One of the Television Academy’s most future-facing categories has nominated Uncanny Alley: A New Day, a scrappy, artist-led immersive experience created by Ferryman Collective and Virtual Worlds Company inside VRChat. The production exists somewhere between theater, cinema, and a shared virtual world where rather than watching a story unfold, audiences become part of the narrative, interacting directly with live actors whose performances evolve in real time.
Uncanny Alley: A New Day grew out of the virtual universe, created by Rick Treweek (aka MetaRick) of Virtual Worlds Company. The groundbreaking live performance is a collaboration between Ferryman Collective (USA) and Virtual Worlds Company (South Africa) to adapt the underlying IP, and distinctive world-building into an immersive theatrical experience. The writing-directing was helmed by two of Ferryman’s founders, Stephen Butchko and Deirdre V. Lyons. Ferryman Technical Director Christopher Lane Davis (aka Screaming Color) optimized and expanded Uncanny Alley: A New Day’s environment, adding original visual effects, music and performance show controls.
“The magic of this piece is that it is alive,” says Ferryman Director of Development Whitton Frank. “The world may be virtual, but the connection is real. Every audience brings something different into the room, and we build the performance with them in real time.”
Actor, Brendan Bradley, (The Studio, Resident Evil: Village)has become one of the performers most closely associated with VR theatre. His work alongside Ferryman has been recognized at festivals and awards including Venice, SXSW, Raindance, the Auggie Awards and as Finalists for The Producer Guild of America’s Innovation Award.
VIDEO: Bradley plays 9 characters in Uncanny Alley ]
et in a cinematic cyberpunk world built with the Unity game engine and then performed in VRChat, Uncanny Alley: A New Day begins with audiences in prison after protesting at a rally against the impending New Day update to their world. When hacker Gh0st enlists her megabyte friend, Puck, to trigger an explosive jailbreak, audiences are thrust into a journey through a whimsical, dangerous, and unexpectedly human virtual world.
Two actors portray 15 characters in real time, inviting audiences to speak directly with performers and interact with the world around them, as embodied characters inside the story.
Since its world premiere at Venice Immersive, Uncanny Alley: A New Day has been presented at leading international festivals including: SXSW; Raindance Immersive; NewImages Festival; Augmented World Expo; and, most recently, SIGGRAPH. The VRChat worlds for Ferryman Collective and Virtual Worlds Company boast almost 750,000 visitors, which rivals the average audience of a Broadway play.
On Tuesday, August 4, the producers have planned a Virtual Press Junket–a curated digital FAM trip to the Uncanny Alley: A New Day world–for interested media and others to get a short tour of the experience and do a Q&A with creators and performers. They’re booking appointments on the half-hour between 10AM-1PM and 1PM-5PM on the day. RSVP HERE.Note: we currently have only 14 spots so act fast! The team have additional in-person and virtual activations planned for later in August.
The Television Academy’s recognition of Uncanny Alley: A New Day suggests immersive storytelling may be reaching the same inflection point that online video experienced years earlier. The Outstanding Emerging Media Program recognizes work that expands the viewing experience beyond traditional television through immersion, interactivity, and audience engagement. Uncanny Alley: A New Day is the underdog up against studio-backed projects from Amazon, Blumhouse, Meta, Universal, and Bethesda Games. The team believes no other nominee brings these elements together in a live theatrical experience where audiences enter the story, interact with performers and one another in real time, and become part of the unfolding, evolving world.
Whether this nomination becomes a turning point for social VR or simply another milestone in its evolution remains to be seen. But one thing is increasingly clear:
“The future of entertainment is not only being watched,” says Bradley, “Sometimes… it is being entered.”