"We are called to gather, make magic, and raise the bar." (XP Land CEO Erica Boeke); "Look out for augmented reality increasingly being used as an everyday utility to solve problems, including at live events." (Leah Rubin-Cadrain, Snap, Inc.); "I'm very excited to be launching my new platform, CROWDED Haus." (Michael Barclay II, Essence Ventures); "Expect to see a lot more live-to-service offerings." (Abbey Londer, Netflix is a Joke); "We've just launched our inaugural immersive incubator." (Mikhael Tara Garver, Culture House); "We're exhibiting our first experiential film, starring Robert De Niro, at Tribeca Festival." (Jay Rinsky, Little Cinema)
NEW YORK, May 22, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Experiential leaders shared what's next for themselves, their companies, and the industry at the XP Fronts, the first-ever experiential upfronts, presented by XP Land — the platform and community for the experiential industry — yesterday afternoon during C2 Montréal. Experience makers, artists and technologists, venues and spaces, and worldbuilders all agree that experiential is booming, and this combination of art, technology, and live storytelling will continue to have an enormous impact on business deals across many industries.
Randy Weiner, Managing Partner, OTBA & Weiner Entertainment Group (Sleep No More and Queen of the Night):
"I am taking the biggest live entertainment IP in the history of the world, and I'm creating the largest, most complicated, most expensive show of my life — extremely heavy on narrative. That's my story. I can't fully reveal what it is yet."
Vivian Belzaguy Hunter, Founder & Sustainability Director, Ascendance Sustainable Events:
"The future is experiential and sustainable. Ascendance has just landed our first deal with a major city. We will be doing 10 events in the City of Miami Beach this year, and we're so excited."
Leah Rubin-Cadrain, Head of Creative, Arcadia Creative Studio, Snap, Inc.:
"From Snapchat and my team, Arcadia at Snapchat, look out for augmented reality increasingly being used as an everyday utility to solve problems, including at live events, like festivals, as a utility for finding your friends, finding the nearest bathroom, and more."
Ariel Foxman, VP, Brand & Experience, Boston Seaport, WS Development:
"What's next: Onsite creative co-creation by way of consumer-facing AI, where people can really choose their own adventure with their indoor experience."
Ron Goldenberg, VP, International Marketing & Innovation, BSE Global (Barclays Center / Brooklyn Nets):
"I'm excited about the re-imagination of sports venues as always-on community and cultural hubs."
Jay Rinsky, Founder and Chief Creative Director, Little Cinema:
"I've got two little dreams coming true in June. The first one is we're exhibiting our first experiential film, starring Robert De Niro. It's made out of samples of 40 different films, culled on six screens, at Tribeca Festival in June. That's been 15 years in the making. The second one is, after over 200 events and working with Netflix, our tech finally got vetted by them, and we're running our first on-platform, experiential fan event with Netflix."
Fri Forjindam, Chief Development Officer & Executive Creative Officer, Mycotoo:
"I think the future is going to be a non-Western narrative, where we're able to celebrate cultures, stories that are from all parts of the world and really leverage authentic, historical cultures and religions and geographic locations in a way that is relational not transactional. For Mycotoo, we're continuing our global domination, not just doing design services, but also producing and opening events. Like Randy Weiner, I too cannot talk about it but we're looking forward to an IP-branded experience that's going to be touring North America and hopefully internationally."
Félix Lajeunesse, Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, Felix & Paul Studios:
"Next year we're going to be launching what is by far the most ambitious project our studio has ever created. It's a large scale, hundreds of people at the same time, experience, and it's completely narrative."
Dylan Thuras, Founder, Atlas Obscura:
"Atlas Obscura has published three big books in the past, all [New York] Times bestsellers, and we're publishing our fourth big book in the fall called Atlas Obscura: Wild Life, which is all about exploring the world's living wonders and doing it sustainably."
Amy Farley, Executive Editor, Fast Company:
"In September, Fast Company has its 10th anniversary Innovation Festival, four days of bringing our brand to life on the stage."
Michael Barclay II, EVP, Experiential, Essence Ventures:
"I'm very excited to be launching my new platform, CROWDED Haus, which is poised to revolutionize the way brands and creators bring experiences to life."
Aamna Jalal, Head of Business & Legal Affairs, General Counsel, Superfly:
"We are very excited to launch our latest trend report about the World of Play. The key takeaway is that various mindsets related to play are critical to consumer engagement, brand loyalty and advocacy."
Mikhael Tara Garver, Founder and CXO, Culture House Immersive:
"At Culture House Immersive, we've just launched our inaugural immersive incubator, which is incubating 10 to 12 narrative projects, with big massive worlds and being able to partner with many of the folks hopefully on this stage and out there [at C2]."
Lesly Simmons, Founder, The Dollhouse Project
"I think that the future of experiential is going to include a lot more purpose-driven and niche events. I'm excited for Dollhouse Day to be a part of that. We have a goal of giving away 10,000 dolls to kids across the country next year."
Abbey Londer, Festival Director & Executive Producer of Live Events, Netflix is a Joke:
"The biggest success stories out of Netflix is a Joke Fest were some of our live-to-service offerings, such as the Tom Brady Roast, John Mulaney's amazing, weird late-night show, and also the Cat Williams Live Special. I think you can expect to see a lot more live-to-service offerings from Netflix is a Joke in the future."
Erica Boeke, Founder and CEO, XP Land:
"What's next for XP Land — this is a call to gather people in small groups, in large, epic gatherings, make magic, and raise the bar. Let's go beyond mediocrity, let's tell amazing stories live, and in 3D, that help people feel, connect, learn and grow. You are all part of the XP Land community now. We can't wait to continue elevating this conversation about what we do and why it's so important. We can't wait to build tools for the next generation of experience makers, and we can't wait to continue gathering the gatherers. Thank you all for your deep curiosity and for coming to our first ever XP Fronts."
The XP Fronts program was integrated into the first day of C2 Montréal, the award-winning creative business conference, now in its 13th edition and held at the Grand Quay of the Port of Montréal. XP Fronts would not be possible without our partners: wonderMakr, AREA15, Investissement Québec International, Lasso Studio, Moment Factory, PHI, Rodeo FX and Studio Dease.
About XP Land:
XP Land is the platform built for event makers, creatives, live storytellers, bold brands, and world-building places and spaces that drive growth for the $2T+ experiential industry. Launched by industry insiders, XP Land delivers curated tools, gatherings and community, as well as best-in-class consulting that enables culture-shaping leaders and newcomers to innovate, collaborate and thrive in the YOLO economy. XP Land launched the XLIST, the 100 most creative visionaries in experiential, in 2023, and presented the XP Fronts, the first-ever experiential upfronts, during C2 Montréal, May 21, 2024. https://www.xp.land
About C2 Montréal:
Founded in 2012 by creative agency Sid Lee in collaboration with its founding partner Cirque du Soleil, C2 Montréal is Canada's premier creative business event. A true playground for the imagination, C2 Montréal is an immersive three-day experience taking place in a highly creative setting that attracts more than 5,000 participants from more than 60 countries and more than 30 industries. https://c2montreal.com/
Media Contact
Lisa Jaycox, XP Land, 1 646-244-6992, [email protected], https://xp.land
Caitie Murphy, XP Land, 1 917-584-9819, [email protected], https://xp.land
SOURCE XP Land
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