Madrid Noir
After her estranged uncle is declared dead, a disenchanted young woman arrives in Madrid to empty the apartment that he left behind. Lola is soon compelled to dig into her memories, where she'll pick up her uncle's shadowy trail and attempt to piece together the puzzles of the past. Staged as an awe inspiring theatre production, this charming mystery unfolds across a city that lives in the night, a Madrid now lost to time.
HOW TO ACCESS
No festival accreditation is needed to access the Raindance Immersive selection online. Some experiences in the selection have been commercially released on VR platforms. We highly encourage you to support independent creators by purchasing their experience on the platform of your choice.
If you have an Oculus Quest/Quest 2 you can download the experience on the Quest store.
If you have a VR ready PC and a compatible PC VR headset such as HTC Vive/Pro/Pro 2, Oculus Rift/Rift S/Quest + Link, Valve Index or a Windows Mixed Reality headset, you can download the experience on Viveport.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
James A. Castillo is a Director and Character Designer hailing from Madrid. His design work has been central to major production companies including Paramount Pictures and Sony Animation, among others. His unique style gives Madrid Noir it’s charming look that marks it out from other VR offerings. His interest in creating VR narratives came while working as an art director on Melita, a VR experience by Oculus Studios which amounted to half a dozen awards and recognitions, including Venice film festival and Sitges.
Lawrence Bennett is a writer and Co-Founder/ Director of No Ghost, an immersive studio based in London, UK. With a keen interest in Cinema, Technology and Theatre, he found a crossover for all three in computer animation. After half a decade working in VFX, and eager to return to his creative roots in 2015 he founded No Ghost with the express aim of exploring storytelling in the immersive landscape. Lawrence has since been focused on developing VR and AR projects that combine his passions for striking visuals and emotionally affecting experiences.
An alumnus of the Royal Court and Soho Theatre Writers Groups and the Odeon Scholar at the National Film & Television School, Lydia Rynne was awarded the Funny Women Writing Award in 2019 for her YA comedy pilot script Living Wild. With a background in devising and performing immersive theatre (once playing a talking goat at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Madrid Noir marks Lydia's first foray into the wonderful world of VR, and combines her love of immersive storytelling and comedy. She is currently developing original TV projects with companies such as Ubisoft Film & TV and Various Artists Limited and is writing a YA musical comedy funded by the BFI.
CREDITS
Director: James A. Castillo
Script Writers: Lawrence Bennett, James A.Castillo and Lydia Rynne
Cast Members: Godeliv Van Der Brandt and Fernando Guillén Cuervo
Producers: Antoine Cayrol, Arnaud Colinart, Corentin Lambot, Dash Spiegelman (Atlas V) and Luke Gibbard, Lawrence Bennett, Craig Skerry (No Ghost)
Key collaborators: Yelena Rachistky and Emmanuel Bernard
Animation Director: Aziz Kocanaogullari
CG Supervisor: Thomas Flavelle
Music Composer: Carlos Rodriguez
Sound Design: GCVRS + The Lobby
Interactive VR animation | Runtime: 42 mins | Platforms: Oculus Quest and Viveport | Compatible headsets: Oculus Quest/Quest 2, HTC Vive/Pro/Pro 2, Oculus Rift/Rift S/Quest + Link, Valve Index or a Windows Mixed Reality headset
Award nomination: Best Narrative Experience