Episode 055 - The Return of SF's Speakeasy Jul 08, 2016

In 2014 Boxcar Theatre's The Speakeasy was the most talked about immersive experience in San Francisco, and then it disappeared. Now, after an extensive rebirthing experience the show is returning with a brand new, custom-built space. NoPro SF's Albert Kong visits the site of the new show while it is under construction to talk to Boxcar's Artistic Director Nick Olivero and producer David Gluck for a walk through.

Then, though the magic of the internet, host Noah Nelson speaks to Gluck and Olivero about the unique crowd-investing plan that is powering The Speakeasy's rebirth and setting a path for the production's future.

In other words: this isn't your usual episode.

Brought to you by our friends at drafty-app.com.

Episode 054 - Mojo Maps Expedition Co. Jul 01, 2016

Host Noah Nelson is joined by Chris Eng, founder of Mojo Maps Expedition Co., an LA-based theatrical walking tour group that mashes up history and improv in Venice, the Arts District, and Echo Park. The two dig into Chris' background as a business guy at Walt Disney Imagineering, creating experiences in urban landscapes, and just what the market is for this kind of work.

All that plus the usual News and Notes, brought to you by our friends at Drafty-app.com: the theatrical design tool built by and for theatrical designers.

Episode 053: Ruth McKee (Chalk Rep's 'In Case of Emergency') Jun 24, 2016

This week: Noah interviews writer Ruth McKee, one of the core members of LA's Chalk Repertory Theatre, about her latest play 'In Case of Emergency.' The conversation ranges from the themes of the play itself, to how McKee's writing process is driven by a sense of space. A great, into the artistic meat of it, kind of episode.

All that, plus the news and notes-- and a call for feedback.

THIS MONTH'S EPISODES ARE BROUGHT TO US BY OUR FRIENDS AT DRAFTY-APP.COM

Episode 052: Screenshot Productions (Shoshin, What We Learned Here) Jun 17, 2016

If you've been following the LA scene you have probably heard of Screenshot Productions, or at least their work: the company popped up during last year's spooky season with the solo haunt "Fear Is What We Learned Here" and since then have mutated into something... unique.

Screenshot founder Nicholas Sherwin Jr. and his partner Meghan Farrington sit down at No Pro headquarters with host Noah Nelson to talk about crafting one-on-ones, taking the step beyond extreme haunts and food. What? We're human. Humans talk about food. (Trust us, it makes total sense in context.)

All that plus your news and some notes that take us beyond theatre.

Brought to you by our friends at Drafty. The Computer Aided Design program built from the ground up for theatrical designers by a theatrical designer. Learn more at drafty-app.com

Episode 051: Sophie Bortolussi (The Day Shall Declare It) Jun 10, 2016

Sophie Bortolussi is the choreographer and co-director of LA's immersive hit The Day Shall Declare It (which just announced an extension). Sophie sits down with host Noah Nelson in the back patio of the show right before a performance in the Arts District of DTLA (so, you know, it's gonna get loud) to talk about the show, how her training with the Martha Graham company led to a career in immersive theatre, and oh yeah: the art of all this stuff.

All that and the usual news and notes, brought to you this month by our friends at Drafty (drafty-app.com): a computer aided design tool for theatrical professionals. (And yes, we explain EXACTLY what that sentence was all about herein.)

Episode 050: The Crossover with The StoryForward Podcast Jun 03, 2016

Steve Peters, host of The Story Forward Podcast--a show about the future of storytelling and entertainment--joins our own Noah Nelson for this hybrid of both shows. Fun fact: Steve and Noah have known each other for a few years now, but they've never sat down and had a one on one before now.

Another fun fact: Steve isn't just a podcast host, he's also an experience designer. Both with his company No Mimes Media and at other experience design houses Steve has worked on some of the biggest Alternate Reality Games ever. So big that he's still not allowed to mention some of them by name. But you're all some of the world's finest detectives, I'm sure you can figure them out.

