What if the viewer could be the protagonist in the narrative? Baobab Studios has been attempting to answer that question both creatively and technically since being founded by CEO Maureen Fan, CCO Eric Darnell and CTO Larry Cutler in 2015. Each project from Invasion! to Baba Yaga has expanded the understanding of virtual reality as an artform. “The power of VR is immersion, so it got down to us thinking about how we can tell stories that make the viewer matter,” states Darnell, who previously made a name for himself at DreamWorks Animation by co-directing Antz and the Madagascar franchise. “Not just where they sit there and watch a story unfold, or like a game where they have to go through a series of puzzles or challenges.” Simple gestures such as a character handing an object to the viewer can be equally engaging. “The lantern [in Baba Yaga] was difficult because it is a real-time element,” remarks Nathaniel Dirksen, digital supervisor and head of Engineering, Baobab Studios. “If you give the viewer the ability to shine a light around the scene you’ve just made life harder, but that’s cool so you do it anyway!”