MAY | THE COLUMNISTS
Access’ regular
columnists talk VR,
arts funding and
people power
Are you ready?
Jonathan Emmins, founder,
Amplify Ten years gone
Josephine Burns, chair, Without
Walls Valuing Suppliers
Simeon Aldred, CEO, Vibration
Group
The simultaneous arrival of
Ready Player One and Kiss Me
First confi rms that immersive
experiences are becoming part of
our culture. Where immersion was
once about disconnecting from
the real world, tech evolution now
means we can better interact with
experiences by catering for the
whole gamut of our senses.
Somnai from Dotdotdot, in
addition to the usual VR experience,
adds to the overall experience with
real actors and senses like taste
and touch. ‘Layered reality’ means
VR and AR is moving away from
being a relatively static experience
where users are seated for a fi ve-
minute jump in and out of a virtual
scene. Instead, users can now move
around and explore their virtual
or augmented environments, with
a mix of physical sensory add-ons
that complement experiences
whether head-sets are on or off .
Flies in the ointment include
glitchy fogging, fi elds of vision and
latency issues. Although it’s not yet
perfect, smart brands understand
its potential and are wisely jumping
on board. That’s incredibly exciting
for Amplify because it adds another
aspect to our storytelling. Creative
people realised the printing press
could be used for more than
propagating the bible, so what
potential will today’s creatives fi nd
in immersive? This month Without Walls grew
up. For ten years we’ve been
commissioning work for outdoors,
leaping about on the edge of the
cultural landscape like a feisty
teenager. More than 100 shows
later, Arts Council England, our
main funder, provides a signifi cant
funding and status uplift.
UK outdoor arts are under-
funded compared with European
countries and therefore less
developed. Artists and makers need
time to play, to explore, to refi ne,
released from touring constraints.
Without Walls can announce its
new Blueprint fund will support 21
new R&D projects; selected from
over 100 great proposals.
R&D investment is diffi cult to
access in many arts/cultural sectors
unlike science and technology. Most
investment is focused on ‘outputs’ –
a show or event – making R&D hard
to fi nance if you don’t get regular
funding. Last month, a NESTA
report promoted “cultivating a
culture of experimentation in
[arts] organisations”. Arts Council
England, meanwhile, has a new
fund – Developing Your Creative
Practice – designed to address this
gap, though artists have to have
three years experience to apply.
Artistic experimentation is key
to the development of truly high
quality work - maybe we’re all
growing up now. We actively invest in event services
businesses. By successfully
incubating Event IP and venues,
this year we’ve tipped over the
£50m turnover mark.
Yet someone asked me the other
day: “Why? Why are we buying our
suppliers as well as investing in
some of our clients?”
Our model is diff erent to an
aggressive investment fi rm. We’re
not motivated by majority shares
or traditional control. The truth is,
we’re about ensuring a sustainable
group creative output and service.
Yet our recent partnership
with 5star Crew Co taught me the
most profound reality behind our
strategy. Taking an equity stake in
the business last year, we expanded
it by acquiring a Scottish crewing
company and opening new offi ces
nationally. But why would we invest
in 5Star Crew co in the fi rst place?
One thing: it’s people. Ed, 5Star’s
founder, sets the standard. When
we fi rst met him, he turned up early.
Seeing the job was challenging, he
mucked in alongside his men, drove
crew home afterwards and gave
them clean crew clothing. Sounds
like a strange set of qualifi cations
for a massive investment, right?
Well ask yourself when was the last
time you knew the names of all your
crew? Or are they faceless staff that
vanish as if by magic when you’re
consumed by event stress?
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