#1822: 『Everest: The First Ascent』— キャラクター主導で語られるLBE向け没入型アドベンチャー

The Voices of VR Podcast So this is a location-based entertainment piece where you take an immersive adventure up Everest, and you're kind of guided through the docents as well as the kind of very first expedition. So you get a little bit of a historical recap of what it took to climb Everest for the very first time. So this is actually a really nice story-driven and character-driven piece where you actually learn around these different characters as well as the Sherpas that are taking up these folks. There's actually an Apple Original Films that released on August 16th called Tenzing, which is about the same character that's featured within the context of this as well.

And so kind of a nice moment of the zeitgeist for some of these stories that were lost coming up. And here you get to kind of go up with Tenzing as well as this larger British expedition. So in this conversation, it's not actually with the directors. It's actually more with the producers of the piece as the directors were coming later in the week. But I still wanted to have a conversation about this piece just because I feel like location-based entertainment, and what's happening there. We also talk about the broader movement with location-based entertainment. And Clipso was one of the co-producers. And Chloe Ressi is featured here in this conversation talking around what's happening with LBE. But yeah, just this broader idea that there's going to be these more narrative-driven LBE pieces that has that kind of same kind of guided tour motif where you're kind of being taken on a journey. But this is a little bit less around like pointing out information and it ends up being a little bit more character-driven and story-driven. So that was actually really nice to see how you could start to do the kind of motif of the guided tour and not be so air element and just filling you with information. And so the center of gravity ends up being more Earth water, Earth being that you're taking a spatial journey through this space.

And also the water being this kind of story driven and character driven story in a way that was really quite satisfying. So we're covering all that and more on today's episode of the Voices of VR podcast. So this interview with Boyelle and Chloe happened on Tuesday, September 1st, 2026 at Venice Immersive in Venice, Italy. So with that, let's go ahead and dive right in. I'm Boyelle. I'm the co-founder of Small Creative, which is a studio based in Paris. And we are dedicated to this free-roaming multi-user VR experiences. and I'm also the producer of this new piece, Everest, the first ascent, that is in competition in Venice Immersive this year. And I'm Chloe, I'm marketing director at the Clipso. We have nine locations, VR locations in Europe and in the United States and we are co-producer as well for Everest and we are going to work on the lunch with Small Creatives for Everest.

Maybe you could each give a bit more context as to your background and your journey into the space Sure, so I've been involved in immersive storytelling for quite a while now I started back 15 years ago when I was commissioning editor for France Television together with Boris Razun and our very first VR piece commissioned by France Télévisions was The Enemy by Karim Ben-Khalifan, who is also at Venice and Murphys this year. And it was the very first multi-user free-roaming VR experience, and we learned a lot with this experience. After that, I produced and commissioned several VR pieces, whether standalone or multi-user. And when I left France Télévision, I eventually met those guys at Smo Creative.

They were developing, engineering, making a lot of weird and cool stuff at the same time, including VR. And I joined the studio. And then in 2020, we added on top of the studio the production company. and progressively, which is called Small Creative. And so we are now a studio and production company of almost 40 people based in Paris. We have great offices with a big showroom now. And we have been progressively completely focusing on these large-scale experiences, standalone with HTC and now Pico headsets. and we are working with operators around the world, opening new venues. And Eclipso is our, let's say, main operator partners. And on top of operating, they are also now co-producing and commissioning content.

So we are very proud of the three we've done together. So Everest is the third project we have done together. And I think that it's a win-win partnership because every project, I think, is a step up from the last one. So, yeah, this one, we are very proud to bring it here in Venice together today. And for me as well, I have a background in the entertainment industry because I used to work in cinema at first. More in distribution for Warner Brothers in all the entertainment industry. then on franchise for Harry Potter and then I switch on my own company and I work on promotion and events on cinema so I used to go to this festival as well and then I changed a little bit because I am quite new in the VR and immersive industry and now I'm working on Eclipso to develop the marketing strategy

on the different level, on the operator's things So the idea is to continue to develop the brand of Eclipso. We continue to develop and launch new venue in Europe and as well in the U.S. And then we are working also on production with more creative in the development of marketing strategy and to be sure that we will launch more globally the experience we develop together for our territory that Eclipso is inside. Yeah, and just one follow-on on Eclipso, because when I was in New York City a couple of years ago for Tribeca, I had a chance to go see a couple of Xcurio pieces that were being shown there. And so maybe you could just give a bit more context for Eclipso and a little bit of the history and how it's evolved into one of these operators for location-based entertainment. Currently, at the beginning, we used to work exclusively with Xcurio. And now we have two main partners, so Small Creative and Xcurio. And we have three locations dedicated to Xcurio experiences, and the other ones are dedicated to small experiences.