Yes, it's a big show--with a big News & Notes to lead us in. One that includes Noah's super fresh impressions of Annie Lesser's 'Apartment 8' at the Hollywood Fringe Fest.

LET'S GET TO IT.

(And thanks for 50 episodes, y'all. Here's to 50 more.)

Episode 049: No Pro After Dark May 27, 2016

In this oh so special episode hosts Noah and Zay connect for a little late-night philosophizing over the role of narrative in immersive experiences. This is one you're going to want to pour a drink and mull over.

Content warning: I think we might get a little salty. Frankly, it's been a minute. Better just avoid playing this around kids.

All that and the usual news and notes.

Episode 048: Kate Jopson (Second Skin) May 13, 2016

The director of Second Skin, a site-adaptive piece currently performed on the Santa Monica beach, joins host Noah Nelson for a discussion about site-specific theatre. This one gets *philosophical*, but in a totally fun way.

All this plus the usual news & notes.

Episode 047 - The Grand Paradise May 06, 2016

Zay Amsbury (@zayamsbury) takes over the interview duties this week to talk with Jennine Willet and Elizabeth Carena of Third Rail Projects (@TRPNYC) about the development of the company's latest show The Grand Paradise ahead of its scheduled close at the end of May. Secrets are revealed, ideas dissected, and a rando calls in with some weird story.

All this and the usual news and notes from Noah Nelson on the West Coast.

Episode 046 - A Most Excellent New York Adventure Apr 29, 2016

Noah is back in LA with lessons learned from his NYC trip in this host-only episode.

We kick off with an extended news & notes before leaning into some thoughts on The Grand Paradise, Accomplice, Then She Fell, Sleep No More, how to manage problem guests, and wrap with program notes and a question for you, the No Pro audience.

Episode 045: Zay and Noah talk "Her Long Black Hair" Apr 18, 2016

With Noah in New York City, No Pro's dynamic duo gets to go on an adventure together. They pick Janet Cardiff's 'Her Long Black Hair' an audio walking tour piece from 2004 that feels like it could have been made last week. Set in Central Park, 'Her Long Black Hair' takes listeners on a journey that can leave you feeling like you've slipped the bonds of times.

This episode was recorded in Central Park, NYC.

Access the play: https://phiffer.org/hlbh/

Episode 044 - A visit to the site of The Day Shall Declare It Apr 08, 2016

One of our favorite shows of 2015 is returning to the site of its run in LA's Arts District. But what they found might surprise you... or not, if you know the Arts District.

The work to get The Day Shall Declare It back up on its feet for a May 10 bow has begun, and Wilderness founder Annie Saunders takes host Noah Nelson on a tour of the site where they talk about the future fate of the Arts District.

All that plus news, notes, and some advice on how to get in on the pre-sale for The Day Shall Declare It, which starts on April 9th.

Episode 043 - Open Forum for April 2016 Apr 01, 2016

Host Noah Nelson (@noahjnelson) takes YOUR questions about the--still emerging--immersive art form.

All that, plus news and a special announcement about a favorite show returning to Los Angeles.

Episode 042: Uriah Findley & Anthony Rocco of Foma Labs Mar 26, 2016

Designer Uriah Findley (@theuriah) has been caught up with some of the most talked about long-form immersive experiences of the last decade. His work with Nonchalance on "The Jejune Institute" was documented in the film "The Institute" and he was instrumental in the building of "The Latitude," which reached its controversial conclusion in San Francisco this Fall.

In the wake of "The Latitude" Findley and game designer Anthony Rocco (@anthrocc) have teamed up to create their own experience design firm: Foma Labs.

Host Noah Nelson talks with Findley and Rocco about the ethics of experience design, how Foma approaches the work, and what lessons they both took away from "The Latitude."

Get your thinking caps on: we get philosophical up in here.

Episode 041: A Bay Area Visit w/Albert Mar 18, 2016

Host Noah Nelson drops in on NoPro SF curator Albert Kong and gets a lesson in Bay Area public/prankster performance art, and a glimpse into how Albert approaches his version of the newsletter. A fun conversation to be sure!

