Future Of StoryTelling Debuts Lineup For The World's Largest Immersive Storytelling Festival

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Future of StoryTelling (FoST) today announced that The Future of StoryTelling Festival will take place on October 6-8 in New York City at Staten Island's Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. The Festival is the world's largest immersive storytelling event and will host more than 100 hands-on technology experiences, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) experiences, interactive installations, panel conversations with entertainment, media, technology, and marketing visionaries, live theater performances, and a multiperson VR theater.

"Multisensory storytelling is about putting the audience in the driver's seat and making them active participants in their own stories," says Charles Melcher, FoST Founder and Director, and President of Melcher Media.  "Finding opportunities to tell these stories wherever you are takes things off the page and puts them into the audience's own hands for a truly multidimensional experience."

Highlights from the Festival main stage lineup include writer and director Steven Soderbergh (Logan Lucky, Ocean's Eleven, The Girlfriend Experiment) in conversation about his career and "Mosaic," a new interactive project he is developing for HBO (Oct 6); an evening of music hosted by NPR (Oct 6) with Bob Boilen ("All Songs Considered," Tiny Desk concert series) and John Paul White (formerly of the duo The Civil Wars); as well as the comedian, writer, and actor Chris Gethard (Broad City, The Chris Gethard Show), who will be headlining an evening of comedy (Oct 7) with stand-up favorites Aparna Nancherla, Adam Wade, and Marina Franklin. Also, USA Network will host a conversation with the creator of Mr. Robot, Sam Esmail (Oct. 7), with a screening of the premiere episode of the upcoming third season ahead of its premiere on October 11. In addition, Peter Sagal ("Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me!") will be taking the main stage for a special interview with a soon-to-be-announced guest (Oct 8). Find the full main stage lineup here.

"Mosaic represents a fresh way of telling and experiencing a story, so I can think of no group more appropriate (and intimidating) to introduce it to than FoST Festival's audience," said Soderbergh.

In addition to the main stage performances, the Festival will feature the latest and most innovative in VR, AR, AI, mixed reality, haptics, sensors, games, interactive videos, and more, with over 40 world and US premieres arranged as a plot unfolding in front of the visitors' eyes, as well as delighting their senses. Selected exhibits will include:

• Novo Reality, a 9-ton robotic arm will catapult you through space while you experience an original VR film about automation and the future of collaborated work;
• Edible Reflections, a multisensory audio and food experience bringing friends and strangers together;
• Broken Bone Bathtub, a powerful one-woman immersive theater performance that takes place in a bathtub

Find the full lineup of exhibits here.

Also included in the exhibits are projects from the finalists of the 2017 FoST Prize, presented by Microsoft. This year FoST is awarding three prizes in two categories: an Independent Category (Juried and People's Choice awards), and a Corporate Category (Juried award). Festival attendees can vote for the People's Choice winner on the FoST website or on the Festival app. Each winner will receive $5K.

FoST Festival will additionally feature a multitude of food vendors, such as Claus Meyers' Great Northern Food Hall, MatchaBar and Seppe Pizza with unconventional, cutting-edge options to inspire visitors as the Festival takes them on a visual and culinary journey. 

"New York City is full of amazing stories and budding storytellers. A walk down the street in any of the five boroughs quickly reveals the reason for the expression, 'It could only happen in New York!'" said Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin. "It is only natural that our city would host the pre-eminent storytelling festival right here in our backyard. I applaud Charlie Melcher and his team at the Future of Storytelling for bringing such a captivating and signature event to Snug Harbor." 

To purchase tickets and to view the full FoST Festival lineup, visit www.fost.org/fest.

• Regular-Price Full-Day Ticket: $40
• 3-Day Premier Pass: $110

Check out a FoST Festival preview video here.

FoST Festival is made possible by generous partner support:
Epic: Microsoft
Heroic: USA Syfy. Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment. WNYC. NPR. 
Classic: Turner. Cartoon Network. Spectrum. PlayStation. Samsung. RWJF. Home Depot. Ingram. Momentum. The Brand Experience. CommPRO. Edelman. The Standard. 
Contributor: HTC VIVE. Google. Pneuhaus. Hartford Rentals. Inch. College of Staten Island.
Content: Women in VR. Consulate General of Sweden. French Embassy in the USA. Swissnex and the Swiss Arts Council. Consulate General of the Netherlands.
Media: Quartz. SiriusXM.

ABOUT FUTURE OF STORYTELLING
The Future of StoryTelling (FoST) is an organization that explores how storytelling is evolving in the digital age. FoST hosts two of the world's leading immersive storytelling events: the invitation-only FoST Summit for C-suite executives, technologists, and brilliant creatives, and the public FoST Festival, the world's largest immersive storytelling festival. In addition, FoST produces a wide range of content and programming, including curated exhibitions, an annual series of short films, Tech Tastings, and storytelling workshops. For more information, please visit: www.fost.org.

Media Contact:
Ari Okonofua
Edelman for FoST
+1 (212) 704 8107
[email protected]

FoST Contact:
Samantha Klein
+1 (212) 727 2322
[email protected]

SOURCE Future of StoryTelling