Meet Vance
Creator of Immersive Experiences, Events, Art & Entertainments. Champion of Collective Joy. Connector. Futurist. Fantasy Fulfiller.
Thanks so much for joining me here at adVANCEd Experience! Before we forge ahead, I thought it would be helpful to share a bit of my background - the story up to now, informing my POV on immersive experiences, events, art, entertainments, and collective joy…and where culture goes from here…
Vance Garrett is an award-winning creative director, executive producer, scenarist, dramaturg and notably, a key player launching the pioneering projects of the experiential and immersive entertainment movement, including Sleep No More, Museum of Ice Cream, and Refinery29’s 29Rooms. Vance specializes in original immersive experiences, theatrical events, art exhibitions, location-based entertainment, and collective joy. He employs a 360-degree understanding of live production and multi-sensory storytelling design to create innovative experiences in engaging environments that connect audiences with worlds larger than their individual selves, build community, drive impact, and inspire wonder.
As Westfield’s first Vice President, Experiential, Global Entertainment, Vance collaborated with Broadway and film producer Scott Sanders (The Color Purple) to bring innovative live and experiential initiatives into its global portfolio of 100+ retail and mixed-use properties - and continues to create original experiences for their portfolio today. As the first CCO of Constellation Immersive (CAA affiliate studio), he developed and directed Elf on the Shelf‘s Magical Holiday Journey all-ages attraction and conceived and creatively directed DiscOasis, collaborating with famed music producer Nile Rodgers and providing a platform for Madonna’s Finally Enough Love album launch. His work in events and theatre projects have garnered multiple Clio Awards, BizBash Awards (including its Top People in Events), a Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes Award, and a Drama Desk. He is a partner of the art firm Echo, a member of the World Experience Organization, a mentor for AIME (the Australian Indigenous Mentorship Experience), a graduate of Northwestern University, a guest speaker for the Creative and Independent Producer Alliance and NU’s Master of Science in Leadership for Creative Enterprises, and is on the Executive Producers Council for the Center of Performing Arts UCLA.
Vance is a cultural futurist with an uncanny ability to identify the next big idea that captures the zeitgeist - the right concept at the right time that imaginatively taps into, impacts, and transforms culture. He is currently developing fresh experiential concepts and looks forward to sharing them in the real world for real people real soon…
Other credits include A Forest for the Trees with the Atlantic Magazine, Glenn Kaino, Mastercard, and Superblue (Producer/Dramaturg), Tyra Banks’ ModelLand (SVP Experience and Marketing), Spotify’s SpotiFest ’24 (Creative Director), Big Apple Circus (Immersive Producer), Candy Cottage of Christmas Magic at Rockefeller Center (Co-Creator with Arielle Tepper), Archer Gray (Head of Live), Katherine Bigelow’s VR film experience The Protectors at Tribeca Film Festival’s Storyscapes (Experiential Producer), Remy Martin’s One Life/Live Them Campaign Launch with Jeremy Renner (Executive Producer), H&M’s Conscious Collection launch (Producer), The Hall of Magic with Mash for NBC/Universal’s The Magicians (Executive Producer), the Lantern Floating for Peace at Lincoln Center with Misty Copeland (Talent Curator for LDJ), Spring/Break Art Fair at Moynihan Station (Producer), the immersive Door into the Dark at the Tribeca Film Festival (Producer, Storyscapes Winner), PopSugar NewFronts (Stage Producer, BizBash Award Winner) the Old Vic New York gala with Darren Criss, Stephen Fry, Alan Cumming, and Jeff Goldblum (Director), End HIV Gala with Billy Porter and Ryan Heffington (Producer), New Group’s Mercury Fur (Promotions), Black Soft’s Day of Dead video with Nicola Formichetti and Tim Richardson (Producer), Future Cinema’s New York launch of Antonioni’s Blow-Up (Co-Producer), Polar Express Train Ride (Director), Rock & Roll Circus at Lincoln Center (Producer), the immersive DMID Student House with Jane Lynch (Creative Producer), Fire Island Pines (Entertainment Director), HallowQueen (Producer), Velvet Gloves Boxing (Founder), Oculto Manor with Punchdrunk (Company Manager), Lab/Shul (Producer), the Lowline Anti-Gala (Immersive Creative Director), Lazarides Gallery’s / Conor Harrington’s Eat and Delete NY premiere (Producer), Saint At Large (Love Ball and Black Party Director and Scenarist, Jennifer Hudson‘s New York premier, Roisin Murphy at Crobar, and others), Russian Film Week (Producer), L’Oreal/Matrix (Creative Director for LDJ), High Line Festival with David Bowie (Associate Producer), Goop, MR Porter, Ace Hotel, Sonos, Kiehl’s, Paris Hilton (Factory PR), Selena Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund (Factory PR), Deva Curl (LDJ), Gizmodo, Douglas Elliman (BMF), Mondrian Soho, The Macallan x James Bond (Matte), Moynihan Station/Farley Post Office, Broadway Cares, and Bowery Presents (including Pet Shop Boys, Morrissey, Scissor Scissors, of Montreal, Gossip and Janelle Monae).
Wow! Such an impressive and important body of work