Events – Columbia University School of the Arts' Digital Storytelling Lab

The Columbia DSL consists of three core areas – programs, prototypes and labs. Since the fall of 2013, we’ve held over 80 events in NYC and more than 150 events around the world. We’re always looking for collaborators if you or your organization would like to experiment with story and code please contact us.

April 5th, 12th & 15th 2023

Breakthroughs in Storytelling – Awards, Summit and Symposium

This year, for the first time, Breakthroughs in Storytelling is expanding beyond its annual awards program. We’re moving to a multiple-day format that will include, in addition to the awards themselves, an industry summit in collaboration with Hub Montréal and Film at Lincoln Center as well as a virtual symposium featuring leading practitioners from around the world.

The program recognizes signal achievements across the broad spectrum of media that rely on digital technologies, including film, video, journalism, advertising, marketing, games, art, fiction, theater, virtual reality, augmented reality, and experimental narratives.

Digital Dozen Awards – online
Wednesday, April 5th, 6pm to 8:30pm Eastern Time

Breakthroughs in Storytelling Industry Summit
Wednesday, April 12th, 6pm to 9pm Eastern Time
Film at Lincoln Center – Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65 Street

Breakthroughs in Storytelling Symposium – online
Saturday, April 15th, 11:30am to 3:30pm Eastern Time

RSVP for all three events here

March 20th, 2023

Creative Disruptions: an evening of storytelling, experience and AI

The Columbia DSL returns to Film at Lincoln Center for our first IRL meetup of 2023! Join us for an evening of storytelling, experience design and AI-augmented creativity.

The evening starts with a fireside chat with Campfire, a leading creative shop that has crafted immersive storytelling experiences for HBO, Amazon and Hulu as well as major brands and Fortune 50 companies. Founder and creative director Mike Monello and creative director Steve Coulson sit down with Columbia DSL’s Shar Simpson for a candid conversation about their creative practice. Afterwards, we’ll be experimenting with a number of AI-based tools.

To RSVP click here.

January 26th, 2023

Playable Stories

Join us on Thursday, January 26th at 3pm for our first Columbia DSL meetup of 2023. We’re excited to be collaborating with the Gaming Pathways Program at City College. This special meetup will be a mini game design jam. Participants will design and run playable storytelling experiences. The session will be lead by Nick Fortugno the Director of the Gaming Pathways Program at City College as well as a member of the Columbia DSL.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

December 19th, 2022

Web3 working group – special session with Sutu

Our December Web3 working group will feature Michael Beets the founder of Here & Now. Here & Now create interactive experiences that showcase art in immersive ways. It is known for its constant innovations and fresh approach to web3 experiences, galleries, and art tours.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

November 29th, 2022

Web3 working group – special session with Sutu

We’ll be joined by Sutu who will share his experiments with Web3, XR and the metaverse. Earlier this summer Sutu gave an immersive talk at TED about his innovative use of emerging technology – in the process turning the entire audience into a constellation of augmented avatars.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

November 5th, 2022

Story I/O – Decentralized Tech in the Arts

We’re excited to announce the sixth edition of Story I/O, the Digital Storytelling Lab’s annual symposium that explores new forms and functions of storytelling. A highly interactive one-day event, Story I/O embraces methodologies we use at the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab to create collaborative spaces where we work together to create impact around complex, global challenges.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

October 26th, 2022

Web3 working group – design session

We’ll be sharing our findings based on our research to date. Plus we’ll take a dive into the legal side of Web3 with a special guest.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

September 20th, 2022

Web3 working group – design session

Join us for our first working group of the fall. We’ll be sharing some findings from our research as well as breaking into groups to design future sessions and activities of the working group. This session is open to the full DSL community.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

September 16th, 2022

Test/Break – Blockchain Fairy Tales

Join us for a special edition of Test/Break as we experiment with elements from our upcoming show at the Shed. Blockchain Fairy Tales is a collaborative worldbuilding meets generative cinema prototype from Columbia DSL. On Sept 22 & 23 we’ll be staging BFT at a special event at the Shed, performant arts space in Hudson Yards.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

August 17th, 2022

Story-Based World-Building on the Blockchain – an open convo w/ Story DAO

Join us for a special virtual meetup as we take a deep dive into story-based world-building on the blockchain. Our guest for the session will be Laika Young O’Brien, who is the Director of Experience Design at Story DAO.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

June 21st, 2022

Decentralized Futures – an evening of Web3 speculation & co-creation

Join the Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (Columbia DSL) and creative agency Whatever, Inc. at Lincoln Center as we hold space for a series of DAO & Web3 speculations. Throughout the evening, featured speakers will imagine the future of decentralized technologies–and how they might be a force for creativity, playfulness, inclusivity, and non-hierarchical co-creation. Culminating in a Columbia DSL/Whatever Inc. co-produced workshop of Blockchain Fairy Tales (BFT)–an immersive artmaking experience bridging the physical and virtual worlds– those formerly known as the audience will become creative collaborators, community members, and DAO-makers

This event will be held at Lincoln Center

For more details click here.

April 13th, 2022

Digital Dozen: Breakthroughs in Storytelling Awards

Join us for the 7th edition of Columbia DSL’s Digital Dozen Breakthrough in Storytelling Awards! We’re celebrating 12 innovative works exploring new forms & functions of storytelling.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom and Miro

For more details click here.

