2021 FEATURED PANEL DISCUSSIONS
UK House was the home for Future Art and Culture discussions during SXSW Online.
Dream and the Future of Live Performance
Making of Current, Rising
Spotlight on Japan
Blowing off Steam: Festival UK*22 - An Experiment in Creativity
CreativeXR: 60 Prototypes On
Immersive Exchange: Collaborating On Xr Projects Across Borders
Dream and the Future of Live Performance
Presented by Arts Council England and British Underground
In partnership with British Council
Host: Clare Reddington (CEO, Watershed)
Robin McNicholas (Creative Director, Marshmallow Laser Feast)
Alex Rowse (Senior Producer, Punchdrunk Enrichment)
Luke Ritchie (Head of Innovation & Partnerships, Philharmonia Orchestra)
meriko borogove (Advisor & Technologist)
Diana Williams (Producer and Co-Founder of Kinetic Energy Entertainment)
This exceptional panel of creators, technologists and producers discuss the future of live performance and their respective work innovating on how stories are made and shared. The Royal Shakespeare Company-led production of Dream, which is showcasing at SXSW, is set in a virtual midsummer forest and brings together live performance, virtual production and gaming technology. Taking this work as our jumping off point we will explore how new technologies change the artistic potential of liveness, togetherness and immersion. Dream is a production from the Royal Shakespeare Company, in collaboration with Manchester International Festival, Marshmallow Laser Feast and Philharmonia Orchestra. It is brought to you by the Audience of the Future Consortium.
Making of Current, Rising
Presented by Arts Council England and British Underground
In partnership with British Council
Host: Annette Mees (Head of Audience Labs, Royal Opera House)
Simon Reveley, (CEO, Figment)
Current, Rising is a 15-minute hyper reality opera experience, combining virtual reality with a multisensory set, inviting audiences to step into a bespoke ‘Opera Tardis’ and experience a dream-like journey carried musically by a poem layered in song. Developed by a female-led creative team, Current, Rising is a timely experiment blending historic stagecraft, artistic excellence and cutting-edge technology, turning the notion of what it means to go to the opera on its head. The project is a unique collaboration between the Royal Opera House’s innovation programme, Audience Labs and Figment Productions, with audience insight research undertaken by Royal Holloway, University of London. The project is funded by Innovate UK and Figment Productions as part of the “Audience of the Future” programme. Inspired by the liberation of Ariel at the end of Shakespeare’s Tempest, Current, Rising takes four people at a time into its magical universe, traversing together the landscapes of the night, from twilight to dawn – exploring ideas of isolation, connection, and collective reimagination – a prescient moment and experience of our time.”
Spotlight on Japan
Presented by Arts Council England and British Underground
In partnership with British Council
Speaker - Maurice Jones (Artistic & Communications Director, MUTEK Japan)
This Spotlight Session with Maurice Jones, Artistic & Communications Director from MUTEK Japan will offer valuable insights into the Japanese arts, music, and technology sector. What are the key opportunities for connecting and collaborating with the Japan sector through artists, creative producers, and technologists?
in the fragmented and ever-changing XR financing ecosystem. Digital Catapult and Arts Council Englad had in fact identified that there was a particular gap in early stage funding for XR content, making it hard for small teams and creators in the UK to develop their own original XR IP. To this date, CreativeXR has run three cohorts and financed and supported development of 60 prototypes of XR content, many of which have gone on to screen at major film festivals, museums, galleries and storefronts. In this panel, we will hear from creators from all three cohorts of CreativeXR, discuss their development processes, explore what future projects might need in order to finish and distribute successfully, and reflect on how the immersive UK landscape has changed since CreativeXR was launched.
Blowing off Steam: Festival UK*22 - An Experiment in Creativity
Presented by Arts Council England and British Underground
in partnership with Festival UK*22
Host: Sam Hunt (Programme Director, Festival UK* 2022)
Nwando Ebizie (Artist and Creative Advisor, Festival UK* 2022 R&D)
Pat Kane (Author, Journalist, Musician and Consultant, Festival UK* 2022 R&D)
Elle Osili-Wood, Journalist (Creative Advisor Festival, UK* 2022 R&D)
A panel discussion exploring how 500 creatives drawn from across the worlds of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics were brought together to imagine and design Open, Original and Optimistic concepts that will reach millions and the role of creativity in people’s lives and policy development.
CreativeXR: 60 Prototypes On
Presented by Arts Council England and British Underground
in partnership with CreativeXR
Host: Liz Rosenthal (Executive Producer, CreativeXR)
Maddalena Crosti (Programme Lead CreativeXR)
Ben Lane (Senior Manager, Enterprise and Innovation, Arts Council England)
Darren Emerson (COO, East City Films, producer and director of immersive experiences)
Gaelle Mourre (Writer, Director, Producer Fat Red Bird)
May Abdalla (Executive Producer, Anagram)
The CreativeXR accelerator programme was launched in 2017 with the goal of supporting early stage XR projects and helping them navigate and raise funding in the fragmented and ever-changing XR financing ecosystem. Digital Catapult and Arts Council Englad had in fact identified that there was a particular gap in early stage funding for XR content, making it hard for small teams and creators in the UK to develop their own original XR IP. To this date, CreativeXR has run three cohorts and financed and supported development of 60 prototypes of XR content, many of which have gone on to screen at major film festivals, museums, galleries and storefronts. In this panel, we will hear from creators from all three cohorts of CreativeXR, discuss their development processes, explore what future projects might need in order to finish and distribute successfully, and reflect on how the immersive UK landscape has changed since CreativeXR was launched.
Immersive Exchange: Collaborating On Xr Projects Across Borders
Presented by Arts Council England and British Underground
in partnership with Storyfutures Academy
Host: Rebecca Gregory-Clarke (Head of Immersive, StoryFutures Academy and NFTS)
Nathalie Clermont (VP Programs and Business Development, Canada Media Fund)
Antoine Cayrol (Producer, Atlas V)
Sandra Rodriguez (Director/Producer, Visiting Lecturer MIT, Member of UCIE Cohort 2020-21)
Persis Jadé Maravala (Artistic Director ZU-UK, Member of UCIE Cohort 2020-21)
International collaborations on immersive media projects can bring huge advantages to creators piecing together the best talent, and the most viable funding options. But it can also be hugely challenging to work across borders, particularly during a pandemic. Following the successful launch of the inaugural UK-Canada Immersive Exchange, this panel will talk about what we have learned so far about international XR co-productions, and why it’s so important for the future of the industry.