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Our guest is Christian Hope, Vice President of Paramount Studios Theme Parks & Resorts. Christian has contributed concept designs in development of world-class attractions here in the US and around the world. His concepts have resulted in some of the most visited location-based entertainment sites around including Disneyland Paris, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and The…
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Our guest is Tony Bruno, former VP of the Disneyland Resort Hotels & the Downtown Disney District. Under his guidance, over 4000 cast members operated The 4 Diamond Grand Californian Hotel & Disneyland Hotel – as well as the 49 unique brands that comprise Downtown Disney. Today he leads Hospitality Development at Storyland Studios helping…
Everybody knows pretty much everything about Disneyland—how it got started, how the Imagineers do their thing, and so on. But nobody hardly ever talks about the parks that most of us across the country enjoy far more often. The regional theme parks, different from amusement parks, owe their existence to the magical land Walt built…
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Our guest is Walt Disney Imagineering designer and art producer, Doris Hardoon. Doris joined the company for the Epcot project in 1979 helping to develop the China Pavilion. She lent her unique cultural perspective to international projects with Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Her crowning glory is found at Shanghai Disneyland, where she developed the…
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Jason Surrell is the Executive Creative Director at Storyland Studios. He was previously the Senior Creative Director on Universal’s newest theme park projects, Universal Studios Beijing and Epic Universe, as well as a creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering. Jason is an amazing storyteller, whether it be in the shows, attractions, or books he’s written.…
July 17 is such a special day. Disneyland opened 65 years ago…and Imagineering an American Dreamscape went on sale, well, a little less than that. It’s finally done, and what a fun journey it’s been putting it together. The book traces the evolution from the grand world expositions to Disneyland, laying the groundwork for…
The regional theme park history book keeps pushing right along toward completion (hint…it’s close). To hold you over in the meantime, I’ll be sharing bits and pieces from the book and my research while tossing in other interesting items along the way. Three of them, in fact. I’m extremely pleased to have some wonderful folks…
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Our guest this episode is Senior Project Director for Miziker Entertainment, Sean Chung. Sean is part of a new generation of brilliant creatives making waves in themed entertainment these days. Sean has an amazing story that runs parallel to the story of modern China’s own transformation into the world’s fastest growing theme park and tourism…
As developers and designers of themed entertainment, it is our responsibility to author backstories so rich and believable that our guests never question the worlds we create for them to enjoy. back·story \ˈbak-ˌstȯr-ē noun, plural back·sto·ries. a narrative providing a history or background context, especially for a character or situation in a literary work, film,…