February 24th, 2022

Defrag – WarGames an immersive evening celebrating hacker culture

Join us for a special evening exploring the cultural, political and historical impact of the motion picture WarGames. Released in 1983, WarGames ushered in a new kind of cyber thriller, one that left a lasting mark on cinema goers as well as officials shaping policy concerning cyber warfare. With an expert panel of cyber officials and scholars, filmmakers and storytellers, this interactive virtual DEFRAG event will give the audience insight into cybersecurity and its relationship to Hollywood. Over the course of two hours we’ll immerse ourselves within the world of WarGames taking a deep dive into the making of the film, its influence on hacker culture and its impact on the current state of cybersecurity.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom and Miro

For more details click here.

December 21st, 2021

Artist Convo – emerging tech & artistic practice

Tomorrow we’re hosting a special convo focused on emerging tech and artistic practice. Columbia DSL director, Lance Weiler will be joined by Jenni Pasanen and Ilya Shkipin – two prominent AI/GAN artists – for a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of working with emergent technology and how it impacts their artistic practice.

This event will be held virtually

For more details click here.

October 26th, 2021

The Sea We Swim In: How Stories Work in a Data-Driven World

In THE SEA WE SWIM IN, Frank Rose leads us to a new understanding of stories — how they work, how they can manipulate us, how we can use them in our lives.

Psychologists, economists, advertising and marketing executives — for decades, the experts failed to register the power of narrative. Scientists thought stories were too frivolous to study. Economists were knee-deep in theory. Marketers just wanted to cut to the sales pitch. Yet stories, not reasoning, are the key to persuasion.

This event will be held virtually

For more details click here.

September 25th, 2021

Story I/O – Decentralized Storytelling and the Metaverse

Story I/O returns Saturday, September 25th for a day of exploration and experimentation focused around decentralized storytelling and the metaverse.

Join storytellers, makers, hackers, activists, educators and students as we co-create imagined futures and new myths in an effort to see what it takes to design stories related to climate that can last seven generations.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

September 2nd, 2021

Playful worldbuilding with purpose – experiments in decentralized storytelling

Together we’ll be experimenting with decentralized storytelling. Over the course of the session we’ll explore our futures, digital and physical, by creating story blocks using the language of fairly tales and the blockchain. This is the second meetup in a series of events that will launch a new initiative exploring decentralized technology and storytelling from the Columbia DSL.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

August 20th, 2021

Test/Break – testing new works by James Scruggs & Olivia Powell

Join us as we test/break two new works! This session will run 2 hours. Every month we’ll focus on a number of projects that are in various states of development. Test/Break provides a forum for creatives exploring new forms and functions of storytelling. Focus is placed on projects that are pushing at the edges of narrative possibilities with emerging technology (AI, AR, VR, IoT,…) as well as interesting explorations with web pervasive technologies.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

July 7th, 2021

Playful wordlbuilding with purpose – experiments in blockchain storytelling

Together we’ll be experimenting with decentralized storytelling. Over the course of the session we’ll explore our futures, digital and physical, by creating story blocks using the language of fairly tales and the blockchain. This is the first meetup in a series of events that will launch a new initiative exploring decentralized technology and storytelling from the Columbia DSL.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

June 23rd, 2021

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

Test/Break returns Friday, December 18th! Every month we’ll focus on a number of projects that are in various states of development. Test/Break provides a forum for creatives exploring new forms and functions of storytelling. Focus is placed on projects that are pushing at the edges of narrative possibilities with emerging technology (AI, AR, VR, IoT,…) as well as interesting explorations with web pervasive technologies.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

June 6th, 2021

Exploring the storytelling & performative potential of NFTs on hic et nunc

This meetup is focused on artists who are creating digital work and experimenting with NFTs and cryptoart. We’re excited to be collaborating with the hic et nunc (H=N) community and @poptwig a collective of curators, collectors and artists. H=N is an eco-friendly option for making NFTs. The open source platform makes use of Tezos and is an alternative to ethereum. In addition H=N is one of a handful of options for making interactive NFTs. It is also one of the fastest growing NFT platforms with close to 15,000 artists and over 90,000 works of art posted since mid March.

For more details click here

May 16th, 2021

Digital Artist meetup – for those experimenting with NFTs & cryptoart on H=N

For more details click here

April 7th, 2021

Digital Dozen: Breakthrough in Storytelling Awards

The twin programs recognize signal achievements across the broad spectrum of media that rely on digital technologies, including film, video, journalism, advertising, marketing, games, art, fiction, theater, virtual reality, augmented reality, and experimental narratives. The program, launched in 2016 to spur creativity and further the Lab’s educational mission, recognizes twelve signal achievements — the Digital Dozen. Out of these, the Breakthrough Award goes to the project in any field that best exemplifies the spirit of inventiveness at work today, while the Special Jury Prize, consisting of a workshop at the Lab, is given at the discretion of the awards committee. Winners are chosen by an interdisciplinary jury of Lab members and university faculty and announced in a program at Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in early April. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS YEAR DUE TO COVID THE EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM

For more details click here

March 24th, 2021

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

February 25th, 2021

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

January 28th, 2021

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

December 18th, 2020

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

December 10th, 2020

Applied Futures – the value of storytelling in uncertain times

We’re hosting a special meetup on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the future of work, organizations, arts and business. Using the applied futures framework that was developed by Minkowski we will map the biggest challenges you could be facing as second waves of infections rise around the world, while at the same time other areas are exiting their lockdowns. What will all of this mean for 2021? How will work and daily life change in the months to come? And how do extended lockdowns into 2021 impact the world of media, arts and entertainment?

