David Varela

David Varela is a London-based writer, director, and producer, who has worked on a range of media including film, theatre, radio, magazines, ebooks and games.

Varela is known for having worked in various transmedia projects, such as the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project The Seed which consisted of a narrative comprising four plays, a treasure hunt and online characters.[1] The Parson, a digital radio play by Varela which used a scrolling DAB text to show interior monologues from the characters, was the first of its kind.[2] Tens of thousands of players interacted with websites, street games, magazines, audio drama and puzzle cards to take part in the immersive story experience entitled Perplex City; they "were able to talk to characters over the phone, search police files for evidence, decipher coded emails and check newspapers for clues".[2] He also joined nDreams to produce Xi_(alternate_reality_game), the first console-based ARG which "play[ed] out in five languages over three months with new developments almost every day".[3]

Varela wrote and produced the promotional Alternate Reality Game Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life, which earned a Guinness World Record as the ARG produced in the most languages.[4]

He worked with Sherlock producers Hartswood Films and game developers The Project Factory to write the story of Sherlock: The Network,[5] which was shortlisted for a Cannes Lion, won a WSA Award, was nominated for two Develop Awards including for ‘Best Use of Narrative’, and a Broadcast Digital Award for Best Game.[6][7] According to Develop Online, "Moffat himself has acknowledged that the game’s writing is 'annoyingly good'".[8] Recently, he has worked on the iOS games Samurai Siege and The Trace,[9][9][10][11][12] and worked with a class of Year 8 students at Folkestone Academy and their teacher to create a real-life Choose Your Own Adventure game entitled Some Change.[13]

In 2011, gave a talk for the Australian Society of Authors in Sydney about new media platforms, alternative funding models, and immersive adventures.[2] At the 2012 TEDxEaling, he gave a talk entitled "Throw your story from a plane".[14] In 2014, he spoke about TV Series Storyworlds[15] at the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival, alongside George RR Martin and Guillaume Lubrano. In 2015, he gave a workshop at Spread the Word called Writing Fiction on Social Media about "the potential for social media as a platform for telling stories that unfold in real time".[16][17]

References

  1. ↑ "David Varela: Throw your Story from a Plane". tedxealing.com.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "David Varela: Digital Storytelling". asauthors.org.
  3. ↑ "POWER TO THE PIXEL « DAVID VARELA". powertothepixel.com.
  4. ↑ "Image of the Guinness World Record certificate".
  5. ↑ "Sherlock: The Network app: 'It's a bit of Cumberbatch in your pocket'". Digital Spy.
  6. ↑ "Everything you need to know". Everything you need to know.
  7. ↑ "Alan Brodie Representation". Alan Brodie Representation.
  8. ↑ "Develop". develop-online.net.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Gamasutra - Press Releases - Track Down The Trace As It Launches On The App Store". gamasutra.com.
  10. ↑ http://toucharcade.com/2015/03/25/the-trace-for-ipad-and-iphone-review/
  11. ↑ "Murder Files dev announces iOS investigative puzzler The Trace". Eurogamer.net. 26 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "Relentless Software announce The Trace for mobile - Entertainment Focus". Entertainment Focus.
  13. ↑ "Some Change". Everything you need to know.
  14. ↑ Throw your story from a plane: David Varela at TEDxEaling. YouTube. 27 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "TV Series Storyworlds". NIFFF website.
  16. ↑ Exploded View. "Spread the Word presents David Varela – Writing Fiction on Social Media - What's On - Free Word Centre". freewordcentre.com.
  17. ↑ "Writing Fiction on Social Media with David Varela". artsjobs.org.uk.

External links