Hi Friends!
Happy Friday! I hope your fall is off to a great start. Between the debate, the earthquake in LA, the 23rd anniversary of September 11th, it’s been a wild week. But we have some exciting news to share with you all!
HOUSE NEWS
This week we announced that Culture House Immersive, the ground breaking immersive entertainment studio founded by Mikhael Tara Garver alongside Rae, Nicole and me, has raised over $1M to launch a first-of-its-kind incubator!! This is the first step on our way to financing our 2025 slate. The immersive studio was designed to create, develop and distribute immersive experiences and storyworlds, and we are currently developing more than seventeen narrative location-based commercial entertainment projects. We are so excited!!
At the end of the incubator process, each project will have fully articulated creative, and diverse revenue streams across merch, live experiences, games, traditional media, XR, etc. 4-6 of our incubated projects will then be added to the Culture House Immersive Slate launching in 2025.
TRENDING
“In the early days of film, movie studios built a pipeline to meet audience desire. Immersive is at a similar inflection point. Location based entertainment is one of the fastest growing entertainment sectors. In order to meet current audience demand, CHI is building a pipeline for developing original and licensed projects that reach across multiple digital and physical platforms. Our business model places creatives at the center. This benefits all of us - the field grows, our investors are attached to the best talent, and our culture grows with a more sustainable mindset” - Culture House Immersive Co-Founder Mikhael Tara Garver
As you know, Culture House was founded and began as a film and TV company. And we are still obsessed with what is on our screens, but when we were given the chance to build something meaningful in immersive, we couldn't resist for two reasons:
1. Mikhael is brilliant and we JUMPED at the chance to work with her. And the team she has now assembled? Unparalleled - we literally call them “The Avengers of Immersive Entertainment”
2. According to a recent study by Grand View Research Inc., immersive entertainment is expected to reach $426.77 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 23.6% from 2023 to 2030.
Location based entertainment expands the field of play for creatives, AND gets us sharing space, ideas, joy, adventure, knowledge and experiences in ways that we love. Our incubator has projects designed for a range of physical locations, from planetariums and civic spaces, to music festivals, sport arenas, underutilized malls and roller rinks, and will engage immersive technologies across the Extended Technology (XR) spectrum.
Immersive entertainment is trending, and we are leading the way with innovation, greater inclusion, greater social connection, (our Antidote to the Surgeon General’s Loneliness Epidemic), and an obsession for great story-filled universes to share with you...
So exciting right?!! If you have any questions or want to know more, get in touch with Kierna Conner and the Immersive team at: kierna@culture.house
IN THE CULTURE
Y'all we have Friday and Saturday nights figured out for you for the next few months! We do this because we love you!
🚨TOMORROW: Y'all! We are so excited about Roy Wood Jr.'s new CNN show Have I Got News For You. Adapted from the British hit, the much-anticipated American version features Celebrity contestants finding themselves in the hot seat as they are quizzed on the latest news. Finally news can be fun! The ten-episode limited series will premiere Saturday, September 14 at 9pm ET on CNN. Have I Got News For You will regularly air Saturdays at 9pm ET/PT and will be available to stream on Max the following day. Roy is literally the best.
Roy also recently appeared on my podcast, Twigg & Jenkins to talk about the presidential campaign and his CNN show! Watch the Episode here: Twigg & Jenkins Interview: Roy Wood Jr.
🚨TONIGHT! The iconic Natasha Rothwell has a new show. How to Die Alone, the Onyx Collective half-hour comedy series created, executive produced and headlined by Natasha Rothwell, premieres TONIGHT (Sept. 13) on Hulu. The tea is we get 4 episodes right away, with the rest of the season's episodes coming on Fridays. How To Die Alone, follows Mel (Natasha Rothwell), a broke, fat, Black JFK airport employee who’s never been in love and forgotten how to dream, until an accidental brush with death catapults her on a journey to finally take flight and start living by any means necessary. We're in 🙋🏽♀️
🚨NEXT WEDNESDAY: SNL Alum and ace face card Sasheer Zamata, WNBA stan Aubrey Plaza, and legendary comedy genius Kathryn Hahn have a new show coming out: Marvel’s long-awaited WandaVision spinoff Agatha All Along. Watch starting September 18th on Disney+
Always remember, support the art that supports you, friends.
More from us next week! Thanks so much for being here.
xo
Carri, Rae, Nicole & Mikhael
Love this newsletter and everything you are creating!! Simply incredible.