Conversations with Alec Zbornak

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alec Zbornak.

Hi Alec, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My parents met working as characters at Disneyland. My mom was Alice in Wonderland, and my dad was Goofy. I grew up going to theme parks and thinking specifically about all of the talented cast and creatives behind the scenes who brought places like this to life.

I grew obsessed with this medium of immersive storytelling. Some call it themed entertainment, others call it narrative placemaking, others call it experiential design. All of it, in my opinion, relies on the same thesis: that we can use a physical space to put an audience in the middle of a story.

So after graduating and writing my thesis on the philosophy of immersion, I worked an assortment of gigs, all of which flexed and strengthened this experiential thinking. I worked at an AR video game startup as a narrative designer, at an ad agency as a copywriter, at a theater company in production, at an Italian roller coaster engineering company as a show writer, at a theme park design company as a research coordinator, and at an experiential marketing company as a producer, just to name a few. (I also tutored creative writing, like many recent grads in the arts.)

I eventually followed a project to New York City, where I was hired to write and creatively produce an interactive show called The Drunken Laboratory. In this production, guests transform into scientists, conduct experiments, and compete for drinks and bragging rights over the course of a two hour experience. I wrote their main show and created seasonal overlays for their holiday performances. Eventually, I’m humbled to say that the show was successful and we expanded to four more locations across America: Miami, Houston, Atlanta, and, eventually, Los Angeles. Seeing a show I wrote open in my hometown was an unforgettable feeling. And I am elated to say that it’s still running in DTLA to this day!

I then took what I learned and started working at Masquerade, the Off-Broadway immersive reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. I started off on the production team, helping out with workshops and general development of the show, before eventually working my way up joining the creative marketing and producing team.

This was a truly life-changing opportunity that taught me so much about the industry and what it takes to make something at this scale. I was humbled and thrilled to work under so many brilliant creative minds at the top of their game.

After two years of working as a PA, I eventually caught my big break and joined the marketing team. There, I helped design, write, produce, and launch an alternative reality game (ARG), which we used to market the production on social. Specifically, we turned the entire city of New York into a viral narrative scavenger hunt that took off on social media. We hosted secret scenes and activations throughout the city, all of which teased out the Phantom’s immersive return to NYC—including a ghost tour in an abandoned basement, a tarot reading in a psychic shop, a mask fitting in a Canal Street crawl space, and, ultimately, a séance for just one audience member in the Majestic Theater (the Broadway theater where Phantom originally ran for 35 years!).

After we successfully launched the show with this campaign, I then joined the creative producing team. There, I helped out with everything from environmental copywriting, creative research, concept writing, pre- and post-show audience experience, the ticket lottery show, and much more.

Once Masquerade finally opened roughly a year ago, I joined as a partner at Bravo Media, an experiential marketing studio where I use immersive storytelling to help the world’s top brands and companies (from Adidas to Apple TV) create unforgettable experiences for their audiences. I still help out with Masquerade on a freelance basis.

Because I am addicted to staying creatively fulfilled, I always try to pair this client work with personal projects. And I’m currently developing an original immersive theatrical work, which I’m excited to share in the near future.

Now, I am fortunate enough to split my time creating these experiences in both New York City and Los Angeles. LA is my favorite place in the world, and getting to work in this city is the most rewarding thing I can imagine.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
What I love about this industry is also what’s most terrifying about it: there is no easy or obvious path into becoming an immersive designer. There is no roadmap, no formula.

I find that lack of structure scary and thrilling. It means I get to collect side hustles and side quests for a living. This industry is made up of so many different disciplines—from architecture to theater to tech to lighting design to visual art to writing. And you never know what a new opportunity might do for you, what you might learn, or whom you might get to work with.

As is true with so many things in the world, some of the best opportunities in this field are about being in the right place at the right time. Which is for sure scary. But it also means you can 10x your odds by putting yourself in as many places and times as you can. That’s exactly what I’ve tried to do these past few years.

It definitely wasn’t always easy. I applied to probably hundreds of jobs that I never heard back from. Went on tons of interviews that I didn’t get. And definitely felt my fair share of rejection and fear.

But despite that all, I tried to consistently put myself out there and say yes to every opportunity, every potential project, every gig I could, no matter how big or small and no matter if it perfectly fits my training in creative writing. Nothing was below me.

And because of it, I feel blessed to have worked on so many wonderful projects with so many wonderful people.

Some of my most fulfilling opportunities started off as seemingly small roles that were just a way to get my foot in the door. My work at Masquerade began as a PA. I moved heavy props and scenic pieces around, and swept the floors. I even cleaned pigeon poop off of the roof. And I loved it. To be in the room where it happened and soak up all the knowledge I could—hoping I’d be there at the right place, right time and have my Hollywood moment, in which some high-powered exec would ask me to put down the broom and pick up a pencil to help with the creative. And sure enough, one day, two years into the project, the executive producer, Randy Wiener, walked up to me while I was sweeping, and asked what I did when I wasn’t PA-ing. I told him I was a creative producer and writer, and the rest was history.

This experience has made me a strong believer in advocating for myself, in sharing with the people around me what I want and what excites me. If I could offer advice to young creatives, I would tell people that it’s all a number’s game. You have to consistently and confidently talk to people whose work you admire and tell them what you are excited about doing. And never say no to a new opportunity.

It can feel scary at times—it sure did for me—but it’s more than worth it to feel the sense of creative and professional fulfillment that comes from a wild road of gigs and adventures that have surely made me into a better creative and collaborator.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an experiential storyteller. My work is equal parts theatrical and strategic.

I use physical spaces to put audience members inside of resonant and emotionally impactful stories driven by human insights.

I try to bring a healthy dose of whimsy and weird to everything I do. I am proud and absolutely humbled by the fact that I get paid to play and dream up crazy ideas. And THEN I get to collaborate with brilliant, wonderfully weird people to figure out how to actually make them. I’m so lucky!

I’ve produced a seance in a Broadway theater, an immersive drinking show with four locations around the U.S., a box puppet musical, the world’s first Tax-themed arcade, a robotic goalie for Adidas, and much more. I love my odd little job!

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I am a huge fan of immersive. I love this industry. When I am not making experiences, I am attending them as an audience member or reviewing it as a critic for NoProscenium. I try to see everything that I can and reflect deeply on it.

Making art, making experiences that can fundamentally change the way a person thinks about the world is such a privilege. And experiencing art that does the same is maybe an even greater treat.

I’m really about this life!

Pricing:

• Whether you engage me through Bravo Media or as a freelance creative consultant, I try to work with your budget to design experiential stories uniquely fit to solve your company’s problem—whether your’e a top brand, a local business, or a new theatrical work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aleczbornak.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleczbornakcreative/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-zbornak-8457ba9b/
• Other: https://www.bravomedia.com/