Episode 040: And The Drum Mar 11, 2016

Lauren Ludwig (Hamlet-Mobile, Lost Moon Radio) is the director and adaptor of And The Drum, a movement based immersive in LA's Koreatown that is one part dinner party and two parts exploration of the poetry of Martha Marion. The piece, performed at Marion's own home, is one of the more stunning pieces of work to be staged on LA's immersive scene in the past year.

Ludwig speaks with host Noah Nelson (@noahjnelson) about her process for And The Drum in this fast paced, insightful discussion.

All that and the usual news and notes.

Episode 039 - Third Rail Projects Mar 04, 2016

NEW YORK CITY: Zay Amsbury talks with Jennine Willett and Elizabeth Carena of Third Rail Projects, the company behind Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise. Settle in for a history of the company, a SECRET ORIGINS special if you will. (Ed. Note: No one but you will get that reference, Noah.)

In other words: this is the big one. The episode we've been dying to do since the start of the podcast... and we're less than a year old.

All that, plus Noah Nelson has the usual news and notes.

Sign up for the newsletter: NoProscenium.com.

Check out the Medium collection.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Episode 038: Escape Room In A Box Feb 26, 2016

We go off the beaten path this week to talk to the creators of Escape Room In A Box: The Werewolf Experience, which aims to bring the escape room genre home. The duo behind the game--Juliana Patel and Ariel Rubin--are two stay-at-home moms who love escape rooms but find it increasingly hard to get everything in order to get out to them. So they used their game playing acumen--and their theatre degrees, what???--to create a dramatic, at-home version of the phenomenon.

Come along as we talk about bringing he escape room experience home, and the pitfalls of crowdfunding--something I know more than a few of you have either considered or know a thing or two about yourselves.

Episode 037 - Break Bread at Think Tank Feb 19, 2016

Artists Scott Hove and Baker's Son join host Noah Nelson, along with Think Tank gallery Creative Director Jacob Patterson and Arya Davachi--director of Rough Sleeper--which will be using the gallery's Break Bread installation as the backdrop for his show.

The conversation waxes philosophical about the nature of collaboration and the intersection between art installations and immersive theatre.

Rough Sleeper will play out on just two dates--March 3rd and 4th--at the gallery. The Break Bread installation will be open through March 13th.

Episode 036 - Haylee Nichele Feb 12, 2016

We talk a lot about Sleep No More and Then She Fell at the margins of this podcast. This week's guest--performer Haylee Nichele--has danced in both shows. We are lucky to count her amongst our friends.

On this week's episode we step through the looking glass and see what the immersive life is like from a performer's point of view. We also nerd out a lot.

Haylee's in Los Angeles these days, so Noah has the hosting duties this week.

Episode 035 - Marike Splint Feb 05, 2016

In the summer of last year Marike Splint, an incoming theatre professor at UCLA, reached out to us to talk about LA immersive theatre community. Now we visit Marike at her office on campus to talk about her experiences creating immersive performance and what the scene is like in The Netherlands, where she hails from.

It's a fun talk. All that plus a blast of News Notes. (The fastest in ages... the coffee is working!)

Episode 034 - The Car Plays Jan 29, 2016

This time out host Noah Nelson talks with Paul Stein, creator of The Car Plays and Moving Art's Lem Thornton about the origins of that show. Is it any surprise that there's a "necessity is the mother of invention" moral to the story?

And STICK AROUND after the interview because our intrepid host FORGOT something cool in the News & Notes. Unless you are listening to this after Saturday Jan 30th. In which case: you're too late.

Episode 033- Play Collaborative Arts Jan 22, 2016

Host Noah Nelson talks with the folks at Play Collaborative Arts (Retrograde, Erotica)--Cole Rosner, Meredith Treinen, and Scott Monahan--about their take on devised work, making immersive theatre with an erotic charge, and the pitfalls of running an underground venue in LA's Arts District.

All that, plus the usual news, notes, and a tease of what's to come.

