Dekker Dreyer

Dreyer was born on November 16, 1980 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Dreyer has been called a VR pioneer by both Entrepreneur[4] and MovieMaker.[5] He is considered a prominent artist in immersive media[6][7][8] and created the VR / AR Producing course at Columbia College Chicago Online.[9][10] At the studio he co-founded, Clever Fox, he created and directed two of the first scripted original series in VR, The Depths[11][12] and Broadcast.[13] He has also created XR experiences for musical artists Bootsy Collins, Devo[14] and Disturbed.[15]

His augmented reality live experience The Summoning has been called a "First of its kind" by UploadVR and received wide recognition for its innovative use of technology and creativity.[16][17][18] Subsequent projects include the collaborative storytelling project What We Leave Behind.[19][20]

In 2019 he released Lucid, an immersive visual album, under his Phantom Astronaut persona. Good Men Project said of it, "The experience evokes a mash-up of Twin Peaks and 2001 with a Sigur Ros soundtrack produced and remixed by Massive Attack."[21]

Dekker's work in independent film began when his short Closed Circuit, commissioned by Miramax to accompany the feature Naqoyqatsi, was shown at the 2002 Slamdance Film Festival. His first documentary film, the free-form Three Days in Orlando showcased the friction both inside and out facing the yearly Gay Days event in Orlando Florida through a series of intimate profiles.[22] His experimental feature, made from ten episodic installments, The Arcadian starring Lance Henriksen with the music of Perturbator[23][24] has released on collector's edition VHS and digital download with special international midnight screenings.[25] He is also the director of the Mystery Skulls official music video for the single Music.

In 2007 he and his partners launched the Illusion On-Demand network, a science fiction channel with a large national footprint.[26] He soon took on the duty of creative director and brought both anime[27] and sci-fi classics like Doctor Who[28] to the network. Dekker produced many of the original programs that appeared on Illusion including Analog presents: The Science of Fiction in partnership with Analog Science Fiction and Fact. He would later expand the channel's holdings by launching the short-lived anthology magazine Transmitter[29]

From 2012 to 2016 he was part of Participant Media's online video arm at Takepart.com and on the launch team for their cable television network Pivot. Participant Media is widely known to produce content dealing with the subjects of climate change, journalistic ethics, and social justice.

Dreyer has spoken at events such as The Cannes Film Festival and Sundance.[30][31]

Dreyer returned to the Slamdance Film Festival as a jurist in 2016.[32] That same year he was a major supporter of the organization's DIG (Digital, Interactive, and Gaming) showcase.[33] In 2018 he took on the role of organizer and co-curator of the DIG program.[34][35] Dreyer was also the founder of the touring animation festival Anime After Dark[36][37] which kicked off with presenting the official 20th anniversary event for Grave of the Fireflies which had a digital conversion overseen by Dreyer.[38][39]

Dreyer is the author of the short story anthologies, Cyberpunk is Dead: Long Live Cyberpunk, Dark Astronomy, Body Horrors, Demonology Lessons, and the novella The Tea Goddess.[40][41] He is credited as having coined the term ecopunk in 2010, being one of the first authors in the genre which is now widely accepted as Solarpunk.[42] In comics, Dekker is a writer and illustrator,[43][44] His work includes Mondo Atomic, which retells the stories of Plan 9 from Outer Space, Robot Monster, and other B movies in a contemporary way.[45]

He is an outspoken essayist on the topics of human rights, race, sexual identity, and alternative economic models.[46][47] His horror comic anthology Seven Deadly Sins critiques the role of technology in modern society.[48]

Dekker is a visual artist working in physical, digital, and non-conventional mediums. His work has been included in numerous pop culture shows in the Los Angeles art scene most notably associated with the venue Meltdown Comics.[49][50][51]

Dekker's experiential projects combine immersive theatricality, dining, and absurdist cultural commentary. These projects include the restaurant Kaiju Sushi which was located in the shark attack capital of the world. Dreyer and his partner Julia Howe proclaimed that any person coming to the pop-up restaurant with proof that they were attacked by sharks would get free sushi resulting in national coverage and raised awareness for ecological conservation.[52][53][54] and L'Aldila, a supernatural restaurant in the heart of Cassadaga, Florida where patrons were encouraged to commune with the dead during their meals.[55]

His live event series Movie Cult, encourages audience participation around forgotten VHS movies.[56][57]

Dreyer teamed up with his wife to produce the art meme project Tentacle Grape to bring awareness to a rising tide of misogyny in pop culture in an era predating Gamergate and related movements. The project, presented as a regular product, drew controversy about the brand's packaging and message.[58][59] Although controversial, the product was overwhelmingly popular leading to Cracked naming it #4 on their list of "Horrifying Soft Drinks Around the World".[60] The unexpected popularity of the product lead to a backlog prompting watchdog site The Consumerist to question the existence of the soda.[61] A retraction was subsequently published.[62]

From 2017 to 2018 Dreyer was the co-host of the podcast The Future is Virtual from Embolden Entertainment (later Zero Gravity). The show was unique in that it was live streamed as a simulcast to AltspaceVR, Twitch, and Facebook 360.[63] In 2015 Dreyer was featured on TV Tokyo's television series Why Did You Come to Japan. He and his wife Julia took the audience on a tour of Tokyo's Golden Gai nightlife.[64]

• Official Dekker Dreyer website
• Dekker Dreyer at IMDb