On today’s show we welcome Michael Borys and Alex Lieu, Vice President of Interaction and Game Design and Creative Director and Lead Experience Design Director at 42 Entertainment, as well as the brains behind the 49 Boxes Project.

Topics Include:

• Find out how Michael and Alex met at Disney in the ’90’s.
• Michael’s background:From fine art to the gaming world.
• Learn more about Alex’s background in graphic design.
• Michael explains story-driven social immersion experience.
• The new genre of entertainment pioneered by Alex and Michael.
• Learn more about alternate reality games and how they work.
• The fascinating history of puzzles and the 49 Boxes project.
• The role of alternate reality games in the media landscape today.
• The power of alternate reality games in team-building and problem-solving.
• Building what you love: Why Michael and Alex don’t care much for silos.
• How Alex and Michael envision the future of 49 Boxes and 42 Entertainment.
• What is the future of immersion storytelling and where is the entertainment world headed?
• And much more!

Bio:

Michael Borys: Michael Borys leads the interactive design team at 42 Entertainment ? responsible for all online, mobile and real-world puzzles, games and social activities. From scores of casual games found throughout 42E’s projects such as TRON’s ‘Space Paranoids’ and the Dark Knight’s ‘Sitting Ducks’, to amazing real life collaborative scavenger hunts like the one held in the dead of night on Alcatraz Island, Michael always strives to give the audiences new experiences in fun. From 1996 to 2000, he led various teams within the Disney Company and helped in the creation of the original Disney’s Daily Blast online. In 2000, Michael teamed up with Alex Lieu at 3pinmedia to work on major projects for Disney Imagineering and the Disney Themeparks, as well as create animations and games for television and the web.

In 2003-2005 Michael worked as Warner Brothers’ Senior Game Designer for its Web and Mobile divisions. His passion and appreciation for authenticity, magic, history, games, and everything in between gives a unique point of view to what he creates. It’s his attention to detail and love of storytelling that elevates the work he does into something memorable and meaningful. For over 15 years Michael has been doing what he loves most, creating hundreds of gaming experiences over many platforms.

Alex Lieu: Pushing the boundaries of traditional entertainment and social gaming while re-defining the rules of digital and real-world play, Alex serves as both Creative Director and Lead Experience Design Director for 42 Entertainment’s award-winning projects. From sending scores of Batman fans to mysterious locations where mobile phones were buried inside Joker-themed cakes, to leading players through a scary dilapidated warehouse leading to an ultra-secret Nine Inch Nails performance, Alex is constantly searching for new ways to immerse audiences and weave them into fiction. He pioneered immersive storytelling techniques that blend the digital and real to create “events” in fictional worlds that attract massive participation.

Alex believes transmedia entertainment is a true art form and loves innovative storytelling. Prior to 42, Alex was the founder and Chief Creative at 3Pin Media-a new media entertainment agency serving clients like Microsoft, Warner Brothers, Boeing, ESPN, Nickelodeon, ABC, Disney, and more-the Vice President of Creative at Lightspan Inc. working on innovative learning solutions-Creative Director at Mutation Labs, and one of the founding members of Disney Online where his team pioneered the very first use of Flash for web design, animation and game development.

Learn more about Michael at 42entertainment.com, 49boxes.com, and LinkedIn.

Learn more about Alex at 42entertainment.com, 49boxes.com, and LinkedIn.

Check out this episode!