Episode 032 - We're Back!! Jan 14, 2016

After a too-long hiatus we are BACK and this time out we've got a special ALL CURATOR edition of the podcast. Noah (LA) and Zay (NYC) are joined by the all-new curator of the SF Edition: Albert Kong.

Together they form Voltron.

Just kidding. That takes FIVE curators.

Together they review the Best of 2015, the biggest surprises of last year, and look forward to what 2016 is going to bring. It's been a great year for immersive theatre and events, and the year ahead promises even more.

ALSO: be on the lookout for the WEST COAST EDITION of No Pro--launching THIS WEEK!

Episode 031 - Christmas Miracle Minisode Dec 12, 2015

Host Noah Nelson shares a little bit of the regional news, and then big parts of the plan for 2016 for No Pro--including the revised fate of No Proscenium SF!

PUBLICATION NOTE: Both the podcast AND the LA newsletter are taking a break next week. We'll be back in FORCE before Christmas.

Episode 30: Enter>text Dec 04, 2015

The creators of LA's living, experiential literary journal Enter>text, Henry Hoke and Marco DiDomenico, join host Noah Nelson to talk about bringing some immersive spice to the world of literary readings.

Enter>text is a fascinating beast, that proves that you can approach the open frame of immersive work from just about any angle in order to create compelling experiences.

All this, plus some big--albeit tentative--housekeeping news.

Episode 29: ThinkWell Nov 25, 2015

Noah travels to the offices of the Think Well Group--experience designers extraordinaire--to talk about the shared worlds of immersive theatre and theme park design with a group of people who are passionate about both.

Vice President of Creative Development Dave Cobb (@DaveCobb) is joined by members of the creative brain trust--Kate McConnell (@AntiKate), Jeremy Thompson (@jkthompson72), and Dana Shaw (@thefakedana)--for a family style discussion that is probably way chiller than what happens at your Thanksgiving table. So come sit with us at the cool kid's table!

Also: Noah waxes POETIC about The Industry's HOPSCOTCH, which Jeremy was kind enough to drag him to when all hope looked to be lost.

More Twitter handles than you can handle:

All of which are there for a reason--just listen to the show already!

Episode 28: Erin Mee (Versailles 2015) Nov 21, 2015

Zay pops in from NYC to interview director Erin Mee (Versailles 2015, Ferry Play) about her immersive work and transforming public spaces into performance venues through unconventional means.

Episode 27: The Hollow (The Speakeasy Society) Nov 13, 2015

Four core members of Los Angeles' The Speakeasy Society--Genevieve Gearheart, Julianne Just, Matthew Bamberg-Johnson and Chris Porter--join host Noah Nelson to talk about their recent seasonal special show 'The Hollow.'

Staged at Golden Road Brewery's own Speakeasy--Chloe's--'The Hollow' is an exploration of the work of Washington Irving centered on his classic 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' that mixes storytelling, dance, and immersive performance within the frame of dinner theatre.

We go deep this episode into how the show came together on a tight timeline.

Find the Speakeasy Society online: http://speakeasysociety.com

Speakeasy Society Twitter: @TheSpeakeasySoc

No Proscenium Twitter: @NoProscenium

Sign up for the No Proscenium Newsletter: noproscenium.com

Back the No Proscenium Patreon: patreon.com/noproscenium

Episode 026: Miranda Wright Nov 06, 2015

Miranda Wright, founder of Los Angeles Performance Practice and the Live Arts Exchange Festival in LA comes by No Pro HQ to talk with Noah about contemporary performance, producing, and the ways in which the relationship between performers and audience members are changing.

Wright--whose credits include not only LAX but The Day Shall Declare It and multiple shows at REDCAT--and her producing partner at LAPP have started a FREE ADVICE series at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles for artists who are looking to produce work.

www.losangelesperformancepractice.org

(Listen here to the "Episode Zero" of No Pro with Annie Saunders that gets mentioned in the show.)

