Darren Emerson
Darren Emerson is the multi-award winning immersive artist, director, writer and producer and the co-founder of London production company East City Films. His work uses virtual reality to fuse cinema, theatre, music, interaction, immersion and embodiment to create works that focus on notions of community both structured and organic.
In 2015 Darren created his first VR experience ‘Witness 360: 7/7’, an intimate study of a survivor of the London 7/7 bombings. The experience was selected in competition at IDFA Doc Lab, and toured festivals internationally.
His VR documentary ‘Indefinite’ (2016), which deals with indefinite detention in the UK asylum system, won the inaugural Immersive Commission by Sheffield Doc/Fest, where it premiered. It went on to be licensed by the New York Times, in a specially commissioned New York Times Op Ed.
In 2018 Darren was commissioned by Creative XR (Digital Catapult and Arts Council England) to create the room scale documentary ‘Common Ground’, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival 2019. It had its UK premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest 2019 where it received rave reviews for its bold new approach to documentary storytelling in VR. ‘Common Ground’ won the awards for Best Immersive Storytelling at Sandbox Immersive Festival, the Grand Prix Innovation at Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Best VR Experience at the Broadcast Awards, and Best VR Narrative at the World Press Photo Awards. Common Ground has gone on to be recognised as one of the best UK immersive works of the last 20 years by the UKRI.
In 2022 his immersive artwork 'In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats' launched at Coventry City of Culture with a 6-week sold out exhibition. The piece celebrates the Acid House youth culture revolution that exploded at the end of the 1980s in the UK. Funded by Coventry City of Culture Trust and the British Film Institute, ‘In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats’ is a multi-sensory VR installation utilising set dressing, ambisonic audio, projections, room scale tracking, animation, 360 video, archive, interaction, and haptics. ‘In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats’, has won multiple awards Internationally including the Immersive Non-Fiction at IDFA Doclab 2022, and Best Location Based Entertainment at the VR Awards 2023. It continues to tour internationally to rave reviews and excited audiences.
In 2023 Darren completed the creative direction for 3 VR films about the Holocaust for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. He directed one of these films, ‘Letters from Drancy' which had its World Premiere at Venice Biennale 2023, and its US Premiere at SXSW. ‘Letters From Drancy’ has been nominated for several awards including a prestigious PGA Innovation Award.
Darren is a member of the Primetime Emmy steering group on Emerging Media.