About

Where immersive technology and live performance come out to play.

Quills is an adventurous artistic incubator shaping the future of storytelling by connecting the performing arts with XR. Conceived and executive produced by Nataki Garrett and led by Scarlett Kim, Quills is a first-of-its-kind hybrid festival, commisioning program, and artist community, and has transformed the landscape of immersive, transmedia through modeling artist-centered innovation.

Quills Fest 2022 premiered the QUILLS VR WORLD, a gravity-defying VR twin of America’s oldest Elizabethan Theatre, built in Unreal and hosted on VAST, developed by field-first Creative Technologists in Residence, Cyril Tsiboulski and Illya Szilak. The festival unfolded in VR, on the web, and at in-person pop-ups at the Park Avenue Armory, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Quills Fest 2021 launched a series of original commissions bringing together trailblazing theatre artists and creative technologists. The festival featured Roxane Gay as keynote speaker, and invited in global audiences through a VR social and exhibition space, built in collaboration with Artizen in Museum of Other Realities.

People’s Telly Award – Immersive & Mixed Reality (Bronze), 2023
Auggie Awards – Best Art or Film (Finalist), 2023

Quills Fest 2022 marks the launch of a bespoke Virtual Reality World.

This playful, interactive, physics-defying take on OSF’s iconic Elizabethan theatre was helmed by Creative Technologists in Residence Illya Szilak and Cyril Tsiboulski in an industry-first partnership with VAST, a festival and social multiverse platform by the Beijing-based Sandman Studios.

The Quills Fest VR World features avatar design by Selly Raby Kane, a renowned Sengalese fashion designer and artist pioneering Africa’s booming art and design movement, and original music by Justin Hicks, a groundbreaking multidisciplinary artist, composer, and vocalist.

Cyril Tsiboulski & Illya Szilak
Lead Artists and OSF Creative Technologists-in Residence

Paolo Barlascini, Architect and World Designer
Emmy Yupa, Lead Unreal Engine Developer
Claire Talbott, 3D Modeling Assistant
Alvaro Sierra, Developer
Allen Yee, Producer

Justin Hicks, Composer
Sean Davis, Sound Designer & Mixing Engineer
Selly Raby Kane, Avatar Designer and Artist
Dulce Baerga, 3D Artist and Avatar Modeler

VAST

Sandman Studios, Production Company
Mudi Zhou, Producer
Bingbing Wang, Production Manager
Wei Wang, Creative Technologist
Xin Yu, Developer leader
Shuo Huang, Weichen Liu, Developer
Zhuolin Li, Engine Artist
Ke Wang, Technical Coordinator
Shanshan Wang, 3D Artist
Feifei Luo, 2D Artist

Nataki Garrett, Executive Producer 
Scarlett Kim, Director of Innovation & Strategy / Lead Producer

Rui Xu, Line Producer
Joshua Horvath, Production Manager

Producing Team
Liz Lanier
Mei Ann Teo
Evren Odcikin
victor cervantes jr.