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

December 10th, 2020

Applied Futures – the value of storytelling in uncertain times

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

November 25th, 2020

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

Test/Break returns Wednesday, November 25th! Every month we’ll focus on a number of projects that are in various states of development. Test/Break provides a forum for creatives exploring new forms and functions of storytelling. Focus is placed on projects that are pushing at the edges of narrative possibilities with emerging technology (AI, AR, VR, IoT,…) as well as interesting explorations with web pervasive technologies.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

October 29th, 2020

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

Test/Break returns Thursday, October 29th! Every month we’ll focus on a number of projects that are in various states of development. Test/Break provides a forum for creatives exploring new forms and functions of storytelling. Focus is placed on projects that are pushing at the edges of narrative possibilities with emerging technology (AI, AR, VR, IoT,…) as well as interesting explorations with web pervasive technologies.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

September 26th, 2020

STORY I/O: a prototyping festival

On Saturday, September 26th from 10:30am to 3:30pm Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL) will present Story I/O a day focused on building transformative learning simulations using story, play, design and code, both as inputs and outputs (I/O). This free event is a mashup of a design sprint, hackathon and game design jam. Participants from diverse backgrounds will gather together to tackle pressing challenges. Professional backgrounds of collaborators will include storytellers, social workers, performers, makers, clinicians, hackers, academics, activist, game designers, community organizers and interaction designers.

For more details click here.

September 24th, 2020

TEST/BREAK: a monthly series devoted to the development of virtual works

Every month we’ll focus on a number of projects that are in various states of development. Test/Break provides a forum for creatives exploring new forms and functions of storytelling. Focus is placed on projects that are pushing at the edges of narrative possibilities with emerging technology (AI, AR, VR, IoT,…) as well as interesting explorations with web pervasive technologies.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

August 29th, 2020

ART From the Futures

Art From The Futures is a virtual event dedicated to the exploration of this new medium. For this first edition, the From the Futures team will invite 10 international artists to engage the audience with intimate and participatory experiences using video conference platforms.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

May 7th, 2020

PUBLIC SPACE From the Futures

As we continue to shelter in place, space is contracting, time is distending, social relations feel like a foreign and forbidden concept and the vibrancy of our public spaces feels like an endangered species. What do we lose when we step away from being with others? How can we rebuild our notion of place when those spaces are once again ours to reclaim? Join us to re-imagine public space with a community of strangers from all over the world.

The session will feature unique speculations by guest artists Aramique and Cyril Lancelin

This event will be held virtually via Zoom and Miro

For more details click here.

April 29th, 2020

Digital Dozen: Breakthrough in Storytelling Awards

For more details click here

April 23rd, 2020

FOOD From the Futures

In a time of physical distancing, our personal relationship to food is evolving. For some, cooking has become an escape providing a sense of creativity or normalcy. For others, food has become increasingly a challenge, due to economic hardship and/or supply disruption.

Special talk by Allie Wist, an artist whose work is anchored in food culture, climate change and global landscapes. She creates narratives through visual and experiential expressions that reexamine our collective consumption identities and histories.

Plus a prototyping session centered on co-creating future artifacts related to the themes of food and accessibility.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

April 9th, 2020

From the Futures

This marks the second in a series of virtual events held every two weeks. In a time of extreme change, From the Futures attempts to collectively make sense of the present, through the shared imagining and prototyping of better tomorrows. Instead of just hoping to return to our old normal, what would it mean to collectively muster our courage, creativity and resilience to make the futures we envision a reality? Together we explore the question through a mixture of collaborative artwork, storytelling, speculative design, and emergent technology.

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

March 26th, 2020

Speculative Design: Social Dreaming

We are living in an extreme present, one that threatens to command all our energies, extinguish the future and our imagination along with it. But times of volatility can be precisely the right time to take a deep breath, virtually hold hands and lift our heads up to look just beyond the horizon. What ugly things got us here that we were unwilling to look in the eye? What faulty structures are revealing themselves to us across different domains? What emergent behaviors have you observed that have given you hope and that you feel are worthwhile hanging onto once we return to more stable realities?

Instead of just hoping to return to our old normal, what would it mean to collectively muster our courage, creativity and resilience to plant seeds now that would take us down different and more desirable paths once we emerge from this pandemic?

This event will be held virtually via Zoom

For more details click here.

February 11, 2020

Museum Storytelling: Linked Architecture and Future Interfaces

The Interaction Lab at Cooper Hewitt is re-imagining the museum experience for the 21st-century. To do this they are creating a new digital infrastructure that will present otherwise invisible design stories connecting things like exhibition themes, collection objects, research publications, even the mansion itself. The goal? To create compelling narratives that will enrich our visitors’ ability to engage deeply with the ideas on display.

This event is hosted by Film at Lincoln Center at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center

For more details click here.

January 21, 2020

“The Aesthetics of Horror

Horror is viewed by its detractors as simply a cheap way of giving people thrills but no matter the form (book, film, tv, game, podcast, graphic novel, immersive theatre) horror possess a unique capacity to provoke thought and conversations around difficult topics. The result has the potential to make the reader, viewer, player and/or listener consider what makes them uncomfortable and why.

This event is hosted by Film at Lincoln Center at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center

For more details click here.

December 12, 2019

“Meet the makers: The Raven” w/ Film at Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival

Premiered as part of NYFF Convergence, “The Raven” invites audiences to immerse themselves in the mystery of Poe’s life and death. It’s an experience that blends groundbreaking theater with cutting edge augmented-reality technology. This talk, featuring the creative team, will pull back the curtain to explore the creative process that brought together filmmakers, theatre practitioners, game designers, and more to reimagine Poe’s world through a modern lens. Featuring Lance Weiler, Ava Lee Scott, Nick Fortugno, and Nick Childs.

This event is presented by Film at Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival and Columbia DSL

For more details click here.

