The Next Stage Summit & Mini-Festival (2022)

There’s nowhere else like The Next Stage. Part Summit and part Mini-Festival, The Next Stage invites creators and visionaries from around the world and across diverse fields — themed entertainment, augmented and virtual reality, immersive theater, experiential marketing, and location-based entertainment – to share their insight and work with each other. This January go beyond the usual conferences and expos and truly connect with the leaders of the immersive renaissance. THE SUMMIT Our Keynotes & Special Sessions will include talks from Jonny Grant Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Dept. Studios (Arkham Asylum), artist Risa Puno (Superblue), Sarah Ellis (Director of DIgital Development, the Royal Shakespeare Company) director Mikhael Tara Garver, the authors of the Immersive Industry Annual Report, the founders of Room Escape Artist, and themed entertainment wizards from Walt Disney Imagineering, with more still to be announced. Get ready to dive deep with creative leaders from around the world. Asad J. Malik CEO of Web3 AR pioneers Jadu, Melinda Lauw of Lucid Entertainment (Singapore) & Whisperlodge (NYC), Vance Garret of Constellation Immersive (LA), Hamish A Jenkinson of creative agency The Department (London), the creative team of The Speakeasy Society (LA), creative technologist Alex Coulombe, and more will be on hand to demystify their disciplines and report from the front lines of innovation as the whole of the Summit experience brings the convergence of digital & physical immersive experiences into sharp focus. THE FESTIVAL Immersive and experiential work can be hard to describe. You have to experience it in order to truly understand. This is true across the different fields represented at The Next Stage which is why we’ve invited a number of the most innovative creators across the disciplines of theatre, immersive gaming, and XR to bring their boundary pushing work to share directly with the community. Work from Scout Expedition Co., Linked Dance Theatre, The Ministry of Pecularities, Candle House Collective, Siobhan O’Loughlin, Mister & Mischief, Koryn Wicks, and more will excite and inspire those at The Next Stage. Discover new formats, innovative techniques, and potential collaborators amidst this exciting slice of immersive creativity. The Team Started by the creators of No Proscenium & Everything Immersive, the leaders of the new Immersive Experience Institute bring insight from across the field of immersive design: from theatre to theme parks, live action gaming to virtual reality.