Immersive Experiences
Before I trained as a professional theatre artist, I devoted all my free time to scenario paintball games, RPGs, ARGs, and video games. As a kid, I never had the resources to get into LARPing.
So, after falling in love with the performing arts at a renaissance festival, I spent much of my career creating 360 physical experiences which engage senses beyond mere sight and sound. And which, through the magic of make belive, create memories and communities which last well beyond the event itself.
So, after falling in love with the performing arts at a renaissance festival, I spent much of my career creating 360 physical experiences which engage senses beyond mere sight and sound. And which, through the magic of make belive, create memories and communities which last well beyond the event itself.
"It’s rare to be able to design and create with someone who has such an extraordinary perspective as Max does, and yet still have the capacity to trust and lead
his creative team to perhaps a different end point than he could have initially imagined....
Without a doubt, that working with Max... has truly allowed me to grow into the designer that I am today.
"
-Kathleen Q., Dragon Costume Designer - LA Based Designer for Theatre & Film
-Kathleen Q., Dragon Costume Designer - LA Based Designer for Theatre & Film
The Riggstone Records
Narrative Designer, Writer, Co-Producer, Director, Lead Actor
The Riggstone Records took audiences into the wacky and terrifying universe of Shoggoths on the Veldt in an immersive, interactive escape room game.
“Your team receives a secret message. Appear at 2120 Broadway St, to meet a mysterious personage with the goal to uncover a two century old mystery-- the secrets behind the Riggstone Records; and stop a great tentacled apocalypse!”
This project was created in collaboration with GR8er Good Games and Dragon Productions as a companion piece to the stage play Shoggoths on the Veldt by Cameron McNary.
Swingposium
Experiential Designer, Writer, Assoc. Producer, Co-Director
Based on interviews with survivors of Japanese-American internment camps, this large-scale immersive event invited guests to experience the rise of swing dancing and music in the internment camps of World War II. Presented with a big band, swing dancers, taiko drumming, cultural crafting activities, and actors, guests danced the night away with an all-Asian-American cast. This project was created in collaboration with San Jose Taiko & Epic Immersive.
Swinposium was revived as part of Japantown Immersive in 2018, with me serving as Experience Design Consultant and Assoc. Producer. The show also toured to Humboldt, CA in the Winter of 2020.
Want more?
- Read an excerpt from the Script
- Watch a clip from the show (2+ Mil views on Facebook.)
Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection
Experiential Design Consultant (Narrative, Audience Flow, Interaction), Writer, Assoc Producer, Assoc. Director, Lead Actor
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Guests explored three areas of the park (a 1907 World’s Fair, a city block out of the Roaring 20’s, and a depression-era camp) to experience the story of life made infinite -- for those who can afford it. Created in collaboration with Epic Immersive and History San Jose.