RARE BIRD STUDIOS

Immersive Experiences for Future Humans

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Excited to see Hyperscape finally announced at Connect '24, congrats to all the team, it took a lot of hard work to get there!

Review here

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Edinburgh Film Festival Industry Event: Citizens of Imagination - Community and Multimedia Storytelling

Edinburgh Film Festival listing here

StoryTrails is a journey through time and space that uncovers the hidden histories of our towns and neighbourhoods using immersive technology. GALWAD: A STORY FROM OUR FUTURE, is a human story of contemporary Wales that offers a glimpse into the future and asks what would happen if the future tried to contact us. The story will unfold in real-time on digital and broadcast platforms from 26 September to 2 October 2022.  Both are commissions of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a programme of ten major multi-site and digital creative projects that share new ideas and possibilities for the future. 

If you are interested in exploring new ways of filmic communication, join us for an afternoon of discovery with pioneering creatives to explore how innovative use of creative technology can put communities at the heart of storytelling, giving audiences a sense of their place in the world and role in its future. 

Guests include:  

Alex McDowell –  Production Designer responsible for Fight Club (1999), Minority Report (2002), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and many more. Co-founder and Principal Creative Director, Experimental Design. Professor of Practice, USC School of Cinema. Director, USC World Building Media Lab and World Building Institute) 

Miguela Gonzalez – Head of Radical Inclusion, GLAWAD  

Will Saunders – Creative Lead, Story Trails 

Kim-Leigh Pontin – Creative Director, Nexus Studios. 

Moderated by Hilary O'Shaughnessy - Director of Commissioning, UNBOXED

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The Book of Creatures approved for development funding from The BFI

So excited to have been given the go-ahead by the wonderful BFI to develop The Book of Creatures.

In this interactive VR series, participants are stuck in a future where humans are kept as entertainment for farm animal-human hybrids. When you find a mysterious book, The Book of Creatures, you are given a mission: Travel back in time to the present day. Stop humans from destroying animal diversity.

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StoryTrails launches at Sheffield Doc Fest

Full launch info here (RHUL) Full project info here (story-trails.com)

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Dreamachine and the Science of Perception - CogX

Imagine a machine that creates vivid illusions, kaleidoscopic patterns and explosions of colour in your mind, as you experience it with your eyes closed. Commissioned by UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, Dreamachine is designed to explore the limitless potential of the human mind. Join Director Jennifer Crook, neuroscientist and bestselling author Anil Seth, Anthony Engi Meacock of the Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble and Kim Leigh Pontin, Creative Director of Nexus Studios, as they share the inspiration behind Dreamachine, how it works and how it’s helping to explore the wonder of how we perceive and create the world around us.

View the panel discussion here

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Into the Metaverse:

My plan to level up Britain – with the 3D internet and a Blackpool ‘queercoaster’

Article in The Guardian by David Olusoga 16 March 2022

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Creative Coalition Festival - Designing a Better Future

Speaking at Creative Coalition Festival, "Designing a Better Future: Collective Creativity in Action" Free tickets.

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Speaking at this on Thurs 27 Jan! Free Event, sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/immersive-factual-storytelling-ma-launch-tickets-244504869647

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StoryTrails – call for emerging creatives

Humbled and inspired as Creative Director on this project, with my amazing team at Nexus enabling and training 15 new voices to tell stories that matter. Come and join us!

Find out more at the StoryTrails site

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Marvel Studios / Disney Eternals AR

As Creative Director at Nexus Studios, I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to direct this AR piece in support of the release of Eternals AR.

Full details on the project at Nexus Studios Download the iOS experience here

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Sky Worlds released on Quest 2

Happy to see Sky Worlds, the project which I pitched in 2016, prototyped, and ran a small team of creatives and devs for, launched.

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#CorpTopia on BBC Click – "Movie Monsters and Mental Health"

Here's #CorpTopia on the full episode of #BBCClick! - "Movie Monsters and Mental Health". Thanks to #CreativeXR  #StoryFutures for funding this experimental work during the London Lockdown period.  

If episode is no longer live, view here – around 15:00

My roles: Writer, Creative Director, Producer, Character Designer, Environment Designer, Snap Lens Designer, Unity Dev.

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#CorpTopia on BBC Click!

Here's a clip of #CorpTopia -- tune into #BBCClick to see a preview today! Sat 27 at 3.30, and 12.30 tomorrow Sun 28. #CorpTopia has been my Friday project during lockdown — become a Pangoluman in an #AR #ImmersiveTheatre live drama! Thanks to CreativeXR and StoryFutures for funding this experimental piece.

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Britannia VR: Out of Your Mind launches

Proud to have launched Britannia VR: Out of Your Mind.

An experience based on Sky Atlantic’s 2nd series of Britannia. You’ll become part of a lost Celtic tribe held up on a beach two years after the Roman invasion. You can choose to be immersed in a world of Druid magic and mysticism, or enter an intoxicating world of Roman imperialism and power.

Check it out for FREE on Steam VR.

I was Director and Creative Director on this photorealistic, interactive exploration of the cinematic Britannia world.

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Trailer for Britannia VR: Out of Your Mind

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Loving being on #VR island for the #venicefilmfestival, showing #Britannia #vrdev @skyatlanticuk @vertigo_films #SkyVRStudios...

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VR Experience for A Discovery of Witches at Waterloo Station.