So now we have nine locations and we continue to develop new locations in France and abroad. And the idea is to continue to develop other experience and to be the main locations to develop LBVR experiences. So we plan to continue to develop and to have a lot of different experiences inside our locations. One interesting thing to add on top of that is that not only they have their own venues around the world and opening new ones like every month or couple of months, but they also are working with partners, operators, partners around the world. It can be a franchise kind of partnership but also sometimes it just partnering So it helps us to deploy in new venues very quickly You mentioned nine locations, but on top of that, we are working with others.

And now we are in 40 different locations around the world with Eclipse, but also with other partners. And in one year, we doubled our partners all over the world. Most of all in Asia, but also in India. We start to develop much more of this angle with more creative because we clearly want to broadcast much more the experience we have in all over the world. And partnership could be a great way for us to do that really fast. Nice. And so maybe you could just give a bit of an overview for Everest, the first ascent, and what the story is about. Yes, let's come back on the content and on the artistic discussion. When it comes to developing new content, of course, as I mentioned before, we want to be in the whole world and to address as large as many different target audiences. So we need, of course, to make smart and interesting and narrative and good stories.

So first focus is on storytelling, but we also try to make not too pedagogic and, you know, serious content. So we want to add good stories, good characters, and, you know, epic stories. We want the people to live an adventure, join the adventure. It's not only giving the viewers a good story, but having them jump on board. And that was the starting point with Titanic, but also with the Colosseum we did before. And especially in this choice of telling the very first attempt and the very first successful attempt to the summit of the Everest. So we come back in 1953, and we will propose the viewers, the players, to join the real expedition that made it to the summit.

So it was a British expedition. But the two guys who succeeded to the top, one is from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary, and the second one is a Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgueh. And those two guys made it. We don't know exactly the real story, who made it first. And they promised each other that they would never tell. And we really like this story. And it's not the story of those only two guys. It's the story of the 400 people who made it possible to bring those guys up to the top. Of course, because if you happen to live, you did the experience. So you know that you start with a lot of people that are bringing all the material to the top to make the different base camps and then all the different camps up to the top. And it's the work and the joint forces of all these people that made it possible.

So we really believe that it was not, again, you know, an LBVR piece where you have to follow the guide that is taking you to a disappeared place or a, you know, heritage place with these stories about the place. It's, of course, a story about the place, the Himalayas, which is a place by Yitzhak. It's actually a character. Also, in the tradition of the Shekhat, it's like a goddess. And you have to win your access to the summit. You have to come as a visitor and not as a conqueror. So it's all these human stories told us a lot. And we found this angle of telling more a humanity story rather than like an old pieces, old monument stories. Like it is often the case in the LBVR pieces that we see. So, yeah, that was the starting point.

And on a personal point of view, I like to trek a lot. I've been trekking a lot in my life and several times in Himalayas. And I really wanted my directors or directors to experience what it is to trek and to go there and to join these expeditions with Nepalese people. and yes, at this moment, at this specific moment of the history of Nepal I'm very moved to bring this project because it's also a project that would have never been made without the help of our team in Nepal guides and porters that became friends over the years So I also wanted to dedicate this project to them. Yeah, I really liked how much this project was centering the stories of the Sherpas, but also their culture, because at the very beginning of the piece,

we go into a temple to get some blessings and make some offerings. And so, yeah, just curious to hear a little bit about how you found the story or how you put it together, and then also the desire to honor the sort of more religious and spiritual aspects. documentation of some of their culture as you go through on this trip? Yeah, behind the writing, there was a lot of research. So as I mentioned before, the two directors, they started the whole adventure with a trek. And after the trek, they stayed for like a week in a village in the mountain, and they just lived the life of those people who live very remote. And it was like a residency of writing, so they got inspired by their tracking, and then they started writing. Then they did a lot of documentation. They brought a full library bookstore back at the office, and then they started working and writing.

And plus we have the scientific advisory of three different people, mainly Katia Buffetteri, which is an historian specialist of the sacred mountain. So I'm glad you noticed that there is an important part of the story that tells about the beliefs of these people that the mountain is a goddess. and you have to gain the right to climb it. So this scientific council was really important because she checked all the more historical points and details related to the sacred mountains of Himalayas. She's a specialist and also the Sherpa people. Second advisor, very important, was Charlie Buffet. He's a journalist and he wrote the diary of the very first ascent, of course based on all archives we have.

so he also was able to check what we tell about the expedition the British expedition was absolutely historically right and he's also an alpinist so everything that relates to the climbing moves or whatever happens during the ascension he was also able to check that And finally we had the project beta tested by a guide Sherpa himself who did the experience with his wife and just was able to tell that we were in the right when proposing this story. because he ascended seven times the Everest, so he had a great experience regarding the ascension, so it was very interesting to have his help to continue to leverage our needle for the experience.

