Credits

Biographies

Kevin Adams (Facilitation)

NYC-born cryptid, veteran, gamer, project manager, and larp critic, Kevin (@LarpGenie) has been a larper for close to 8 years and attended dozens of various larp events to round out understanding of the industry. He often offers the expertise gathered from his experiences as a Director of Dystopia Rising Pennsylvania. His involvement with larp events throughout the east coast of the United State, performing and maintaining logistics in several blockbuster larps (Ascension X, Drachenfest, College of Wizardry), and performances in the Neverland Larp sitcom has made concrete his involvement in the industry.

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Vivien Grimm (Facilitation)

Vivien Grimm is director of Grimmoire Productions. Her first independent blockbuster larp is Lies & Liability, but she’s written and worked on the IDGN Award Nominated A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Toontown, Golden Cobra game Good Morning, as well as dozens of games at conventions such as InterCon, GenCon, and BeCon. She has staffed New World Magischola and Uncanny Valley. She is Communications Chair for BeCon and on the programming panel for InterCon. She is a cosplayer by night and a museum director by day.

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Julia Jurgilewicz (Facilitation)

Julia Jurgilewicz is a movement artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Since attending Tisch School of the Arts, NYU,  she has performed nationally and abroad with multiple dance companies. She performed for many years with Third Rail Projects in Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise. Julia entered the LARP community acting and dancing in performances with Sinking Ships Creations including The Mortality Machine and Scapegoat. You can catch her in the new production of The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera this season. In addition to performing, Julia is also a personal trainer and movement instructor. Learn more at pathwaysfitnessny.com.

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Lara Marcin (Facilitation, Movement Design)

Lara is a choreographer and creative director in the immersive industry and broader entertainment industry. Among other collaborations, Lara has worked with Los Angeles-based Production Club, NYC-based Sinking Ship Creations, Zhu, The Chainsmokers, and Yale School of Drama. Lara obsesses over performer-audience interaction through movement, the development of narrative and atmosphere with movement, and the transformation of song into choreography. Whether for a production or just jamming with friends, Lara is always creating; it’s her adventure.

 

Joseph Mastantuono (Facilitation)

Joseph Mastantuono has been an avid larper for over a decade, and when he's not larping, he produces independent films. His first film as a producer As You Are won the Special Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and his latest film Mon Père, le Diable (Our Father, the Devil) premiered at the Venice Film Festival and just won the Audience Award at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival for best Narrative feature. He also teaches post production & color grading for film at NYU.

 

Rita McCann (Facilitation)

Rita McCann is a Manhattan-based actor and fitness instructor. Favorite immersive theater and LARP credits include: The Mortality Machine (Sinking Ship Creations), The Unseen, Freaks Don’t Cry, Beloved/Departed, Remembrance, Elle S’envoie (Linked Dance Theatre), and RED (First Person Xperience). You can find Rita playing the role of spin/barre instructor at Cyclebars and Pure Barres all over New York City. For more information on bookings, performances, class schedule, etc. visit: RitaMcCann.com IG: @RitaMcCann 

 

Kat Mermelstein (Facilitation)

Kat is a NYC born and bred actor, writer, and LARPer. While Kat prefers film and TV to live theater, LARP is the exception. They love generating memorable and dramatic moments for other people and plays to lift. Kat has been involved with RPGs for over 20 years, and has been with Sinking Ship Creations since its inception. With a strong background in stage combat and martial arts, Kat brings aggression and confidence to every project. 

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Samara Metzler (Facilitation

Samara Metzler (she/her) is a Salem MA-based performance artist, event producer, educator and gamerunner who has been helping make larps happen since 2008. She holds a Bachelor's in Theatre Arts and a Master's in Theatre Education, and independently studies Jewish history and folklore and Middle Eastern dance. Her LARP credits include Alliance LARP New Hampshire, Velvet Noir, Changeling: Waking Dreams and many smaller, private games, as well as NPCing the previous run of Scapegoat.

 

Tony Ray (Facilitation)

This is Tony’s second project with Sinking Ship Creations. They previously appeared in Scapegoat.

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Shaheen Rogers (Facilitation)

Shaheen started Larping as a kid in what seems now like an age ago in New England:  the New England Roleplaying Organization to be exact, also known as NERO, a boffer Larp from the yester-years of the 90’s. In recent years however, he’s dipped his toes in the world of Larp production, trying his hand at writing and facilitation for various Larp projects: Pacific Rim: Rise of Tiburon, as part of staff production and facilitator (2016); Ex Arcana ( Steampunk style parlor larp) as Staff and facilitator ( 2016-2018 ); Entropic Endeavors' Velvet Noir, as Staff writer and facilitator ( 2019-2020); and Drachenfest, as a facilitator ( 2021). Shaheen joined the facilitator staff of Sinking Ships Creation’s production of the original Project Ascension ( 2017) and later Scapegoat in 2019, and has been chomping at the bit to entertain a whole new crop of gamers ever since. 

