Welcome to Walking Cinema
we create immersive stories that change the way people look at the world around them.
Featured Project
Before the bulldozers
Before the Bulldozers is an audio and augmented reality journey exploring the history of the redevelopment of the Southwest neighborhood in Washington, D.C.
WALKING CINEMA
Our primary practice is what we call “Walking Cinema.” It’s like a narrative podcast meets audioguide of neighborhoods and local issues. This unique combination of mobile audio, GPS, and augmented reality has won awards in the museum, film, and journalism fields as a unique platform to tell location-based stories. Some examples include:
AUDIO SERIES
Walking Cinema specializes in podcasts and original audiobooks that explore modern culture from unique angles. From participant journalism to non-narrated podcasts, we make stories about the great art and movements of our time, as told by cultural sites and icons.
EDUCATION
Walking Cinema also collaborates with community and educational organizations to develop classroom curricula, workshops, and lecture series. Sometimes created in connection with our site-specific “Walking Cinema” productions, our Education branch focuses on spreading the impact of the stories we tell.
WHAT WE DO:
WE SPECIALIZE IN MEDIA THAT GETS AUDIENCES PHYSICALLY INVOLVED IN HISTORY, CURRENT ISSUES, AND CULTURE.
Walking Cinema creates audio experiences, podcasts, and journalism with an experimental edge. We work with cutting edge narrative approaches and new media such as GPS, augmented reality, smart speakers, and photogrammetry to make stories that feel both personal and innovative.
OUR PARTNERS
Through contracts, grants, and creative collaborations, we work with a range of media outlets, cultural organizations, and schools to develop immersive media projects often focused on telling the story of a specific place.
WHO WE ARE
Michael Epstein
Founder, Director, Executive Producer
Michael is a screenwriter, transmedia director, and expert in place-based storytelling. He has a M.S. degree in Comparative Media Studies from M.I.T. where he specialized in developing multiplatform documentary films. In 2006, Michael founded Walking Cinema. The company has developed cross-platform apps for MTV, PBS, the Venice Biennale, Audible and many museum and broadcast clients.
Epstein is also an Adjunct Professor at the California College of Art, teaching studio courses in landscape history and interactive media production. In 2019, Michael was selected as a Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow at the University of Missouri. In 2020, Epstein will start teaching interactive storytelling courses at the Berkeley School of Journalism Advanced Media Institute.
Cleavon Smith
Writer
Cleavon Smith’s The Incrementalist premiered at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre Company in the spring of 2022. As Playwright in Residence at Berkeley’s TheatreFIRST for three years, he wrote and produced six new works, receiving a Theatre Bay Area Best Production nomination and the Best Anthology award. Cleavon is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Mills College. He currently lives in Oakland, CA.
Elissa Mardiney
Associate Producer, Researcher
Elissa Mardiney is an audio producer with a strong interest in participatory storytelling and real-world engagement. Originally from Rosendale, NY, she studied anthropology and sociology at Johns Hopkins University and received a graduate certificate in Audio Documentary from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Before producing radio stories and writing, she worked in the outdoor industry as a wilderness trip leader, a horse wrangler, a ski instructor, and a dog hiker, among other roles. She always wants to get people moving outside, especially with immersive audio stories.