{"id":7062,"date":"2017-02-14T10:11:22","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T10:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emergeperformance.net\/?p=7062"},"modified":"2023-08-07T04:34:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T04:34:01","slug":"in-the-flow-with-ashima-thomas-the-master-storyteller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emergeperformance.net\/zh\/2017\/02\/14\/in-the-flow-with-ashima-thomas-the-master-storyteller\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Flow with Ashima Thomas, the Master Storyteller"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This month we sit down with Ashima Thomas. Ashima is a storyteller and is at the forefront of using virtual reality (VR) technology to tell incredible
tales. Let\u2019s see what we can learn from her journey to the edges of the mainstream universe.<\/p>

Hi Ashima. Could you tell me more about your background and what you used to do previously?<\/strong><\/p>

I used to be a journalist, and I feel in a way that I still am, but not in the traditional sense. I worked in TV \u2013 I was in TV news for about 10 years as a producer and deputy news editor. After doing that for 10 years, I left to join a new digital storytelling platform called Our Better World. Then I decided to start my own company. I still work with Our Better World, but I also have the capacity to work with other people and do other things. My company is called Warrior9<\/a> and we celebrated three years in January.<\/em><\/p>

Tell me about Warrior9.<\/strong><\/p>

Warrior9 was originally me and two partners. We started it because we wanted to make a short film and having a company structure behind that made the administration easier. So we made the short film just as a passion project and really enjoyed it. At the same time, I was continuing the work I had already been doing, except through my own company.<\/em><\/p>

But then a shift happened because I think I realised that we have this company, so let\u2019s build the company. I had absolutely no business experience. I hadn\u2019t studied business, so I didn\u2019t really know what that meant. So I started to do the work to figure out what does that mean, what is our product going to be. Of course, I\u2019m a storyteller and my partner is a storyteller, so we knew it would be some kind of storytelling product. That\u2019s when we started making content on commission.<\/em><\/p>

Right from the beginning, there was this feeling of wanting to grow the business. We spent a couple years doing commissioned work and creating stories for others. We made an effort to stick to the kind of stories we love, so we didn\u2019t do any traditional corporate work like corporate videos; we avoided this as much as possible.<\/em><\/p>

We really committed to telling stories. It was kind of a hard path because all the money is in events, event coverage, corporate work, weddings, that sort of thing. But that wasn\u2019t our passion. And I felt that since I had this business now, I should do the things I love.<\/em><\/p>

You want to make your own choices.<\/strong><\/p>

Yes, exactly. It\u2019s a hard path because I think being a creative business is different to any other kind of business because the outcomes are tangible, but they\u2019re also subjective. You may see one thing, another person may see something else; they may not like it, they might love it. There\u2019s all this extra emotional stuff wrapped up in a creative business. This decision to stick to doing stories we love and believe in is hard because the money is not there. The money is in the corporate work and event work.<\/em><\/p>

You mention that you love stories. Tell me more about that.<\/strong><\/p>

I think because of my journalistic background, I was always focused on current affairs and issues and communicating those kinds of concepts. When I moved to Our Better World, we really focused on inspirational stories. They would always be stories about someone doing some kind of good, working at the grassroots level, working with marginalised communities, etc.<\/em><\/p>

We worked on empowerment. That\u2019s how I describe it to people: stories about empowerment. Something that can empower you as a viewer after you watch it \u2013 whether it\u2019s a story about someone who is doing something good or even a fictional story that makes you think \u2013 and you feel that your thinking has changed a bit. Those are the stories that I really love: doing something that has some kind of impact.<\/em><\/p>

So those are the stories that you love \u2013 the ones that have impact, that have an emotional aspect?<\/strong><\/p>

Definitely emotional. It\u2019s the ability to move someone, which you can rarely do with facts. I think that after being in journalism for 10 years, I felt like I was just telling people stuff; it was very factual. So I wanted to take that to the next level and try to move people.<\/em><\/p>

\"\"<\/em><\/p>

So you have embarked upon this road less travelled and chosen to express your creative side and tell the stories that you love despite the other options offering greater commercial potential. Tell me about the fire that\u2019s fuelling this direction.<\/strong><\/p>

It\u2019s interesting \u2013 I don\u2019t know where it comes from. I suppose it\u2019s about impact. Our tagline is \u201cChanging the world frame by frame\u201d. It sounds really lofty \u2013 changing the world \u2013 but I really feel that this is ultimately what we want to do. To make some kind of change.<\/em><\/p>

When you look at our body of work, we haven\u2019t really functioned in the mainstream. We\u2019ve been on the edges of mainstream in terms of the types of stories that we like to do. The communities that we\u2019ve worked with have generally been marginalised communities. The issues are not mainstream issues.<\/em><\/p>

Now as we move into VR, it\u2019s also not mainstream. We\u2019ve always had this desire to work on the edges and make it mainstream. Even with VR, our approach has been to create something that is mainstream that people will love en masse to allow them to see the potential of this technology and how it can make their lives better.<\/em><\/p>

I hadn\u2019t really realised that until recently because we hadn\u2019t been able to put our finger on what makes us keep wanting to take on these difficult projects instead of the easy ones. And I think it is that feeling of why do something that other people are doing when we have the resources and brainpower to do something different. Yes, it\u2019s tougher, but that makes it worthwhile.<\/em><\/p>

It\u2019s one of those things that you just know because it\u2019s in you. Looking back, I think we chose our tagline for a reason. But I feel like it\u2019s only now, after three years, that we can really define it. I really get what it actually means to me now. I feel that sometimes you know something only on a surface level, but then you live it and only then do you really understand it.<\/em><\/p>

So you didn\u2019t immediately have absolute clarity on this is who I am and this is what I want to do. Instead, it unveiled itself slowly, frame by frame.<\/strong><\/p>

Yes! I always feel that your vision of your end goal is always quite murky, for me at least. I know there are people who say that their end goal is super clear to them, but to me it is almost like I can\u2019t fully see it, but I know that it is big and that I am on that road. And if I veer off, I will feel it and know that I need to get back on that road, but I can\u2019t define exactly what it is.<\/em><\/p>

So you have embraced new technology and change, but at the same time you are anchored to something that doesn\u2019t change, which is your vision. This is reflected in your journey to play at the edges and explore VR technology. Could you tell me more about this?<\/strong><\/p>

We started with a project that was originally conceptualised as a 90-minute TV pilot. A science fiction show. As we shopped it around, people told us that no one is going to pick up some random company\u2019s show and fund it. So we asked ourselves, what\u2019s the next best thing we can do. What about doing an animated web series, for example. So we started to shop it around as a web series<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>

Then we met a company that had just done a project in VR. It is still super early days for VR. They showed us what they did. Everyone\u2019s first VR experience depends on what the content is, but it is generally something completely new. Imagine trying something where you can\u2019t even compare it to anything. For me, the first piece of VR content I watched was mind-blowing. I thought, let\u2019s do the show like this.<\/em><\/p>

So it was a combination of meeting the right people at the right time, having the right mindset, having the appetite for risk, and also that feeling that after having been shot down by so many people, we really believed that our story was worth making. So we thought, ok, if none of those people want to do this, then let\u2019s do this new thing ourselves.<\/em><\/p>