Pasadena Playhouse hosting The Next Stage Immersive Summit & Mini-Festival in January

Pasadena Playhouse will host The Next Stage Immersive Summit & Mini-Festival from Jan. 7-9. This three-day gathering draws together the fields of immersive & experiential arts from across creative and technical disciplines. 

In addition to talks, panels, and participatory salons, attendees will be treated to immersive performances and experiences. The intimate event — as only 200 General Admission badges will be available for purchase – is currently on sale now at http://www.experiencethenextstage.com/.

Experts from the fields of the performing arts (theatre and dance), themed & location-based entertainment (theme parks, escape games and so on), virtual & augmented reality, and experiential marketing will be on hand to share their insights and connect with the emerging leaders in the emerging entertainment experience economy.

Spotlight Sessions will include talks from Jonny Grant Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Dept. Studios (Arkham Asylum, London), Sarah Ellis (Director of Digital Development, the Royal Shakespeare Company), creative leaders at Meow Wolf who will discuss Denver’s Convergence Station, artist Risa Puno (Superblue), the creators of the award-winning augmented reality piece honoring Breonna Taylor called ‘Breonna’s Garden,’ forward-thinking technologist Asad J. Malik, CEO of Web3 AR pioneers Jadu, and themed entertainment wizards from Walt Disney Imagineering.

This year also features dedicated focus tracks on the fields of Immersive Gaming, curated by Room Escape Artist, the team behind the premiere escape game industry event RECON: Reality Escape Convention and on the ongoing convergence of XR technology and live performance. There will also be a sneak preview of the next Immersive Industry Annual Report from the authors.

The Next Stage is the inaugural in-person event from The Immersive Design Institute, an emerging non-profit, now accepting tax-deductible donations. Fiscal sponsorship for The Immersive Design Institute is powered by the Producer Hub. With nearly 40 sessions, including multiple participatory events, and a dozen festival selections The Next Stage is an intense and intimate event limited to just 300 participants beyond the invited guests. 

The Pasadena Playhouse is located on 39 S. El Molino Ave. 3-Day On-Site Badges start at $650, which includes access to all Summit events. Festival events are limited capacity, yet each attendee is guaranteed one ticket to a festival selection. Some workshops will be limited in capacity and require pre-registration as well.

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