This summer I attended the Stranger Things Experience in London. I visited with my friends and it was AMAZING. We joined the characters from the show on an interactive adventure full of terrifying holograms and convincing actors. We then exited into a huge room filled with shops, restaurant and actors clearly based on the show. Despite the adventure being over, this next area kept us fully immersed in this 80’s nostalgia that we’d never actually had.
I got to meet Seth Cover, who’s entertainment design company Mycotoo created the experience. Talking to him about the creation process was really interesting.
I learnt a lot about the creative and conceptual side, who writes the script and how they handle design. It was really exciting for me to see work in which fandom knowledge/passion for media was an asset. I loved hearing about the concept work they do, other projects they’ve worked on and pitching to Netflix. As we were at the ‘friends and family’ of crew event Seth told us that they were still seeing how fans interacted with the story and if they needed to change anything. The experience has already been launched in multiple US locations so it was interesting to learn about any differences based on locale.
I think working in this industry would be amazing. I found myself really invested in what Seth had to tell us about his experience organising the project, from accent training to original plans. I love the show and knew I would love this experience but learning about its creation and behind the scenes made it so much better!