August 7th, 2019

An Aesthetics of Process – where theory and practice collide

“Do Something Possible,” Or, What My Twitterbot Taught Me. This talk explains explores computational process as an aesthetic element of new media art. It makes the case for an approach to new media that seeks not to hide algorithmic or coding operations, but to make them an integral part of the felt experience of the work. By way of a simple case study, we’ll be looking closely at Twitter as a platform for creative play. We’ll show you how to make a Twitterbot, and how Twitterbots might be thought of as micro exercises in the aesthetics of computational process.

For more details click here.

July 10, 2019

The Art & Craft of Immersive Performances – building enchanted worlds

Crafting experiences that can be transformative require a careful balance of imagination and design. Ava Lee Scott (Sleep No More, Home of Enchantments, The Raven) joins us for a candid discussion on the art and craft of immersive performances in a world where the line between performer and audience is rapidly changing. Recently back from staging her latest work “Home of Enchantments” at the Overlook Festival in NOLA, Ava will pull back the curtain on how she brings characters to life with performance, emergent technology, and passion.

For more details click here.

June 19, 2019

Conversational Mechanics – balancing story & interactivity

The evening starts with a case study on “Where There’s Smoke,” a documentary/immersive theatre experience/escape room that became the first stand-alone installation in the history of the Tribeca Film Festival. Join Lance Weiler (writer/director/experience designer) and Loren Hammonds (Senior Programmer Film & Immersive, Tribeca Film Festival) for a candid conversation about the challenges and opportunities of staging site-specific installations that attempt to balance story and interactivity – work where those formerly known as the audience become storytellers and part of the experience.

For more details click here.

May 1st, 2019

Operation Acoustic Kitty – returns for an evening of listening espionage

For the May Meetup, Columbia DSL will be revisiting 1960s declassified CIA story of “Operation Acoustic Kitty” and the history of listening device espionage. Following our February meet up we’ll be collaborating again with researchers from the Digital School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, this time to test the limits of being listened to as an individual and as audience. What is the future of acoustic surveillance in an environment awash with commercial listening devices?

For more details click here.

April 3rd, 2019

Digital Dozen: Breakthrough in Storytelling Awards

For more details click here.

March 6th, 2019

Exploring Curation, Funding & Exhibition Models for Immersive Storytelling

Getting an immersive project that mixes story and code up and running is challenging. Often the work represents something that is new and can be difficult to explain. The learning curve for potential funders and prospective audiences can be steep. Not to mention the design, production and exhibition can be costly. As the interest in experiential work is on the rise there is an opportunity to discuss and examine ethical and sustainable funding models for storytellers who are pushing at the edges of new narrative forms and functions. At the same time, an ever-shifting digital landscape makes it difficult for the work to live beyond a limited run and/or to be archived.

For more details click here.

February 6th, 2019

“Acoustic Kitty” 1960s declassified CIA docs inspire haptic storytelling project

For the February Meetup, Columbia DSL will be delving into 1960s declassified CIA documents to hear the story of “Operation Acoustic Kitty” and the history of listening device espionage. We’ll be collaborating with researchers from the Digital School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, to bring the ghost of the spy cat back to life in an immersive storytelling experience that will be developed over the course of 2019. Artists from around the world will work to imagine the “nine lives” of a surveillance inspired virtual cat through the use of haptic technology and AI.

For more details click here.

January 9th, 2019

The Raven – an evening of spatial audio & augmented reality storytelling

Come explore the mind of Edgar Allan Poe. The Columbia DSL is excited to announce that we’ll be collaborating with the Actors Theater of NYC and the Film Society of Lincoln Center on an immersive storytelling experience that reimagines one of Poe’s seminal works – The Raven.

For more details click here.

November 14th – 25th, 2018

A Dinner with Frankenstein AI @ IDFA

Even 200 years after its publication, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein still resonates. This brilliant story is a powerful metaphor for our collective anxieties about technology and its capacity to escape our control. Artificial intelligence activates those fears maybe more than any other technology ever has. So, what might happen if we invited AI to dinner?

For more details click here.

November 15th – 16th, 2018

Executive Education Course – Strategic Storytelling: Maximum Impact in a Digital World

Storytelling has always been central to human experience – it’s how we explain and make sense of the world. But today, as media-savvy audiences begin to tune out advertising messages while searching for ever-more-immersive entertainment experiences, the way businesses and professionals need to communicate is changing. Led by best-selling author Frank Rose and offered in partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Strategic Storytelling introduces the concept of “story thinking” and shows how it can be used to achieve maximum impact in a digital world.

For more details click here.

November 7th, 2018

Conversational Design

Our November meetup at the Film Society of Lincoln Center will focus on Conversation Design. The evening will start with a special talk on by Romy Nehme. Words are as much a design material as any other, but we don’t typically think of designing conversations in that way. This talk will explore the shape of conversations and prompts as overtures to the profound experience of being human — both in the analog and digital worlds.

For more details click here.

October 16th – 28th, 2018

Dinner with Frankenstein AI Challenge

Over the course of two weeks, participants will be designing and hosting a Frankenstein AI Dinner Party prototype to which guests and Frankenstein AI (seeking to better understand what it means to be human, and simulated by members of your team) will be invited.Using the thematic frame of Frankenstein as our canvas for conversation, the immersive dinner party challenge will bring together people from around the world…

For more details click here.

October 13th, 2018

Frankenstein AI at the New York Film Festival

Join Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab as they bring this spark to NYFF Convergence with a special lab session mixing story, play, design, and AI. Working with lab facilitators, participants will prototype an immersive dinner party, where guests will interact with a custom-made “Frankenstein” AI through voice and text.

For more details click here.

Fall 2018

The Fall of Frankenstein – a series of events celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

There are a number of fall events and opportunities surrounding the Frankenstein AI prototype such as courses, challenges, events and festival dates.

For more details click here.