Yeah, and I know with location-based entertainment, there's a bit of a pragmatic aspect of the production where there has to be a certain throughput target that you have in order to create a constraint for how the piece is even constructed, And so I'm just curious to hear a little bit more around, like, if you had a target for throughput from Eclipse's side as producer. And then also, I know with Exterio, they have their own system for managing moving through a space. And if that was something that you also had to develop on your own, like, just curious to hear about some of those logistic, pragmatic aspects of the LBE and the throughput. Regarding the target, it's quite interesting for us because we think it can be a new next step for Eclipse as well. because obviously Everest is a global phenomenon. I think it could be more cinematic as well in comparison to previous experiences. And perhaps, as you know, at the beginning, the most important part of the audience was more senior, 50 plus. And then I think thanks to this experience, it could be easier to find a younger audience

because Everest is working really well. In France especially, but also in the UK, we had a lot of YouTubers who developed a new documentary around the Everest. So a lot of new generation knows a little bit more about this mountain. And also just climbing and hiking is quite interesting for them. So I think for us, it could be a new audience for LBVR. And as well for current audience for more seniors. obviously this experience and this ascent was very famous in the 60s so for us it could be really interesting to have more global audience inside our location it's interesting coincidence we discovered when the directors were in nepal that not a month before they received like a big film movie team and the release of this film made by Apple TV with a big casting will be released

at the same time as our release. So it just shows that there is an interest for this story, especially around Tenzing. And yes, again, it brings a new generation of people. Of course, when you talk about heritage, documentary, monuments kind of place, of course, the main audience for LBVR at the beginning were more seniors, but also families. Families are liking very much, but now we have more and more young adults, let's say teenagers to adults or groups of friends. We really need also for the sake of the LBVR market, we need to address as many people as possible, not saying that we are leveraging by the bottom,

but on the contrary, we are trying to tell beautiful and interesting stories in an intelligent way with beautiful characters and landscapes and sceneries. So hopefully, yeah, this is going to leverage the market by the top. That's what we are aiming, at least. Yeah, the piece is very cinematic in a way that it feels like I'm taking on a really epic spatial journey as I go through. And, you know, in real time, it takes weeks and weeks for them to get up. and it's all compressed months. Yeah, and so here we're just doing it in the course of less than an hour, and so obviously it's compressed, but I feel like you're able to hit points where you see overlooks or you get a sense of progression that you're getting closer to the ascent and higher and higher up, but being able to overlook and see where you came from I think is also a key part of reflecting on where you've been and also where you're going throughout the entirety of the piece.

And then at the end, there's a bit of a paradox because there's only two people historically that make it to the top, but yet as audience members, we also want to kind of be there, and so we kind of get turned into ghosts that are there watching it. So narratively, it's sort of like you're there right with them, and then at some point they're kind of going off, but you're able to sort of be there even though you aren't there as a character. So you're mostly a character throughout the entire piece up until the very end where you then become a little bit of an omniscient ghost to be able to get the satisfaction of actually getting to the end. So just curious to hear a little bit around this construction of the spatial journey and what you were really going for in order to give you the sense that people are really going on this grand adventure. It's true. It raised a lot of discussion with the artistic team as we were writing the story. But again, we really wanted the viewers to be part of the story. But it's always, like, very light.

We are kept being welcome to join the expedition, but we know that the real expedition, in the end, it was only two people to the top. So we keep accompanying them at a certain point. We start being, like you said, like a little bit more as ghosts. and it's a balance in the writing that I have to admit was not there from the beginning. But, you know, the way we work at the studio, we keep updating the script even until the end of the project. And when I'm saying the end, it's very difficult to put like an end point to the project, but it's something that is very subtle and that we change until the end. So I'm glad you mentioned because it was a bit of a discussion,

but we tried to do it very light. It's just like if you are... I like the fact that you mention us as ghosts. we are progressively transforming to ghosts or souls that are just accompanying those two guys and witnessing what happens because no one knows what happened there because they were alone. No drones or cameras, no. So I like the fact that we are kind of, yeah, with them, but we know. But now that we've both experienced the project, we know what happens, right? You know. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And there's a moment where the two main people get on their backpacks and are like, wait, where's my backpack? Don't I get to go, too? So, you know, I still get to go. But, yeah, it's just sort of an interesting, I noticed it in my body because the whole piece, I'm there on the journey with them up until I'm not with them, but I'm still with them.

