Hello friends!

If you’re used to getting a sporadic Substack from me, don’t panic! You’re in the right place. I hope you’ll continue with me on this new platform, but I won’t be upset if you choose to unsubscribe – if your inbox is anything like mine, it takes drastic measures to deal with.

But if you do stick around, I’ve got some new things planned that I’m very excited about. Especially one new project that I'm cooking up right now. More about that in future posts, but if you want to get everything as soon as you can, signup for early access to what we’re currently calling “The Postmaster” over here.

I do promise, however, not to spam you with endless email sequences, teases for course offerings, or listicles on “Five Simple Steps To Make ChatGPT Pay Off All Your Loans and Perform Complex Surgical Procedures.”

The goal here is for a modest uptick in my usual once-in-a-blue-moon missives about the intersection of technology and storytelling, immersive and interactive media, whatever pop culture is getting me excited at the moment.

I also plan every so often to go digging in the crates to talk about previous projects -- so many interactive and immersive experiences are unarchived and unarchivable, and disappear into the ether. So some old projects only exist as case study videos or presentation talking points. Others are governed by NDAs and a culture that disincentivizes people from talking publicly.

The showbiz omerta is real. But I've secured permission to talk (vaguely) about...

Rageleaks

I had the privilege of working with Sony on an Alternate Reality Game for the film 28 Years Later. We told a story from inside the world of the film, where a NATO blockade has kept Britain quarantined since the original outbreak of the Rage Virus.

This was fun, and we got to do a lot of old-school, throwback ARG techniques. Codes hidden in trailers. Secret websites. Leaked government files.

The site is still up at rageleaks.net where you can find our story. (I won't make you solve the code for the password: it's "mementomori.")

And if you're an old school Cloudmaker, you'll find the name of one of the doctors to be a bit familiar.

Next Stage

I spent last weekend at the Next Stage Immersive Summit at the Pasadena Playhouse, and I’m still buzzing. Since the pandemic, we’ve lost a lot of the places for community connection, and while Zoom is great it’s no substitute for actually sharing space with other humans. So I had an incredible time reconnecting with folks I hadn’t seen in years, meeting new people with shared language and obsessions, connecting people who needed to know each other, and generally being with My People.

Kudos to all the organizers, especially No Proscenium founder and Jedi Master Noah Nelson, who practically willed this thing into existence against unbelievable odds.

One extra special thing about the conference was getting to hang with Rory Mitchell. Rory and I first met in 2002, a month after I first arrived in LA, at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab West, which was held at the very same Pasadena Playhouse.

23 years ago, we were the young, upstart firebrands. Now we’re grizzled veterans. Seasoned, if you will.

Rory is the creator of The Tent, a unique and compelling “Tabletop AR” experience that tells a haunting story in a way that I've never seen anyone else accomplish. Rory describes it as "a movie you can walk around in."

​

iOs users can download it here!​

The Sky Above The Port

They're finally, actually, making a tv adaptation of William Gibson’s Neuromancer.

​

​

I can't wait to see what they do with it, especially how they visualize Gibson's original conceit of cyberspace. Especially in a world with the Apple Vision Pro and other spatial computing devices.

Years ago, I used to have an audiobook version (on cassette, no less), which was narrated by Gibson himself. Who is really not a voice performer. But it somehow makes the whole thing more charming. Oh look, someone put it on YouTube. The street really does find its own uses for things.

Thanks

Thanks for reading this far. I hope you’ll stick around for more. And since we're testing out this new platform, hit reply to this email and let me know if you got it, how you're doing, and what gifs you'd like to see incorporated in future broadcasts.

Also, make sure to click that button below to sign up for The Postmaster. We’ll be spinning up over the next several weeks.

Thanks!
Jay