Wales Interactive host interactive storytelling workshops.

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Wales Interactive’s Media Cymru project, Interactive Film Challenge, recently ran a writers workshop. 

Following an open call in September 2022, The Secrets to Writing Interactive Content workshops welcomed 17 creatives to explore Wales Interactive’s innovative narrative tool (WIST) and to take their writing to the next level. 

This was an opportunity for new and established writers to work with award-winning Wales Interactive on early-stage Research and Development (R&D) to master the world of interactive storytelling or discover different genres. 

Participants were provided with a step-by-step guide on how to build successful interactive stories, hosted by Wales Interactive’s Executive Producer and Co-Founder, Richard Pring and Video Game Producer, Samuel Leigh. 

Samuel said:

“Our passion lies in creating original titles that captivate audiences and put Wales on the map.

We delivered a crash course workshop for both new and experienced writers to explore innovative ways to create successful interactive stories.

Thanks to this workshop and the help of industry professionals, writers were able to accelerate their pathway to developing new and exciting interactive stories and how we tell them.”

Topics covered included: principles of interactive narrative, benefits of combining film, games and other mediums, branching narratives and refining writing skill sets. Participants were also one of the first to explore Wales Interactive’s innovative narrative tool and will benefit from ongoing one-to-one support from industry professionals for the duration of a 12-month R&D process.  

By the end of their journey with Wales Interactive, participants will have learned how to push the boundaries of interactive storytelling and successful individuals will discover how to take an idea and make it pitch perfect, potentially resulting in a product or service ready for market. 

Actor and writer, Bethan Leyshon who attended the workshop commented:  

“What I’ve really enjoyed learning about is how to use branching narratives and the opportunities that you have to use that, not just in video games but in other mediums as well.” 

Another participant, Allan Plenderleith, writer and director for live action video games, said:  

“It’s really about exploring those possibilities and we are still coming up with ideas which may or may not work but we are pushing the boundaries to see what is capable and hopefully create something new and exciting.” 

For more information on the Interactive Film Challenge and to stay up to date with the latest news on this project, visit Wales Interactive’s page on our website.