This profile forms part of a series of interviews produced as part of Game Republic’s 20th Anniversary celebrations supported by our Official Partners Barclays, Escape Technology and Red Kite Games.
John Rose Adams is senior creative producer for XR Stories at the University of York. He has a passion for the creative industries but with a background in photography and working across sectors including for the Open University. It might be this background that has put him at the head of pioneering work that is bringing together theatre and games companies, TV and immersive tech companies to build as he puts it “new things”. XR Stories has been working across the region for several years and supported work through SIGN (Screen Industries Growth Network) to champion the creativity of inclusivity of the Yorkshire and Humber region’s screen industries. A key difference here from more traditional research and industry collaborations is that XR Stories provide funding and wraparound support and services for companies who want to develop new things, boosting innovation and economic growth in the region. John is a fan of the creative cluster, as are we and we are excited about the next phases of this work. On 5th October, Game Republic will be working with XR Stories and Barclays on an event bringing XR and Virtual Production to the fore which you can book here
What is great about the games industry?
I love the process, the agile way of working that the games industry has developed. I am seeing that agile practice working more in other sectors and we are helping different sectors adopt these practices, from theatre practitioners to TV companies. Games engines are increasingly interesting for other sectors so there is incredible work and knowledge that can be used across multiple sectors because of games.
What advice would you give anyone starting out in the games industry?
There is interesting stuff happening that you might not recognise as part of games in all sectors. There are valuable skills that are sought after in games, film, TV and general enterprise – so it is about visualising the opportunities for games and beyond games when you develop skills in the sector.
What work are you doing that is benefiting the region?
We are supporting R&D so we can help companies get the answers or explore new areas that they can then commercialise with less associated risks. We are supporting creative clusters and providing space for connections between different parts of the creative sectors so we can build and sustain growth in the region. We have supported internships and provide space and kit in our Lab to help companies at the Guildhall in York. Our work is benefiting companies supporting commercial outcomes but is also supporting students to gain more experience, create new knowledge which is also enhancing our teaching.
We have made new things, tangible, playable, immersive things for companies… It has been great to see sectors learning from each other.
What has been a highlight of your career so far?
XR Stories is in its final year and we have seen such great outputs. We have made new things, tangible, playable, immersive things for companies. We have worked with theatre company Megaverse with early exploratory work and given them a helping hand, they are now scaling and employing staff. It has been great to see sectors learning from each other.
What do you think of Game Republic?
It is a really important network. It provides a gateway to sound ideas and approaches. It is a really active network that provides great value to companies and specialist knowledge on the sector. Like Screen Yorkshire with TV and film, Game Republic understands its sector and provide the right advice to help – and is highly valued by companies.
we have the CoSTAR project which will bring advanced production to Yorkshire to Production Park as a big part of new infrastructure to support TV, film and game sectors.
Why is the region a good place to do business?
There is a solid foundation of companies, and a good support infrastructure for production. Parts of the region have benefited from Shared Prosperity and Levelling Up funding. I think that the support is not consistent across the whole region and there are pockets of need particularly for sole traders and freelancers where networks can really help – these are not available everywhere.
What influence is your work having on the sector / region?
We are changing thinking in many ways by making connections for instance bringing together a theatre set designer with a games company to consider how to create immersive experiences and ensure users look at what you want them to see. We worked with Sky Live – a new addition to TV experiences that allows you to video call from your living room on the big screen and use your body as a controller with interactive gaming. In particular we worked with them to look at accessibility and inclusion to adapt the technology they were building. We are supporting the emergence of creative clusters and providing more opportunities for collaborations centred on economic growth.
What projects have you got coming up?
We are about to launch four new performing arts and heritage projects that will look at immersive technology, we have just launched a national funded research framework on XR and virtual production. Most excitingly we have the CoSTAR project which will bring advanced production to Yorkshire to Production Park as a big part of new infrastructure to support TV, film and game sectors.