Episode 025: Jon Schnitzer, Director of 'Haunters' Oct 29, 2015

Get ready for a big episode as we sit down to talk about the crown jewels of Spooky Season--Haunts--with filmmaker Jon Schnitzer. His new documentary 'Haunters' is headed towards a release next year and has begun offering behind the scenes looks at the work ahead of release.

Also joining us on the podcast is host Noah Nelson's housemate, writer Priscilla Spencer, who shares with Noah and Jon her harrowing experiences at the infamous BLACKOUT.

This is a super fun conversation, and it's the perfect way to spend the time between Halloween parties! Just, you know, know that there's some cursing so: NSFW.

Check out the film at www.HauntersTheMovie.com where you can get early access as part of a late stage crowdfunding effort.

Episode 024 - Andrew Hoepfner of Houseworld Oct 22, 2015

Our man in New York, Zay Amsbury, sits down with Andrew Hoepfner--creator of Houseworld--to talk about the surrealist immersive show.

Meanwhile, in LA, Noah has the news and something like a short rant about ethical behavior regarding ticket sales. Because, you know, he gets cranky sometimes.

All this plus the usual nonsense.

Hi Abel!

Episode 023 - Christopher Ashley: Without Walls Festival Oct 16, 2015

No Pro travels this week to La Jolla and the bi-annual Without Walls (WoW) Festival of immersive and site-specific performance. There we talk with Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director of both the Festival and the La Jolla Playhouse.

This is a can't-miss episode for the theatre makers in the audience.

All that plus the usual news and notes from Noah.

Episode 022 - Matt Soson Oct 09, 2015

Host Noah Nelson sits down with Matt Soson, founder of Crooked Grin (formerly A Working Theatre, a Sliver Lining) a production company working in both immersive theatre and virtual reality for a nice, ambling chat complete with cat visitations.

Hey: you don't win Best of LA Awards without a few cat visitations.

All that plus some news and notes!

This one contains swears.

Episode 021 - BBQ Films Sep 26, 2015

Zay Amsbury, our man in New Amsterdam--that's New York City, if you're not into Dutch Colonial American History--come through with a short and sweet one with BBQ Films' Gabriel Rhoads. These purveyors of immersive cinema are gearing up for the BLADE RAVE--an immersive showing of BLADE complete with a recreation of the iconic, bloody vampire rave. That will be going down on October 9th as part of New York's Super Week, presented by New York Comic Con.

Find out more at bbqfilms.com

Find more on Twitter: @bbqfilms, @zayamsbury, @noproscenium

Next week: a brief hiatus.

Episode 020 - Minisode Sep 19, 2015

What happens when you make a call for comments for an Open Forum about failure?

You get a very meta-episode where no one calls in.

So instead: some news and notes from our host Noah Nelson.

Episode 019 - Heidi Duckler Sep 11, 2015

Heidi Duckler, the founder of LA’s site-specific dance company Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, joins host Noah Nelson to talk about her company’s 30th anniversary season including the upcoming Sophie & Charlie: a dance telenovela that runs for four weeks and culminates with a gala event.

All that plus the usual news and notes.

NEXT WEEK: Our second Open Forum episode. Listen for details, and send your voice memos to no_proscenium@outlook.com.

Episode 018 - Sam Roberts of Indiecade Sep 04, 2015

Sam Roberts--the festival director of Indiecade, the independent festival of games-- knows a thing or two about theatre. He’s been directing and designing it for two decades now. Sam sits down with host Noah Nelson to talk about how game design can—and already does—influence immersive theatre in this thoughtful, philosophical chat.

Honestly, we could have gone on for hours.

Program note: the first half of the interview had a technical glitch with the mic (short answer: I made a rookie mistake) but the second half is spot on. (And now I know which button I’m looking for!)

Find No Proscenium all over the web. Twitter: @noproscenium. Newsletter: noproscenium.com. Medium: medium.com/no-proscenium.

Help make the podcast better, pledge to our Patreon: pattern.com/noproscenium.

