About a week ago, we told you about IN ANOTHER ROOM, a new immersive experience from E3W Productions that allows you to investigate a notoriously haunted house in Lose Angeles. We promised you an interview with them, and now, here it is!
The team behind it was kind enough to answer some more of my probing questions to give us a little more insight as to what to expect from the show when it opens in August. Though it’s currently sold out, stick around to the end of the interview to find out how you can possibly nab a ticket for yourself!
HorrorBuzz: Tell us a bit about how the show came about. Is everyone at E3W Productions paranormal enthusiasts?
E3W Productions: To us, ‘In Another Room’ represents an unexpected solution to a creative rut. We love haunted houses and ghost stories, we always have (Austin and Aaron even think they grew up in a haunted house), and after exploring those themes in our feature film ‘The House on Pine Street,’ we realized we hadn’t uncovered everything the genre had to offer. We spent the past few years trying to write the next film, going through multiple drafts of multiple projects, and always ending up at a dead end.
Only recently did we discover the world of immersive theater (starting when Aaron saw ‘Sleep No More’ on a whim in New York), and it really blew our minds. We’ve seen as many shows as we’ve been able to since then, and slowly but surely the idea for this show began to form. We’d already made a more classic haunted house film; this show and format has provided us with an opportunity to explore the idea of the haunted house in a slightly different way, focusing less on scares and more on the human stories that make a place haunted. It’s been incredibly inspiring and creatively fulfilling so far, working with such talented artists, actors, and friends to bring this passion project to life in a medium that is so new and exciting for us.
HorrorBuzz: If you can, talk a bit about the location itself. I am sure you’d like to keep it secret until the show begins, but did you write the show and then find the location? Or did the location itself dictate the show?
E3W Productions: We were very lucky to secure the location early on in our creative process, so the house very much dictated how the show would unfold. We’ve utilized every possible space inside the house to create a fully realized, detailed world. However, the house is by no means a sprawling haunted mansion on a hill. It is a fairly moderate sized home, which really adds to the intimate nature of this show. From first glance it may seem to be a pretty average residence located near Koreatown, but fear not: there is much to discover in the upstairs rooms…
HorrorBuzz: The press release talks about encountering various souls within the home…seems like paranormal activity will be afoot! Will the three audience members be experiencing the story together, or will they be separated? Are their different tracks for each person, or is it all the same story for everyone?
E3W Productions: We don’t want to give too much away – part of the fun of any immersive experience is discovering the rules of the world and your place within it as an audience member. That being said, this is definitely more of a spectator performance. We want to give the audience a peek into these wonderful characters’ worlds, with a focus on creating richly detailed, highly immersive environments. But that’s not to say the audience will always just be sitting on the sidelines, observing. Each room is different, and the audience’s role and level of immersion from space to space will shift and fluctuate along the way.
HorrorBuzz: What are some of the things people can expect to see and experience within the walls of the home?
E3W Productions: First off, this is not an extreme horror experience. In fact we would hesitate to call it a horror experience or a ‘haunt’ at all. ‘In Another Room’ is an immersive play that is firmly entrenched in the horror genre and explores themes, settings, and atmospheres that are most certainly creepy. However the purpose of the show is not to scare the audience. Our show is much more of an emotional journey within an eerie framework. And while it is never certain what one will experience when entering a ‘haunted’ place, many people have lived and died and suffered tragedy within these rooms, and it is very likely that audiences will encounter the echoes of these dramas which now stain the walls of the home.
HorrorBuzz: What, if anything, can you tell us about W. Morrow? And how did you come across his case files to post on your Instagram?
E3W Productions: We do not personally know W. Morrow. Due to our previous knowledge of the house and its reputation, Morrow has been on our radar for quite some time. A paranormal enthusiast, Morrow amassed a great deal of valuable research during an extended stay in the home. It is unfortunate what ultimately happened during this visit, and Ms. Richardson was very apprehensive to allow our team into the house so shortly after Morrow’s abrupt vacancy. But we are not new to paranormal investigations. Morrow was dedicated and thorough, but ultimately an inexperienced novice. Our team has done this many times before, and we can assure all volunteers that they will be entering the house under the safest of circumstances.
HorrorBuzz: Are there clues as to what we will see hidden within the Instagram posts?
E3W Productions: There are no clues or puzzles to solve in the Instagram images. But this is a house with a high level of purported paranormal phenomena, so it is more than likely that guests entering the home will get to know a number of the souls who lived and died within its walls, all of whom are listed in the Official Record of Reported Incidents.
HorrorBuzz: Speaking of, how did you guys come up with all of the posts? They are extensive and really do tell a story so far…it went from a straight forward look through his files and then get VERY dark. How does that play into the show over all?
E3W Productions: We loved the idea of teasing the show and the house that the audience will be entering through the eyes of one of our characters. Morrow was the natural choice, being an enthusiast of all things paranormal and a self-proclaimed expert on the house in question and its history. Morrow is just one of the characters who lingers in the house, but we wanted to tell this specific story (of Morrow moving in, conducting research, and eventually succumbing to the house’s power) as a first glimpse for our audience to witness the strange affect the house has on those who enter it.
We started working early on with our art director, Patrick Blanchard, on the history of this house, and together we created a list of every death that has occurred here which can be seen in the earliest posts – the Official Record of Reported Incidents. From there, Patrick dove into the mindset of Morrow and began exploring some of the stories of those who passed within these rooms. He’s an amazing artist, and he did a great job capturing the fear, the confusion, the despair and regret inside the house, as well as the madness that threatens to consume those step inside. The aesthetic, storytelling, and attention to detail you see in the Instagram is being carried over into the design of the house as well. We are very excited for people to see what we’ve been working on.
HorrorBuzz :How did the three of you find each other? Have you worked together before? Is this your first immersive show together?
E3W Productions: The three of us (Aaron Keeling, Austin Keeling, and Natalie Jones) met in middle school, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We’re all very close friends (we live together, actually), but we think our love for the horror genre and our drive to explore new and interesting modes of storytelling has really kept our working relationship strong. We’ve worked together on a number of short films and music videos, as well as the critically acclaimed indie horror film ‘The House on Pine Street,’ which we wrote and produced together (Aaron and Austin directed). This is our first immersive show, but we’re bringing the same passion, commitment, and attention to detail that we’ve brought to our past endeavors. We’re putting our all into this show, and we really hope the final product leaves audience members with a lasting and haunting impression.
A big thank you to Aaron, Austin, and Natalie for answering my questions!
Like I mentioned earlier, the show is now sold out, BUT…email the team at e3wproductions@gmail.com to be added to a mailing list, and you will be notified of any additional spots that open up!
