When do folklore, mythology and fables become new?

When Reimagined virtual reality animation series co-creators Julie Cavaliere and Michaela Ternasky-Holland use them as the inspiration for their work.

Now viewers can immerse themselves in the world of a young witch, facing down her fears, in Nyssa. And travel, in 360, to the island world of four sibling deities, as they learn to deal with grief and channel their anger, in Mahal..

While each of these stories is inspired by a lesser-known fable, myth or bit of folklore, that inspiration gets reworked into something brand-new.

The result: highly-personal storytelling, in 360 worlds with thought-provoking messages and a different look and feel for each story in the series.

The process of “reimagining”

Julie, who is an award-winning actor, director, writer and President of Very Cavaliere Productions, wrote and directed the first episode, Nyssa, inspired by a fairytale by the Brothers Grimm. In making it her own through VR she presents a vastly different protagonist from the original story, as well as a message which resonates in the twenty-first century.

Meanwhile, Michaela, an Emmy Award-winning XR director and experiential XR consultant, wrote and directed the Volume II story, Mahal. Michaela describes Mahal, based on Filipino myths, as a “love letter” to her parents and an homage to her Filipino culture. Michaela explains that, in creating the story, she and her team used some different camera moves than she’d seen in the VR space.

While Nyssa is currently available, free, on Oculus Quest, Mahal will also be available on the Quest starting on November 17th. And a third episode is currently in development. (We can’t tell you much yet, as it’s embargoed, but what we’ve heard sounds amazing!)

Julie and Michaela talked about their backgrounds, shared the story of Reimagined and discussed their creative process with Nyssa and Mahal.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How Michaela and Julie first became inspired to become storytellers and performers;

• How the Reimagined VR series came about:

• What Michaela and Julie remember best, from the early days of Reimagined;

• Guidance they’d give to fellow creators considering a VR animation series project;

• How Julie chose the Brothers Grimm fairy tale that inspired her to create Nyssa;

• The reasons behind some of the character names in Nyssa;

• How Michaela came to create the Volume II story, Mahal;

• A look at the world of Mahal (and how it differs from the one we experience in Nyssa);

• A mini-preview of Reimagined: Volume III;

• The “beast” aspects of creating an animated VR series;

• A closer look at Quill, the free painting software which the Reimagined team used to create the project.