Launch of XR Stories

The event begins at the King’s Manor from 1.30pm where we will provide welcome drinks and demos for people to experience leading examples of immersive and interactive content provided by some of our Creative Cluster partners and collaborators.

Programme:

Introduction
Damian Murphy – welcome guests and give an introduction to XR Stories, plus XR Stories promotional video.
Kate O’Connor – the importance of XR Stories and the opportunities for the region, followed by an introduction to the keynote speakers, Mitch Turnbull and Bryan Elsley.

Keynotes
Bryan Elsley – keynote speech on the art of storytelling and best practice in established screen writing –  drawing on his experience of developing leading television dramas.

Mitch Turnbull – keynote speech on developing immersive VR and related content and what the future holds when novel technology platforms become part of more established and traditional workflows for developing and telling stories.

Panel Discussion
Kate O’Connor – invite the panel to the stage and introduce Prof Andrew Chitty who will chair the session.

Prof Andrew Chitty – AHRC Creative Economy Champion will introduce the AHRC Creative Industries Clusters Programme and why this investment is so important for the creative industries and the wider UK economy. He will also bring recent personal experiences of working in the area, as Challenge Director for the Innovate UK Audiences of the Future Programme, the AHRC Immersive Experiences Programme, and leading on these initiatives as part of the UK’s presence at SXSW this year. Andrew will introduce the panel line up who will each give a short introduction to their backgrounds and be joined by our keynote speakers.

Charles Cecil – CEO of Revolution Software, established in 1990 and one of the world’s leading developers of adventure games, based in York. Will discuss the more recent impact of interactive and immersive storytelling on the games they develop and draw on their long track record of game based storytelling.

Dan Tucker – Curator of Alternative Realities VR Programme at Sheffield Doc/Fest, one of world’s leading documentary and non-fiction film festivals, and a key annual event in the Yorkshire and Humber Screen Industries Cluster’s calendar.

Ben Roberts – The BFI are a key supporter of the Yorkshire and Humber Screen Industries Cluster through the work of Screen Yorkshire, and are one of the core partners on the AHRC XR Stories project, as well as being involved in a number of the other Creative Clusters partnerships where there is a clear focus on the screen industries.

Audience questions

Closing Speech
Damian Murphy – an introduction to the XR Stories team, launching the funding process, introducing our website, how to find further information about XR Stories, and engage with us over coming months.

Evening Entertainment from 5pm
The talks will be followed by an evening networking event with drinks, food and entertainment arranged by York Mediale with performances by Mechanical Techno wizard, Graham Dunning and Leeds-based DJ Andrew Devine.

Published on 16 September 2019