Bonus Feature: Ned Loach on 360 Screenings and the life around it

l-r  Ned Loach, Robert Gontier    (photo by Katherine Holland)

Theatre Cinema Performance Life

by Ned Loach

Ned Loach is an arts and culture producer who co-founded Toronto's first immersive cinema experience, 360 Screenings. He also works for Sheridan College where he helps manage the Performing Arts Department. Previous positions include Soulpepper Theatre Company, Canadian Opera Company, and London, UK's Freud Museum. He strives to keep creating and contributing to creative environments, wherever possible.

Robert Gontier is co-founder and Artistic Director of 360 Screenings.  He has an M.A. in Voice Studies with Distinction from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London (UK) and a B.F.A. from Ryerson University. He is also a playwright, librettist and lyricist who has recently been shortlisted for the prestigious Tom Hendry Awards presented by the Playwrights Guild of Canada.  He is currently a Professor of Voice and Text at Sheridan College.

Robbie and I have been married now for just over 3 years, and for about half that time we have been working together on creating immersive cinema events with 360 Screenings. It’s a passion project of ours, something we are both wildly interested in. We are fascinated with how to make theatre, or to be more general, performance art, more accessible, and how to inspire audiences to be more engaged and excited about performance art.

Review: (Toronto) 360 Screenings

Inside the Secret
by Jasmine Chen
@CHENPINGTING

The tag line for 360 Screenings is “Step in to the film”. This immersive screening experience begins even before you enter the venue. Outside 10 Adelaide Street East, at 10:50pm, there’s a long line stretching down the block. Already, the world of the film is being created for us by actors who interact with the audience while they wait. 10 Adelaide street, is a heritage building, the sixth venue to house a 360 Screening. I’ve passed by this address so many times, but for the first time tonight I’m really noticing it. The Ontario Heritage Centre was built in 1909 originally as a bank. Pillars loom above us as we wait. Soon, we’re ushered into the lobby where the space is dressed as a new setting altogether. I won’t give anything away, though, because that’s the best part: not knowing what to expect. How it works is 360 Screenings does not reveal the location of the screening until a day or so before. You are then given recommended actions, like what to wear and what to bring. All of these actions are suggested to help you better connect as a participant. When I say “participant”, I mean: expect to be engaged. The performers are not only open to your curiosity, but they will actively seek you out and involve you in the world of the film. Clues are everywhere, if you look for them. In speaking to different characters, you’ll be led closer to the discovery of what you’ll be watching later on. 

Interview: Ned Loach, Co-Founder of 360 Screenings

L-R Robert Gontier, Ned Loach co-founders 360 Screenings

From Screen To Stage
by Jasmine Chen
@CHENPINGTING

Ned Loach, Co-Founder of 360 Screenings spoke with CharPo Senior Contributor Jasmine Chen.

CHARPO: What was the genesis of 360 Screenings? What inspired you to create this experience for audiences?

LOACH: Our Artistic Director Robert Gontier and I lived in London, UK for several years and while we were there we went to as many theatre shows and cultural events as we could. We noticed a trend of immersive theatre, but more specifically a kind of theatre that blended many different artistic forms. When we came back, we wondered if this kind of immersive theatre was happening in Toronto. While there was a lot of immersive theatre, there wasn't as much blending of different disciplines. That's when we decided to create a hybrid theatre and film event. We're a year and a half in and we're still growing.