Gayatri Parameswaran | NowHere Media
Season 2, Episode 2, Nov 22, 2021, 06:09 PM
Today, I am joined by Gayatri Parameswaran. She is a journalist and co-founder of Nowhere Media, an immersive storytelling studio that explores how you can achieve meaningful narratives through immersive experiences. Her projects have not only been featured at festivals such as SXSW, Sundance and Venice film festival. Her latest VR experience Kusunda has actually won the Tribeca Storyscapes Grand Jury prize just a few weeks ago.
Gayatri gives a raw account of the true hustle that is being a foundHER. Juggling one two three projects simultaneously, having to pitch ideas to potential investors and managing teams - all while keeping her creative juices flowing. She is a true warrior and I applaud her resilience.
When I met Gayatri, we co-organized a VR pop up studio in Berlin, we also co-participated at a panel at the Perugia journalism festival and she gave the keynote at one of the VR conferences i co-organized with Frederic Dubois.
I've been able to explore her work over the years and I am honored that she is here with me today.
Some key takeaways:
- Keeping a language alive means keeping a culture alive. Kusunda is a VR experience that lets you explore the world of the Kusunda language.
- "I am very inspired by reality ... We let ourselves be guided by reality and people in real life ... There is something special to immersive technologies and what it can do for storytelling."
- Currently, Nowhere Media is doing research about how stories about intangible cultural heritage affects people when they are told in different media/formats.
- "There is something magical over there that's happening inside the VR headset."
- Kusunda started with a core team. Then they received seed funding for the prototype. Step by step, additional funding came in to start imagining what an extended version of the story could look like.
- The project had some real life impact, including a language revitalization program.
Gayatri's book recommendations:
More links:
- Nowhere Media was featured on Voices of VR
- Another moving VR experience by Nowhere Media: Home After War
Welcome to the international edition of my podcast RAT.HUB. I am your host Linda Rath and I interview entrepreneurs who I admire and look up to. I want to know more about their business AND .... What drives them? What inspires them? I believe you need so much more than just talent and skills to be successful in business. So, let's find out what secrets our entrepreneurs will reveal to us.
If you have any questions or want to share some thoughts, feel free to contact me via Twitter @Lynda420. I am your host Linda Rath and I am looking forward to connecting with you in my next episode.
This episode is brought to you by Media Tech Hub Potsdam. It is one of 12 digital hubs in Germany, initiated by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy – and the only one with a focus on MediaTech. it encompasses a working space, an accelerator and an annual conference and i highly recommend you check it out if you want to start a business and look for networking opportunities. I am an entrepreneur myself and our startup Vragments used to be located at the media tech lab in Potsdam.
Credits:
- Produced by Linda Rath
- Photo Gayatri Parameswaran by Gayatri Parameswaran
- Photo Linda Rath by Stefan Walter for Causalux Fotos
- Podcast Cover by Nicole Koppe
- Episode Cover Art by Stephan Gensch
- Music/Jingles by Mara Niese