UK-Canada Immersive Exchange Awards Six Projects

Six creative projects have been awarded a total of $300,000 (C$510,000) as part of the next phase of the UK-Canada Immersive Exchange, a talent development and co-production program for U.K. and Canadian immersive technology creatives and producers.

Twenty-four participants—12 from the U.K. and 12 from Canada—were originally chosen from 500 applications for the talent development phase of the exchange. They included six creative leads from each country, including artists, filmmakers, theatre directors and innovators, as well as six creative producers from each country. From this talent development group, six co-productions have been chosen, including two “audience-ready” projects, each receiving a total of up to $100,000 (C$170,000); and four “prototype” projects, receiving approximately $25,000 (C$40,000), with the finished projects previewing in early 2022.

The UK-Canada Immersive Exchange is supported by an international partnership between StoryFutures Academy—The UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling (run by the National Film and Television School and Royal Holloway, University of London), Arts Council England, the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab) and the Canada Council for the Arts.

The audience-ready projects include The Galaxicle Implosions, a live multiplatform, semi-improvised; and Intravene. Among the prototype projects are Acorn, an artistic experience that immerses users into the wonder of nature and the power of rewilding; Alone Together, a means to meet and engage with virtual beings, while navigating what’s real; Datum, a location-based augmented-audio ghost-hunt; and Gloaming, an immersive multi-site VR experience that simultaneously connects audiences at sunrise and sunset across the world.

Laura Mingail, program co-lead for the UK-Canada Immersive Exchange on behalf of the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab, said: “We were thrilled to see the breadth of co-production projects that were developed between the U.K. and Canadian teams. The immersive experiences that will receive funding and further support during this next stage of the UK-Canada Immersive Exchange include VR, AR and spatial audio content that range from social impact-centric stories to wildly entertaining experiences. This range of content would not have been possible without having started with such a diverse cohort in terms of both backgrounds and experiences.”

Becky Gregory-Clarke, program co-lead for UK-Canada Immersive exchange and head of immersive at StoryFutures Academy, said: “We are absolutely delighted that the UK-Canada Immersive Exchange program has led to such a brilliant set of collaborations and projects, especially under such challenging global circumstances. The intent behind this program has always been to break down barriers between companies and artists working together across borders, and we are incredibly proud of the way they have embraced this challenge and of the work they’ve done together so far. We can’t wait to experience the incredible immersive worlds they create.”