Episode 017 - Capital W (Hamlet-Mobile) Aug 28, 2015

So, time to come clean: last week's episode was "in character." A kind of epilogue to the fantastic Hamlet-Mobile produced at this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival.

This episode is a real--no really--interview with the cast and actual creators of Hamlet-Mobile. Producer Monica Miklas and writer-director Lauren Ludwig join the actors-- Heather Ann Gottlieb, Lizzie Prestel, Hunter Seagroves, JB Waterman--and host Noah Nelson to talk about the actual creation of Hamlet-Mobile.

We assure you, these are real people.

Okay, one of them might be a raccoon in a human suit.

All that plus a boatload of news. Seriously. Like, too much news.

Episode 016 - The Moving Shadow Aug 21, 2015

Long time listeners of the podcast--we've only been around for four months, so not that long--know that there is a special place in our hearts for Hamlet-Mobile, the immersive theatrical installation from this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival that took place in a van.

In this very special episode of No Proscenium host Noah Nelson talks with the members of The Moving Shadow-- Lizzie, Heather Ann, James, and Hunter--the troupe of actors who fulfilled the last wishes of theatrical genius Marlon Pine in order to bring the microtheatre masterwork that was... is Hamlet-Mobile into our lives.

We apologize in advance for any distress the explicit language in this episode may cause.

Listener discretion advised.

Episode 015 - Open Forum I (Minisode) Aug 18, 2015

You know what, this is your show, and for all the talk we talk about "audience agency" it is about time that we went ahead and opened up the "phone lines." This is our first, and hopefully not our last, Open Forum episode featuring reviews and comments from the community.

We'll be doing another one of these next month, so find out where the Voice Memo app is on your phone or fire up GarageBand and shoot us a memo at no_proscenium@outlook.com.

Episode 014 - "Presence & Agency" Minisode Aug 09, 2015

This minisode--recorded in a car and at the Oculus Story Studio's press event for Henry--features some clips from Oculus' Edward Saatchi, producer of the Story Studio, on how his team views their exploration of immersive entertainment. (Oculus, for those who don't keep up with tech stuff, is the company that makes virtual reality headsets and has captured the imagination of the tech world.)

Next Week: our first Open Forum send in your reviews/questions/comments to no_proscenium@outlook.com.

Episode 013 - Minisode Jul 31, 2015

Hey gang, just a few quick notes this week before we head up to the SF Bay Area.

Episode 012: No Pro After Dark aka "This Thing Of Ours" Jul 24, 2015

The heads of No Pro East and West meet up to talk about the ellusive "I" word, what keeps them passionate about this whole "open frame theatre movement" and just what the hell goes on in their heads when they are putting together the newsletter.

If you're a producer looking to know what it takes to make the cut: this one is for you. If you're an enthusiast looking to understand some of the intriciies and mysteries of the scene, yeah, we do some of that too.

This one was incredibly fun to make.

Content Advisory: Noah curses just like he does in real life.

Find us on Twitter: @noproscenium, @zayamsbury, @noahjnelson

Help make the podcast even better (becasue it's getting more expensive to produce!)

patreon.com/noproscenium

Episode 011 - Of Haunts and Escape Rooms Jul 17, 2015

Juliet Bennett Rylah (LAist) and Abel Horwitz (Urban Death at Zombie Joe's Underground Theater) join host Noah Nelson to talk about Escape Rooms and Haunts in the LA area and what makes a good interactive show.

Episode 010: Annie Lesser (Getting To Know You) Jul 11, 2015

Get ready to dig in. Host Noah Nelson gets into the nuts and bolts of the creative process that drove writer Annie Lesser's Getting To Know You, one of the sleeper surprises at the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

All that plus a quick update on the world of immersives this week.

Episode 009 - Brent Bushnell of Two Bit Circus Jul 03, 2015

Brent Bushnell co-founder and CEO of Two Bit Circus--a motely crew of Entertainment Engineers--joins host Noah Nelson. Bushnell isn't just involved with immersive entertainment professionally, he's also the LA area's number one fan of the work. Listen is as he and Noah dig deep into what's exciting in the world of immersibve and interactive experiences today.

