Haunting experience from entertainment company behind Hell or High Water allows audience members to interact with real actors and tactile objects while in VR
LOS ANGELES – Nov. 29, 2018 – MWM Immersive, a division of MWM (Madison Wells Media) and producer of Jon Favreau’s acclaimed Gnomes & Goblins, opens a new immersive experience Friday in Los Angeles for a limited time only. Chained: A Victorian Nightmare combines virtual reality with real world elements to tell a spine-tingling version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol that places the viewer at the center of the story. Step into Victorian-era London, keep the company of ghosts, and confront your own past, present, and future through a harrowing journey.
Premiering at experiential studio GreatCo (1655 Beverly Blvd) tomorrow, Nov. 30, and running through Jan. 6, 2019, Chained is an experience blending film, gaming, theater, and immersive technology. It includes a fully detailed Victorian-era set, in which one audience member at a time enters and is fitted with a VR headset by a professional actor. In this single-guest experience, individual audience members interact the entire time with live actors (utilizing motion capture) and tactile objects. Unlike the passive experience of most entertainment, Chained allows participants to look, feel, touch and create. A haunting experience that combines physical and virtual worlds, Chained is a journey of self-reflection and visual awe.
Chained is created and directed by Justin Denton, creator of the immersive Legion experience at San Diego Comic Con 2017, and executive produced by MWM Immersive’s Ethan Stearns, producer of the Academy Award-winning VR project, Carne y Arena. The experience is a co-production of MWM Immersive and Here Be Dragons.
“By combining the best of VR and immersive theater, Chained surpasses the limitations of each medium and lets the audience see, converse with, and even touch the impossible,” said Justin Denton. “I grew up with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol but in my mind’s eye I always imagined the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future as much darker and more intense than most adaptations. Audiences will walk away from Chained as though they have just awoken from a dark and beautiful fever dream full of self discovery, fascination, fear, and wonder.”
“Chained embodies the creative drive and spirit of everyone at MWM Immersive,” MWM Immersive’s Executive Producer Ethan Stearns said. “It’s an experience that uses technology in the service of telling and experiencing a compelling story, not as a gimmick. At MWM Immersive we empower directors and writers to use whatever mediums are necessary to create the narrative experience they want to create and leave audiences delighted and awed.”
Chained is a premium location-based experience that blends unexpected mediums, using a combination of virtual reality and immersive theater, in a way that places the viewer within the story.
Chained received art direction from Aaron Sims, whose Hollywood credits include Transformers, Planet of the Apes, The Thing, and Stranger Things. Aaron Sims Creative (ASC) designed and developed the software behind Chained. The experience received story consultation from video game director Bruce Straley, co-creator and game director of The Last of Us.
Tickets are available now for purchase at Eventbrite.com, with more tickets and showtimes to be released soon. Chained will also be coming to additional cities with dates soon to be announced.
To learn more, visit BecomeChained.com and connect on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.
About MWM Immersive
MWM Immersive (Formerly Reality One) is the immersive division of MWM (Madison Wells Media) that produces and distributes the highest quality VR and AR experiences created by the world’s best storytellers. MWM Immersive also creates groundbreaking location-based immersive experiences, such as Chained: A Victorian Nightmare. In partnership with Sony Pictures, MWM Immersive is also creating premium VR games based off Sony’s slate of motion pictures and franchises. Ethan Stearns, Executive Producer, oversees operations of MWM Immersive, which is also behind the critically acclaimed VR project, Gnomes & Goblins, directed by Jon Favreau.
MWM Immersive is a division of MWM (Madison Wells Media), a diversified media and entertainment company co-founded by Gigi Pritzker in partnership with Clint Kisker, that empowers talent to create bespoke storytelling across film, TV, immersive VR/AR content, mobile gaming, digital content and live entertainment, delivering the most enduring experiences across platforms. To learn more, visit www.MadisonWellsMedia.com.
About Here Be Dragons
HERE BE DRAGONS is a creative studio focused on craft and storytelling with an eye on strategic distribution across existing and emerging platforms. The studio is proud to represent and produce for a curated and innovative selection of the most gifted storytellers in both the traditional and experiential media landscape.
Award-winning work produced includes Kathryn Bigelow’s powerful anti-poaching VR film The Protectors: walk in the ranger’s shoes; The Last Goodbye, a powerful VR holocaust testimonial that featured an installation experience by Hamilton on Broadway set designer David Korins; Sessions: The Legion Mixed Reality Experience which put viewers in the middle of the very creepy world of FX’s Legion at San Diego Comic Con; acclaimed artist Jordan Wolfson’s piece Real Violence which premiered at the Whitney Biennial; and festival favorite Dispatch featuring Silicon Valley star Martin Starr.
Since opening doors, the creative studio has showcased work at numerous international film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca and has garnered accolades including Cannes Lions, AICP Awards, Webby Awards and an Emmy.
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