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Alejandro Santiago (Facilitation)

This is Alejandro’s second project with Sinking Ship Creations. They previously appeared in Ascension X.
 

Suzanne Slade (Facilitation)

Suzanne Slade (SAG-Aftra/Equity) is a singer, dancer, musician, and arranger in NYC and LA. Favorite roles include: Maureen - RENT (Int’l/Nat’l Tour dir: Michael Greif), Piercy - Minimum Wage (Off B’Way), Sally Bowles - Cabaret (Regional), The Witch - Into The Woods (Regional), Maggie - A Chorus Line (Regional). Suzanne is also a vocal coach, British dialect coach, instructor of many instruments and theatre teacher, as well as, the co-founder of the children’s show, Simon & Simone, with her writer and puppeteer husband, Jeff LaGreca.

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Rafael Svarin (Facilitation)

After over 10 years in New York, Rafael Svarin moved back to his hometown of Zurich, Switzerland, in February 2021. Back in NYC for a short time, he’s very excited to be participating in Project Ascension once more after the original event and other Sinking Ships Creations productions, including The Mortality Machine and Scapegoat. For more info go to www.rafaelsvarin.com

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Terra Warman (Facilitation)

Terra Warman really sunk into the LARP bucket big-time. Their first professional *read paid* roleplay gig was the first Project Ascension. Since then they have become an international LARP runner (And Then There Were None - 2022), production manager (Scapegoat - 2019), stage manager (Then She Fell - 2019/2020), director (White Death - 2019), and runtime director (New World Magiscola Prep - 2020). When not wondering about how best to utilize space they are the front person of NYC based indie punk band Terra and the Dactyls. Terra is queer, an advocate for sex worker’s rights, and all around a lot of fun.   

 

Alyse Leung (Online Facilitation)

Alyse is a research scientist who tries to understand and improve both human and AI behavior.

 

Will Ober (Online Facilitation)

This is Will’s first production with Sinking Ship Creations.

 

Ben Books Schwartz (Online Facilitation)

Books is a highly nomadic narrative designer for virtual and live action games of all kinds, with a deep love for messy melodrama, intense feelings, and cooperative catharsis. Their larp credits include countless youth larps with the Wayfinder Experience and Trackers Bay, as well as larps for adults like Event Horizon, Changeling: Waking Dreams, New World Magischola, and College of Wizardry. They currently work as a Senior Narrative Designer at CD Projekt RED, and can be found on twitter at @SunshineDuk. 

 

Susanne Vejdemo (Online Facilitation) 

Susanne is a Swedish larpwright and larpwrangler in the Nordic tradition. For ludography, see  https://nordiclarp.org/wiki/Susanne_Vejdemo

 

Ericka Skirpan (Run-Time Direction)

Ericka Skirpan is part experience designer, writer, actor, and instructor. She's been in the the LARP and interactive theater trenches for over 20 years. She has an Honors BFA in theater from the University of Toronto where she was the artistic director for an immersive theater company, “In the Moment Productions." She firmly believes in bringing emotionally cathartic transformations to actors and audiences alike through live storytelling; then providing the safety mechanisms to ensure a healthy return to reality after such experiences. She was the previous Run-Time director for the first Project Ascension and Scapegoat as well as being design staff for Dead Legends, Velvet Noir, and Dammerung. 

 

Rebecca Drapkin (Stage Manager)

Rebecca Drapkin is a composer, sound designer, and audio engineer for interactive and immersive media. She has a BA in psychology from Dartmouth College and an MFA in experimental sound practices from the California Institute of the Arts. She has managed projects large and small, from museum and gallery-based art installations at locations such as the Denny Dimin Gallery and the Whitney Museum of American Art, to sound design for LARPs and video games. Over the pandemic, Rebecca received the most joy from her adoption of a small, terrier/chihuahua mix named Princess Queso. 

 

Kat Schonheyder (Player Advocacy)

Kat Schonheyder has larped as a player, game runner, logistics coordinator, designer, writer, and storyteller for over 20 years. Kat is also a multi-cultural, multi-racial, multilingual travel bug who seeks to grow in a comprehensive understanding of our world’s rich history and its people.  Kat brings these combined experiences and desires to both work and education, and is currently pursuing graduate studies in Mental Health Counseling with focuses on generational trauma and healing, culturally aware practice, and non-Colonial traditions of treatment.  

