INTERACTIVE DEEP DIVE Story Laboratory Seeks Applications

Jeff Wirth, Director of New York-based Interactive PlayLab, a training and research laboratory for the field of interactive performance, announced that applications are now being accepted for his newest project, the Interactive Deep Dive, to take place in Austin, Texas beginning August 2017.

Wirth has consulted for Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, and Disney Imagineering. The author of Interactive Acting (Fall Creek Press), Wirth has created over 100 interactive performance experiences worldwide, and served as the Director of the Interactive Performance Lab at the University of Central Florida. Deep Dive puts Wirth's four decades of interactive performance research, practice, and production into this one-of-a-kind intensive for ten select participants over a nine-month period starting in August, 2017.

The goal of the Deep Dive is to train and launch the careers of 10 next-generation leaders in the field of applied interactive story. Programming includes monthly outreach projects in the Austin community, and culminates with a major festival showcase performance in March of 2018. The Deep Dive will also serve as an indie research lab for the businesses in the fields of Virtual Reality, Simulation & Training, and Immersive Entertainment. Industry professionals will work in collaboration with Wirth and Deep Dive participants through invitational meetups, creating experiments and explorations in interactive story design and practice.

The Studio Sponsor for the Deep Dive is Imagine Art, an arts incubator connecting the Austin community for 19 years, that has generously donated the space that becomes the performance research laboratory during the intensive.

According to John Riedie, Chief Executive Officer of the Austin Creative Alliance, "It says a lot about Austin's place in the national imagination that Interactive PlayLab will launch the Deep Dive here. Deep Dive will both benefit from and enhance the collaborative spirit of Austin and our position at the forefront of VR, start-up culture and the arts."

Wirth says, "The ideal Deep Dive applicant is someone with the vision to step up as an entrepreneurial leader, bringing applied interactive story to applications where audience, end users, trainees, and students become the driving force in story-based interactive experiences. This isn't just for actors. We have applicants who want to bring this work to the world of virtual reality, mental health, education, and immersive entertainment."

The 40-hour-per-week, nine-month intensive is being offered tuition-free. Applications are now open for the artist/research positions on the Deep Dive team. The early application deadline is October 31, 2016.

For further information, visit interactiveplaylab.com/deep-dive or contact the Interactive PlayLab at info@interactiveplaylab.com or +1 347-593-0827.

Interactive Deep Dive

August 2017 - April 2018

Austin, Texas

Early application deadline: October 31, 2016

www.interactiveplaylab.com/deep-dive

Interactive PlayLab - A performance laboratory committed to training, research and development, and prototyping of applied interactive performance, transforming everyday life through serious play.

Imagine Art - A creative incubator where artists gather for art-making and exhibition. Artists come daily to create in the studios, exhibit in the galleries and connect with the life of the community. Imagine Art is a place where every life is a work of art.

Austin Creative Alliance - Austin Creative Alliance advances, connects and advocates for Austin's arts, cultural, and creative communities in order to strengthen and protect the character, quality of life, and economic prosperity of our region.

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