Plus the usual news, and more.

Two Bit Circus (@twobitcircus)

No Proscenium (@noproscenium)

Episode 008: Hamlet-Mobile Jun 26, 2015

A quick episode this week (with a little set-up) as Lauren Ludwig and Monica Miklas, producers of Hamlet-Mobile at the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival join host Noah Nelson to talk about their interactive, immersive, and mobile show. It's like a food truck... for Hamlet.

All this plus the usual updates from the immersive world.

Follow Hamlet-Mobile on Twitter (@hamletmobile). Catch up with No Proscenium on Twitter (@noproscenium) and send us tips/announcements via email: no_proscenium@outlook.com.

Episode 007 - Mikhael Tara Garver Jun 19, 2015

Director Mikhael Tara Garver has been doing immersive and interactive theatre work for over a decade and a half now. She coined the term "Open Frame" to talk about the continuum of work that she's developed, and that tends to fall under "immersive" in it's squishy, catch-all usage.

No Proscenium New York's Zay Amsbury talks with Garver in Brooklyn about Open Frame as a concept and about Garver's latest directorial effort, Dean Poynor's Together We Are Making A Poem In Honor Of Life. (The play is reccomended for audiences over the age of 16.)

On Twitter: follow @ZayAmsbury, @MTGarver, @honoroflifeplay, @NoProscenium

Episode 006: What is No Proscenium? Jun 12, 2015

Everything is backwards!

Recent guest Jennifer Chang (Chalk Rep's Diet of Worms) becomes the host and No Prosceium founder Noah Nelson is the guest as Jennifer seeks the answer to the question: What is No Proscenium?

If you've been wondering that youself, this is the episode you won't want to miss.

Find No Pro on Twitter: @NoProscenium, at Patreon: patreon.com/noproscenium, and on Medium: medium.com/no-proscenium

Episode 005: Chalk Rep's Jennifer Chang Part II Jun 05, 2015

The second part of our conversation with Chalk Rep's Jennifer Chang: this time we zero in on the company's new work: Diet of Worms.

Subscribe to the No Proscenium newsletter at NoProscenium.com! Help make the podcast better via our Patreon campaign at Patreon.com/NoProscenium.

Episode 004: Jennifer Chang of Chalk Repertory Theatre (Part I) May 29, 2015

Jennifer Chang, Producing Artistic Director at Chalk Repretory Theatre and director of their upcoming show Diet of Worms joins host Noah Nelson for the first in a series of interviews about the site-responsive company's work, diversity in casting, and a whole lot more.

Subscribe to the No Proscenium newsletters at NoProscenium.com and support the podcast at Patreon.com/NoProscenium.

Episode 003: Jamie Peterson Part II May 22, 2015

The second part of our two-parter with Jamie Peterson (At An Appointed Time). Focusing on his creative process when working in interactive theatre. Hosted by Noah Nelson (@noahjnelson).

Plus: the latest news from No Proscenium. Keep up with @NoProscenium on Twitter, subscribe to the newsletter at noprosceium.com and support the podcast at patreon.com/noproscenium.

Episode 002: Jamie Peterson (At An Appointed Time) Part I May 15, 2015

In this, the first of a two part talk with Jamie Peterson, host Noah Nelson digs into what the creator of last year's At An Appointed Time looks for when he's exploring Los Angeles' immersive scene.

That plus the latest news from No Proscenium in this, the second of our podcasts. Keep up with @NoProscenium on Twitter, subscribe to the newsletter at noprosceium.com and support the podcast at patreon.com/noproscenium.

Episode 001: LA's The Speakeasy Society May 08, 2015

For the first episode of the podcast Julianne Just and Genevieve Gearhart, founders of Los Angeles’ The Speakeasy Society (Ebenezer, The Stronger), join Noah to talk about their approach to immersive theatre and the company’s next production: The Quick and The Dead.

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