September 5th, 2018

It’s Alive! – an evening of experimentation with Frankenstein, food & AI

Join us for a special evening of experimentation as we mix storytelling, food, conversation and AI. Together we’ll be prototyping an immersive dinner party. At the dinner, guests engage with a Frankenstein AI through voice and text. Over the course of the evening, the AI attempts to surface fears and hopes from the guests. The harvested data (“body parts”) is feed into the AI so that the machine can craft a series of ghost stories in real-time in celebration of the 200th Anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

For more details click here.

August 1st, 2018

The Art of the Escape (Room)

Over the last five years, there has been an explosion in Escape Rooms. As of 2017, it was estimated that there were over 1800 in the US with the number expected to break 2,500 by the end of 2018. While most Escape Rooms have teams toiling with puzzles as they race to beat the clock – a new crop is mixing storytelling and immersive theatre to the form.

For more details click here.

July 11th, 2018

Embodied Storytelling: a collaboration between human and machine

A special evening focused on the trials and tribulations of collaborating with artificial intelligence. Join us as we pull back the curtain on Frankenstein AI: a monster made by many –an immersive experience that mixes machine learning, projection mapping, the internet of things, multitouch interfaces, and participatory theater. We’ll share details about the design and build of the Sundance Film Festival installation

For more details click here.

June 6th, 2018

Micro Theatre – the Next Big (Little) Thing in immersive storytelling

Nick Fortugno and Greg Trefry, co-founders of NYC’s Come Out & Play street games festival, present on new models of live entertainment. In this session, they look at the modern genre of micro theatre, and how a Spanish and South American experimental form offers a new direction for business models of performance. Nick and Greg then lead an example of the form using live-action games as a model for how a micro theatre experience works.

For more details click here.

May 2nd, 2018

Sonic Humanism: Constructing New Realities Through Sound

Music and sound allows us to construct new realities, giving us the super powers to make our lives richer and simpler. The sonic experts at Man Made Music call this Sonic Humanism. Join Man Made Music and Digital Storytelling Lab for a night of prototyping an ideal urban environment through sound…

For more details click here.

April 4th, 2018

Breakthroughs in Storytelling Awards

Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab presents the third annual BREAKTHROUGHS IN STORYTELLING AWARDS celebrating the year’s most innovative examples of digitally enabled narrative.

For more details click here.

March 7th, 2018

Imagining futures beyond our own lifespans: an evening with Longpath Labs

Join us for an evening with Longpath Labs as we explore what it takes to design and build a sustainable movement to tackle complex challenges over the long haul. The evening will focus on the underlying research and vision behind Longpath followed by an opportunity to beta-test Longpath’s open-source “Intro to participatory futures making.”

For more details click here.

January 18th to 28th, 2018

“Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made of Many” – World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival

Inspired by the 200th anniversary of Shelley’s seminal text, this participatory installation explores our relationship to the ubiquitous and emerging technology of artificial intelligence. Participants are prompted to reveal their memories, emotions, fears, and hopes to an AI while it attempts to learn about humanity from those who participate.

For more details click here.

December 20th, 2017

“Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made of Many” – Sundance prototyping session

Join us for a special evening of experimentation on Wednesday, December 20th from 7 pm to 10 pm. We’re looking for a small group to join us as we test and break elements of the “Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made By Many” experience that premieres next month at the Sundance Film Festival. The project mixes AI, IoT, Projection Mapping, and performance.

For more details click here.

November 29th, 2017

Test & Break: an evening of prototyping

This month’s meetup will focus on prototyping methods for immersive storytelling projects. When attempting to take an idea to execution, things can get complicated. How can you balance the differing needs, considerations and development cycles or story, play, and code?

For more details click here.

November 9th & 10th, 2017

Strategic Storytelling Executive Education Seminar/Workshop

Storytelling has always been central to human experience – it’s how we explain and make sense of the world. But today, as media-savvy audiences begin to tune out advertising messages while searching for ever-more-immersive entertainment experiences, the way businesses and professionals need to communicate is changing. Led by best-selling author Frank Rose and offered in partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Strategic Storytelling introduces the concept of “narrative thinking” and shows how it can be used to achieve maximum impact in a digital world.

For more details click here.

October 25th, 2017

Performative Play & the Power of Shared Narratives

Join us as we explore performative spaces that are designed to empower community-driven solutions. How might Theatre of the Oppressed technics, collaborative storytelling, play and code mix to promote social and political change? Max Freedman (Theatre of the Oppressed NYC) joins Nick Fortugno (game designer, co-founder Playmatics) for a Fireside Chat on Performative Play & the Power of Shared Narratives. Directly following the Fireside Chat we’ll hold a collaborative design session to experiment with performance, play, story and code.

For more details click here.

September 23th, 2017

Story I/O

Led by Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab, Story I/O, or “Input/Output,” is a highly interactive one-day event to explore new forms and functions of storytelling. This first edition explores the lab’s collaborative work with Columbia School of Social Work’s SAFE Lab, creating a de-escalation room for youth that harnesses story, play, design, and emerging tech. The day also incorporates work by the Program in Narrative Medicine and The Patient Revolution to build simulations for empathetic care that embrace mixed reality and sensor-based technologies.

For more details click here.

August 14th, 2017

Speculative Fiction – world building for imagined futures

Join us for an evening of Speculative Fiction & Design. In this special meetup, we’ll explore the power of narrative and design-futures as tools for world building and social impact.