And so, yeah, it's just like an interesting kind of narrative switch. I think the idea is to find the right balance and combination between action and emotion because at the end you just would like to feel the emotion and just look at the final essence and just to feel it I think it better to be more in the spectator and see the perfect match between the things in Norgay and in Mondelari and see the final essence. When I said it's a balance, you know, there are a lot of LBDR experiences where you have a lot of use of, you know, platforms that are going up or down or things like that or, you know, traveling that make you sick. We really care about not making people sick. That's one of the main focus we have when beta testing the project. And at the end, we just lightly did this, you know, when you go up. Because it feels right, you know. it's like at the end of the movie when the music goes up and it's like you feel the emotion in your

body so we wanted to do that very progressively and i don't know if you've noticed but we put a lot of attention also to this feeling we wanted people to live of epoxy which is the lack of oxygen so at several moments when you get to the top you feel this we are not getting the oxygen in the room you can stay safe but it's some visual effects we added to let you feel a little bit dizzy but you're not feeling dizzy but you think you are lacking oxygen and I think this also is the kind of little tricks that we are implementing in each of our new pieces that is working quite well. Well, I hope. Yeah, the very last shot, you kind of like have a zoom out where you're kind of the ghostly

aspirations. It's almost like you're ascending, but you get more of a view. And yeah, I did notice that when you're ascending, you do have elevation where you're walking forward flat, but you're moving upwards. And sometimes that does give me a little motion sickness. and because I'm at a festival context, I kind of shut my eyes just to prevent it from any motion sickness. But for me, it can be a trigger of moving upwards and not having in my inner ear. Also, we worked a lot on it to make it the smoother as possible. And I think it really tricks your brain. You really feel like you are climbing up with no effort, so that's cool. Nice, and finally, what do you each think is the ultimate potential for this type of immersive storytelling in VR, LBE, and what am I being able to enable? Do you want me to start? So, the challenge when we started to do this was, okay, we want people to live something physically.

Well, we started by visiting a place or going to a place they will never be able to go. That's why you have things about prehistory. You can go to the moon. You can visit the space. You can go to the Titanic wreck, things like that. But during this interview, we also talked a lot about emotions and feelings and even physically tricks that you can do to your brain. And I think that's the ultimate. I mean, people want to be entertained, but in a nice way. They want to laugh. They want to feel. They want to cry, things like that. So I like this format to be able to give the same kind of sensations as movies can. Not all the movies, but, you know, the more the people get used to this new format,

the further we will be able to go into more niche, let's say, or genre kind of stories. So for now, we are trying to make universal stories that appeal to large audiences, but it's going to be just like for cinemas. When people start being used to this format, then they will be in confidence and start maybe willing to see different kinds of stories. So that's maybe my wish for the future of the LBVR. I think that's the same thing for me I think we need to continue to leverage the way we develop scenarios and track in the experience just to feel more things I think the feeling and the emotion are the most important things in every entertainment industry

and they'll be there as well so I think to continue to leverage our experiences is to continue to develop emotion for spectators. And one more thing, of course, our role as studios and producers is to, of course, keep pushing the boundaries of what we are able to do. So we want, of course, to propose amazing experiences in terms of visual feelings and everything we're told about. But again, stories first. We also want beautiful stories. So we also need the help of the writers, the directors with new ideas that are interesting to develop within this kind of new format. Yeah, and I think you managed to pull off and braid together both an epic adventure, also like interesting characters and a bit of their stories,

but also like a whole historical context that's there as well of what it took to be able to achieve this. So I think it's kind of weaving all those things together in a way that is a very satisfying, entertaining experience. So I very much appreciated the journey and the adventure of Everest, the first ascent. So thanks again for joining me here on the podcast to help break it all down. Thank you. And I wish maybe in the future you can also talk to the creators because they have many, many anecdotes to tell you about the shooting and the writing process of this project with a different point of view, of course. Thank you. And just saying that tomorrow the waiting list for Eclipse Avenue will be open, so you will be able to see the Everest in London, New York, Seville, Barcelona, Lille, North, and I think that it's many different or other venues in discussion. but before the end of the year, that's for sure. It's the Nepal year.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks so much for listening to the Voices of VR podcast. And I just want to say that I'm really trying to live into the transformation economy, meaning I want to give away all this information for free, make it public accessible for not only you but the entire community. And if you find value in that, then please do consider supporting me on Patreon. You know, I'm on this journey of trying to reach my 1,000 true fans. And if I have just $5 a month from that 1,000, I'll be in a much more solid and stable financial position. So really need your help to be able to get to that point. So if you enjoy what I'm doing here at the Voices of VR podcast, then please do consider supporting me at patreon.com slash Voices of VR. Thanks for listening. Thank you.