From Immersive Theater to VR Innovation: Deirdre V. Lyons' Journey

Today's guest is a true pioneer in the burgeoning field of virtual reality theater: Deirdre V. Lyons. She'll share her groundbreaking work in VR at the Ferryman Collective, such as her innovative productions like "Welcome to Respite" and "Gumball Dreams," and discuss the intricacies of producing entertainment ranging from films to webisodes. Deirdre shares the challenges of onboarding audiences to VR experiences and the quest for viable business models in the VR space. 

Guest: Deidre V. Lyons, Co-Founder, Producer, Director, Writer, Performer, Ferryman Collective

Deirdre Lyons has been in over 75 Film and Theatrical productions throughout the West Coast. In L.A., she formed T.H. Espian Productions with her partner Stephen Butchko. Their first production was the Los Angeles premiere of Escher's Hands, a dramatic work by Dawson Nichols that played for a six-week run at the Lillian Theater. The two went on to produce and perform in the award-winning short film Katrina; a web series called The Fantasy State; a documentary; and the critically acclaimed short film Good Behavior, which won Best Short Film at the Temecula Film Festival.

In 2016, she began working with immersive theater productions, she was part of the original cast of JFI Productions’ The Willows, which enjoyed three remounts due to its popularity. Other immersive projects include the JFI Productions’ Creep LA shows Entry, Lore, Awake, Haus of Creep, and Creep (2021). She was the “Lost Princess” in the final chapter of Speakeasy Societies Kansas Collection, and with a Spy Brunch weekend event entitled Cold War Lounge: the asset. Deirdre has participated in multiple activations, including one-night launch events for the movies Ma, Birds of Prey, and The Conjuring 3. She appeared at Comic-Con promoting Sacred Lies and AHS 1984. And was cast in Tyra Banks’ immersive world Model Land.  

Her Virtual Reality work began when The Willows was filmed and released as a 180 VR film on the Amaze app available through Steam, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, Windows Mixed Reality (WMR), Viveport, and Google Daydream. She also appeared in Freakin’ Weekend, another 180 VR film from Amaze Productions. In 2019, she joined the ensemble cast of The Under Presents, a time and mind-bending immersive theater experience in VR that was selected as a finalist for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media, and won the VR Awards Experience of the Year. She was Prospera in a Shakespearean production from the same studio, Tender Claws, called The Under Presents: Tempest, a theatrical and technological first: a live, part scripted/part improvised, immersive theatrical experience that audiences attend from home, using a virtual reality headset that is experienced as a one-person show to small intimate audiences.

She then started producing live VR immersive theater experiences with a group of creatives that formed Ferryman Collective, including her husband Stephen Butchko, starting PARA and Krampusnacht, the latter a finalist for the PGA Innovation Award, and The Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite which premiered at Tribeca, went on to be an Official Selection of the 78th Venice International Film Festival, the Kaohsiung Film Festival, Anny Fest, Church of VR and is the winner of ‘Best Narrative Experience’ at London’s Raindance Film Festival, winner of XR Must ‘Best Live Experience,’ winner of 'Best ixi Experience' from Giioii as well as an ‘Immie’ for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Live Virtual Reality Production’ and a finalist for the 2022 PGA Innovation Award. It is currently in production for shows in Korea with Korean actors.

She is a teaching artist, speaker, and occasional lecturer at Chapman University.