Lance Weiler
Director
Columbia University, Digital Storytelling Lab
Panel:
12:30 am to 1:30 am
Exploration Narrative: Agency and VR experience
VR/AR/MR effects on experience in theater, advertising and games
About:
Considered to be one of the leading voices in 21st Century storytelling, Lance Weiler has been involved in some of the most innovative projects in the space (Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things, Body/Mind/Change, Pandemic 1.0, Bear71, Collapsus, Lyka’s Adventure and Wish for the Future).
An alumni of the Sundance Screenwriting Lab, he is recognized as a pioneer because of the way he mixes storytelling and technology. WIRED magazine named him “one of 25 people helping to re-invent entertainment and change the face of Hollywood.” Always interested in experimenting with new ways to tell stories and engage audiences, Lance has designed experiences that have reached millions of people via theaters, mobile devices and online. In recognition of these storytelling innovations, BUSINESSWEEK named Lance “One of the 18 Who Changed Hollywood.”
Lance sits on two World Economic Forum steering committees; one focused on the Future of Content Creation and the other examines the role of Digital Media in Shaping Culture and Governance. GOOD magazine named Lance one of their GOOD 100, a gathering of people inspiring and moving the world forward. Lance is a founding member and director of the Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab. In addition Lance teaches a course on the art, craft and business of storytelling in the 21st Century. He is currently working on a slate of next gen storytelling projects.
Additionally, Lance works with large brands, agencies, studios, publishers, and gaming companies to help them shape their media holdings for the 21st Century. “Building Storyworlds: the art, craft & biz of storytelling in 21c” is a new book based on a course that Lance teaches at Columbia University on the future of storytelling.
Reflective Essay:
An Evolution in Storytelling and Impact
It’s been over a decade since I came to the realization that calling myself a filmmaker was useless. As my work began to mix storytelling, design thinking, game mechanics and code, I found myself in a space where running times, formats and platforms didn’t matter anymore. It became clear to me that a single medium couldn’t define what I was attempting to do.
The creation and consumption of media has radically shifted, as those formerly known as “the audience” have become storytellers in their own right. The rapid commoditization of technology has forever altered our relationship to stories and those who we identify as storytellers. In short order we’ve found ourselves drowning in a sea of white noise. Our social streams have become filtered bubbles that reaffirm our own beliefs. We’ve become slaves to algorithms that blind us to the perspectives of others, as we tumble into a Faustian bargain that promises us convenience wrapped in the illusion of a deeper social connection.
For a little over three years, I’ve been the Director of the Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab. Our mission is to design stories that build on a diverse range of creative and research practices originating from the arts, humanities and technology. We are a place of speculation, creativity, and collaboration that isn’t driven by market conditions, but instead explores new forms and functions of purposeful storytelling. Our hope is that we can harness story as an innovation driver and in the process enable humanity to help shape technology instead of exclusively allowing technology to shape us.
The Empathy Lab is building open tools and resources
An Empathy Epidemic
While the feelings around the recent election are still raw, this piece is not one of doom and gloom but instead is an invitation to a potential opportunity. This past Spring, the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab partnered with Refinery 29 — a media company focused on millennial women — to create an Empathy Lab.
The concept is simple:
1. Gather a group of talented storytellers, designers, data scientists, community organizers and educators working on amazing projects that are making real impact in people’s lives.
2. Add a distribution partner like Refinery 29 that reaches over 300 million women a month who themselves represent $150 billion in spending power.
3. Leverage the reach and influence of the distribution network, to partner with brands interested in creating social impact through purposeful storytelling to help underwrite the initiative.
The Empathy Lab’s focus for 2017 is to ignite a global conversation on gender bias, self worth, identity, and power. At its core, the lab is designed to be an empathy accelerator, exploring the role of empathy across technology, policy, entertainment, healthcare, and education.
The project explores cultural differences, while at the same time identifying universal truths, by bringing together diverse groups for “Think & Do” sessions, all over the world. Through a collection of immersive storytelling initiatives that mix AI, VR, IoT and AR the lab is working to build simulations that evoke empathy, inform curriculum design, explore assessment models and help to develop a series of open tool kits and resources. We’ve assembled an exciting founding cohort of projects and are excited to announce them in early 2017.
In closing, consider these wise words from Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
We are currently looking for collaborators. If you or your organization is interested in helping to bring a little more empathy to the world, we’d love to hear from you.