Our special guest for the session is Elliott P. Montgomery a researcher and strategic designer whose work focuses on speculative alternatives at the confluence of social, technological and environmental developments. He is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Design at Parsons School of Design, and is a co-founder of The Extrapolation Factory, a design-futures studio based in Brooklyn NY. He has practiced as a design consultant for clients such as the NYC Department of Education, Autodesk, GE, LG, Honeywell, and Johnson & Johnson, as well as for tech startups, cultural institutions and non-profits. His design work has been exhibited internationally, including shows at the Museum of Arts and Design, the Shanghai Power Station of Art and the Biennale du Design in Saint-Etienne France. He is a former design research resident at the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, Energy. He holds a Masters Degree in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art in London and a Bachelors in Industrial Design from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh PA.

For more details please click here.

July 10th, 2017

Humanizing Data – creating an Escape Room for Good

What if we built an environment that modeled negative conversations and behaviors found on social media platforms? Inside of this environment, situations quickly escalate. But this time, we would be able to do something about it.

Imagine a space where a diversity of participants work together through story, play, design and collaboration to de-escalate situations that stem from misunderstanding and polarization. To create this “Escalation Room” we’ll harness emerging technologies, collaborative methodologies, and field research to design and build an innovative empathic simulation that is a learning environment that can scale. Join us for a special think & do session that mixes theory and practice.

For more details please click here.

June 10th, 2017

Building Simulations for Empathic Care – a special think & do session for 40 participants.

The future is uncertain and when it arrives, it can be strange and disorienting. Perhaps nowhere is this tension felt more fully than in regards to our health. Is this symptom important? Will I get sick like my dad? How will this treatment affect me? What will better feel like? These questions and concerns speak to a desire to know where our health is headed and what it will look like when we get there.

For more details please click here.

June 5th, 2017

The Art & Craft of the Pop-up

Join us June 5th at 7pm for a special conversation with Piera Gelardi, Executive Creative Director and co-founder of the award-winning digital media company, Refinery29. Each fall, Piera, and her team transform a warehouse in Brooklyn into a massive immersive pop-up that mixes story, play, art, technology, fashion, and collaboration over three days. Entitled 29 Rooms, the temporary experience reaches tens of thousands in real life, and millions online. At our June meetup, Piera will pull back the curtain on the art and craft of designing and producing engaging pop-ups.

Our discussion with Piera, will be immediately followed by a special Frankenstein AI pop-up design session. This coming fall Columbia DSL will produce a special Frankenstein AI pop-up in NYC. Over the next 6 months we’ll be working together to design, build and produce the pop-up.

For more details please click here.

May 12th – 15th, 2017

Forward Slash Story – 20 storytellers, 5 days, 5 impossible problems and 1 beautiful location.

May 1st, 2017

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things – a kit for augmenting creativity

For over 2 years, we’ve been prototyping Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things. With 2,600 collaborators in 60 countries and 150+ self-organized events held around the world, the project has exceeded all our expectations.

On Monday, May 1st we’ll be taking the next step. After hundreds of prototypes, we’re ready to finalize a Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things kit. This kit will bundle a methodology, as well as a special IoT/AI/beacon, enabled Rotary Phone. The goal of the kit is to augment the creative process in an effort to bridge the physical and digital world through collaborative storytelling and play. The target date for completion is this coming fall when we premiere the kit at the New York Film Festival. After that, the kit will tour festivals and conferences around the world. It’s important to note that this kit will be released under a creative commons license so that others can remix and contribute to its growth.

For more details please click here.

April 5th, 2017

Join us for the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab’s second annual Digital Dozen: Breakthroughs in Storytelling awards, which will be presented at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in Manhattan on Wednesday, April 5, at 6:30 PM. The awards program is a celebration of innovation and creativity in storytelling of every sort, whether in advertising, art, fiction, film, games, journalism, television, or theater.

Chosen by members and associates of the Digital Storytelling Lab, a project of Columbia University School of the Arts, the Digital Dozen do not conform to any single idea about what the future of storytelling will be.

For more details please click here.

March 11-15th, 2017

Columbia DSL is launching two projects at SXSW this year.

First up is the Empathy Lab a collaboration between Refinery 29 and the Columbia DSL, the initiative works with a cohort of change-makers to accelerate empathy across media, tech, policy, education and health. At SXSW we’re presenting the Empathy Lab at an SXSW interactive panel. In addition on the 15th we’ll stage an emphatic conversation on the topic of anti-bullying with high school students, pop star Kesha and Gear Up an organization that works with 750,000 students across the country.

On March 12th we collaborate with our friends at the Future of Storytelling to run a special edition of Frankenstein AI at the Standard’s Austin Motor Inn. The evening will bring 50 people together in a collaborative storytelling experience that gives birth to an AI chatbot aka Frankenstein’s Monster.

For more details please click here.

February 27th, 2017

Our first meetup for 2017 focuses on the release of the lab’s newest prototype, an immersive adaption of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In addition to Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things which will continue throughout 2017, we’ll be piloting Frankenstein AI.

Join us on Monday, February 27th for a special evening of thinking & doing entitled “When Stories Mutate.” We’ll be celebrating the work of Mary Shelley in a fun, playful and immersive way.

For more details please click here.

January 28th, 2017

Shared Reality: An exploration into best practices for designing and producing *Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality experiences as tools for Social Justice

How could incarcerated youth, artists, creative technologists, and policy advocates work together to transform the juvenile justice system? Join us on Saturday, January 28th as we explore how Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality can be harnessed as tools for social justice. We’re pleased to be partnering with the Columbia Center for Justice, the Empathy Lab and Refinery 29 for this special Think & Do Session.

WANTED: Storytellers, creative technologists, policy makers, data scientists, virtual/augmented/mixed reality creators, journalists, artists, game designers, activists, and change makers.

For more details please click here.

