From Las Vegas’s new Sphere arena to the traveling Immersive Van Gogh exhibits, the future of live entertainment is immersive.This is the first book to offer a behind-the scenes look at these events, along with insights from their cutting-edge creators. These days we don’t want to just watch our media, we want to be a part of it. Immersive events—such as the Stranger Things Experience and the long-running theater production Sleep No More--are growing at such a staggering rate that their revenue will soon outpace film and television combined. But what makes them work? And why? What does it say about us as a culture? And who is behind this revolution in entertainment? In this eye-opening book, Charles Melcher, founder and CEO of Future of StoryTelling (FoST), has curated a selection of the world's very best immersive experiences, and sits down with their creators to learn what makes them so successful and culturally resonant: Disney Imagineering Studio Lead Scott Trowbridge will lift the curtain on his work on the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disney Word and Disneyland and discuss what it takes to design immersive experiences that will be visited by tens of millions of fans; John Hanke, CEO of Niantic—creators of Pokémon GO—will share how he is getting gamers out of their basements and into the real world, turning everyday places into sets for immersive adventure through augmented reality.Living Stories will be an invaluable resource for fans of immersive entertainment as well as the marketers, advertisers, and business leaders who are eager to learn about this phenomenon and how it's poised to transform their industries.

Introduction Chapter 1: Giving Agency to the Audience  Chapter 2: World Building   Chapter 3: Engaging the Senses  Chapter 4: Personalizing the Experience Chapter 5: Embracing the Social Chapter 6: Sparking Transformation   Chapter 7: Sharing the Experience   Chapter 8: The Business of Immersive Storytelling Afterword: The Future of Storytelling