September 10th, 2016

Come join us as we reimagine the world of Sherlock Holmes! We’re pleased to partner with the Columbia University Digital Storytelling Lab, IBM and the Made in NY Media Center to present a day long Sherlock Hack that mixes storytelling, the Internet of Things & Artificial Intelligence. Together we’ll explore how to harness various Watson APIs and the Bluemix platform to create a number of enchanted objects.

This hack is the first in a series of events that will help to inform a special presentation during the New York Film Festival on Oct 1st & 2nd. Work done within the hacks and meetups will become part of a massive connected crime scene that transforms Lincoln Center into a collaborative story and play space. For more details please visit http://sherlockholmes.io

WANTED: Hackers, Makers, Storytellers & Game Designers

Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

August 20th, 2016

WANTED: Hackers, Makers, Storytellers & Game Designers

Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

July 26th, 2016

On Tuesday, July 26th we’ll examine “The Physicality of Narrative.” Our relationship to the stories we tell and share is shifting. As storytelling spills off screens and into the real-world it becomes tactile in ways that were never possible before. Augmented Reality (AR), the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are creating playful environments that transform the physical spaces in our lives into canvases for storytelling. But what lies beyond traditional running times, act breaks and mediums? What is the storytelling grammar of physical space and is it possible for narratives to learn and adapt to our surroundings, interests and needs?

After the talk/group discussion we’ll shift our efforts to the design of the upcoming Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things event. This session will include a special exploration of the play space at the Film Society of Lincoln Center as we continue to design and prototype the connected crime scene that will be staged at the New York Film Festival later this fall.

Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

June 28th, 2016

On Tuesday, June 28th we’ll be exploring “The Art of AI.” The evening will examine the opportunities and challenges presented when machine learning and storytelling collide. This is a unique conversation with leading experts working in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Together we’ll explore the impact of AI on narrative and the role that it can play in building rich immersive storytelling experiences.

Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

May 31st, 2016

On Tuesday, May 31st we’ll be exploring “The Forensics of Storytelling.” The evening will examine the science of Sherlock Holmes and the lessons that can be applied to storytelling and experiential design.

Our special guests for the evening will be members from the global collective The Baker Street Babes. The all-female group of Sherlock Holmes fans is dedicated to approaching the fandom from a female point of view, as well as engaging in fun, lively conversations about the canon, film and television adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work, and associated topics.

Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

May 15th – 18th, 2016

Forward/Story
20 storytellers – 3 days of experimentation – 5 impossible problems explored – 1 report that captures the event is shared

April 26th, 2016

Join us as we explore the intersection between emotion and technology. Humans have continually created objects and tools to augment and enhance relationships. What happens when everyday objects begin to function as extensions of mental and emotional experiences? How do these enchanted objects end up influencing the people who interact with them and what stories are perceived and/or created in order to make sense of the world that surrounds us?

Speakers for the evening: Robin Stern, Ph.D associate director for the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Tucker B. Harding who’s work examines communication theory and digital humanities at Columbia University.

Then stick around for a special Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things session. Step into a global storytelling experiment with over 1,200 collaborators from 60+ countries. This is a hands-on session with new technology and also an opportunity to co-create a special experience that will premiere in the Convergence section of the New York Film Festival later this fall. Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

March 28th, 2016

Join us on March 28th from 6pm to 9:30pm at Lincoln Center for an evening that explores the intersection of story and play. Nick Fortugno (co-founder Playmatics and world-renowned game designer) and Lance Weiler (storyteller and director of the Columbia University Digital Storytelling Lab) will hold a fireside chat on the art and craft of narrative play – an exploration into collaborative forms of story and the play spaces that nurture them. Then stick around for a special Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things session. Step into a global storytelling experiment with over 1,200 collaborators from 60+ countries. This is a hands-on session with new technology and also an opportunity to co-create a special experience that will premiere in the Convergence section of the New York Film Festival later this fall. Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

March 19th, 2016

Refinery29, Learn Do Share, Made in NY Media Center by IFP and the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab @ the School of the Arts are pleased to present a special Think & Do collaborative session. Together we’ll examine and explore what is needed to build a creative, supportive and sustainable industry for women working within the storytelling arts. RSVP here.

Feb 23rd, 2016

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things returns Feb 23rd to Lincoln Center for our first meetup of 2016. This special event will kickoff with a presentation of the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab’s Digital Dozen: Breakthroughs in Storytelling. A number of the creators featured on the list will be joining us. After the presentation we’ll move into a collaborative design session that will focus on plans for 2016 and the development of a Sherlock IoT kit. Space is limited so make sure to RSVP.

Feb 19th, 2016

Refinery29, Learn Do Share and the Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab are pleased to present a special Think & Do collaborative session. Join storytellers working in various forms to examine and explore what is needed to build a creative, supportive and sustainable industry for women working within the storytelling arts. Space is limited to 30 participants.

Oct 24th & 25th, 2015 (all day)

On the 24th & 25th, we will be holding our first annual Sherlock Global Challenge. Events are being staged around the world that bring together storytellers, game designers, hackers, makers, academics and fans of Sherlock Holmes – for a special two days of storytelling and prototyping. We’re hosting a special event for 40 participants on Columbia’s campus on the 25th.

Oct 16th & 17th, 2015 (all day)

GSAPP’s MSAUD program and the Columbia DSL are pleased to present Urban Storytelling a special two day event that aims to share state-of-the-art work and ask how stories can transform urban culture.

Oct 13th, 2015 (all day)

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things goes to London! On October 13th, Columbia DSL founding member and director Lance Weiler and game designer Nick Fortugno will present at Power to the Pixel, a gathering of media and tech innovators from around the globe. Weiler and Fortugno will open and close the event with a special presentation that transforms the banks of the Thames into a connected crime scene.

September 26th & 27th, 2015 (all day)

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things heads to the New York Film Festival for two days of collaborative storytelling. Teams from four continents will guide festival goers at Lincoln Center through a reimagining of Sherlock Holmes that will transform Lincoln Center into a series of crime scenes. Together participants establish crime scenes, place objects/clues and work to craft collaborative stories that attempt to solve the crimes.

August 15th, 2015 (all day)

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things MEETUP
For the last 10 months we’ve be holding Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things meetups in NYC. We invite collaborators to step into an open design space to re-imagine the world of Sherlock Holmes. These meetups range from a few hours to a full day. Within them participants work to shape a collaborative project that will be presented at Lincoln Center during NYFF 53 in 2015. LOCATION: Made in NY Media Center

May 16th – 18th, 2015

Forward/Story
20 storytellers – 3 days of experimentation – 5 impossible problems explored – 1 report that captures the event is shared

April 30th, 2015 (all day)

Digital Storytelling Strategy
In partnership with Columbia Business School Executive Education

Digital Storytelling Strategy puts you at the center of new media. Learn how the immersive digital experience can be used to engage customers and prospects in a whole new way. Storytelling has always been central to human experience – it’s how we explain and make sense of the world.

March 27th, 2015 (7pm – 10pm)

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things MEETUP
Over the next year Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things will hold monthly meetups. We invite collaborators to step into an open design space to re-imagine the world of Sherlock Holmes. These meetups range from a few hours to a full day. Within them participants work to shape a collaborative project that will be presented at Lincoln Center during NYFF 53 in 2015. LOCATION: Lincoln Center

March 24th, 2015 (11am to 4:30pm) – Nashville

The Future of Public Media
Learn Do Share and the Digital Storytelling Lab @Columbia partner with PBS to explore new forms and functions of storytelling. Through a series of collaborative design sessions a diverse group will gather in multiple cities across the country in an effort to imagine the future of public media. The first stop is Nashville. Later in April and May the effort will travel to Detroit and Austin.

Feb 24th, 2015 (7pm – 9:30pm)

Feb 15th, 2015

Hacking the American Narrative
Hacking American Narrative will explore and interrogate cultural narratives of America as part of BLK SHP’s upcoming cross-country bus tour, America’s True North. The purpose of the Lab is to craft our narrative and refine our intervention for our summer road trip. We’ll aim to explore themes of American authenticity and agency through storytelling. The structure of the Lab will be a blend of meditative inquiry and rapid prototyping.

Jan 30th, 2015 (7pm – 9:30pm)

Jan 25th, 2015

The Rise of the Creative Entrepreneur
Together a diverse group of storytellers, producers, technologists, data researchers, creatives and entrepreneurs will gather to explore the opportunities, pain points and realities of an ever shifting digital landscape. Insights from the session kickoff a 3-month research project that will stage collaborative sessions in the United States and Europe. The goal of the think and do session is to explore some of the most pressing issues that are facing those working in and around the entertainment industry. This special session has space for 30 participants. Come and be part of an R&D project who’s findings will be published by Columbia University and Filmmaker Magazine.

Nov 21st, 2014 (7pm – 9:30pm)

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things MEETUP @ Made in NY Media Center
Over the next year Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things will hold monthly meetups. We invite collaborators to step into an open design space to re-imagine the world of Sherlock Holmes. These meetups range from a few hours to a full day. Within them participants work to shape a collaborative project that will be presented at Lincoln Center during NYFF 53 in 2015.

Nov 15th, 2014

Narrative Medicine Digital Storytelling Lab
On Saturday, Nov 15th a special Digital Storytelling Lab @Columbia will be held on the subject of Narrative Medicine. The day long lab will examine how storytelling can improve care and aid communication between those working in health care as well as the families of the patients that they treat. The goal of the day is to explore what a Narrative Medicine / Storytelling tool kit could and would contain. How can we create the start of a resource that could be used by health care workers as well as families that are dealing with loved ones suffering from mental health issues?

Oct 27th, 2014 (7pm – 9:30pm)

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things MEETUP @ Lincoln Center
Over the next year Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things will hold monthly meetups. We invite collaborators to step into an open design space to re-imagine the world of Sherlock Holmes. These meetups range from a few hours to a full day. Within them participants work to shape a collaborative project that will be presented at Lincoln Center during NYFF 53 in 2015.

Oct 21st, 2014

Digital Storytelling Strategy
New seminar in Digital Storytelling Strategy to be presented by Digital Storytelling Lab @Columbia – Columbia University School of the Arts, in partnership with Columbia Business School Executive Education, will offer an innovative, high-level, day-long seminar on October 21, 2014: Digital Storytelling Strategy. Led by best-selling author Frank Rose and marketing and communications expert Paul Woolmington, the program is designed for executives of all levels in brand marketing, corporate strategy or media and entertainment who want to understand the immersive potential of digital storytelling.

Sept 28th, 2014

Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things
Join storytellers, game developers, makers, creative technologists, and experience designers in a special FREE one day story lab. An experiment in co-authorship – Sherlock Holmes and the internet of things invites 25 participants to step into a collaborative design space. Together participants will lay the ground work for a storyworld that will play out globally through a series of connected objects that become conduits for a re-imaging of Sherlock Homes.

May 16th – 18th, 2014

Forward/Story
20 storytellers – 3 days of experimentation – 5 impossible problems explored – 1 report that captures the event is shared

February 21st – March 1st, 2014

Bit by Bit – Experiments in digital storytelling
Special week long event entitled Bit by Bit focused on storytelling, data and code. The digital storytelling lab is thrilled to partner with the Brown Institute, AOL, Seven on Seven and Reboot Stories.

November 13th, 2013

What could a Digital Storytelling Lab at Columbia look like?
An evening of Speed Talks & Collaborative Design