 

Kris Kitts (Music)

As STYGIAN, Kris is a Lancaster, PA-based DJ whose residencies include Shadowland Lancaster, Central Pennsylvania’s longest-running alternative dance party. Most recently, he opened for electronic body music trailblazers Front 242 on their final US tour and will be performing at 2022’s Unconvention 2. When he's not wiggling behind his controller, Kris moonlights as a TTRPG/LARP designer, editor, safety consultant, and sometimes-community manager with credits including White Wolf's Changeling: Waking Dreams and Changeling: The Dreaming 2.0, Nerdy City's RPG Nasty, and Doomsday..  For more info and booking, please visit djstygian.com or facebook.com/DJSTYGIAN.

 

Ryan Hart (Narrative Design)

Ryan would claim to be a tinker, a tailor, a soldier, and a spy, but in truth he couldn’t hem a pair of pants.  He developed his interest in storytelling at the United States Air Force Academy, where he discovered theater as part of the Academy’s Bluebard’s Theater Troupe. His live action career has taken him from California to New York, producing over two dozen events in four states, as well as running events for hundreds of people.  He also has a teenage child who has been known to larp with him on occasion.

 

Jay Knox (Narrative Design)

Jay became a game designer to tell stories, connect people, and make Ryan jealous by consistently being the best looking person in the room. In addition to 10 years of live action experience, Jay brings a number of skills to Sinking Ship Creations, including training in dance, theater, martial arts, and fight choreography.  Jay's work has been displayed at both Dragon Con and New York Comic Con, and as a professional Parkour instructor.  Jay lives in Manhattan, and is raising the winner of the 2054 Presidential election.

 

Kate Conover (Production Design)

Kate Conover is a maker, textile artist, performer, larp facilitator and noted shapeshifter. As a lighting professional her experience ranges from concerts, galas, fashion shows and major events, to consulting and support for immersive roleplay experiences. She currently works as an electrician and board op for film and television, is lead electrics and lighting consultant for Extra Dimensional Studios, and previously was production electrician for the Church of St. John the Divine. 

 

Colin McGurk (Production Design)

Colin McGurk works primarily as a scenic designer for film and television, where recent projects include The Undoing and Scenes from Marriage for HBO, the forthcoming Kaleidoscope for Netflix. Prior to shifting into film/TV, Colin worked as an associate and studio manager for Alexander Dodge, where he supported designs for Anastasia and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway and the ensuing national tours. Colin’s favorite theatrical designs include Macbeth at LA Opera, and Heartbreak House at Hartford Stage (nominated for a CT Critics Circle award), both with Tony winning director DarkoTresnjak.  Partner, Extra Dimensional Studios. https://www.colinmcgurk.com/

Orli Nativ (Production Design)

Orli Nativ is an interdisciplinary designer and mixed-media artist whose work focuses on exploring the physical presences of Story. Some select projects include the world premiere of Deliverance with Godlight Theatre Company, Candy Cane Greeters created for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a hand-painted mariachi band for Cirque Du Soleil’s Luzia activations, and a national campaign of costumes made in live flowers for Hilton Garden Inn. Larp production credits include concept development art for Immerton (LearnLarp), and Triumph (Zagreb, Croatia), and production design for The Mortality Machine with Sinking Ship Creations. https://www.orlinativ.com/. She is a Creative Partner in Extra Dimensional Studios, a design firm that focuses on providing bespoke, detail-oriented design services for people, events, decor, products, and spaces. Everything from 3D printing to interior design; concept creation to project management; experiential marketing to opera. 

 

Jacqueline Bryk (Editing, Narrative Consulting)

Jacqueline “Jax” Bryk (never Jackie, she/they/fae) is an award-winning designer, editor, writer, and general woman about analog games. Her larp The Porch won a Golden Cobra, and her writing and editing helped Vampire: the Masquerade 5e win Origins Game of the Year 2019, and KULT: Divinity LOST win several silver Ennies. She takes inspiration from Ursula K. LeGuin, Stephen King, and Octavia Butler, and she’s most interested in systemic and transcendental horror, which makes her a natural fit for Project Ascension. Ryan Hart once told her she’s great and there’s a reason he goes to her for edits first.

 

Dann Lynch (Editing, Narrative Consulting)

Dann Lynch (they/them) is primarily a sensitivity consultant specializing in larp and other role-playing games, and they’ve worked for almost every major larp company in America. Dann is also a larp experience designer, writer, and educator, who's been at it for over a decade, putting things out onto the internet under the moniker DarkerLarper. They also happen to be a non-binary, neurodiverse, disabled, multi-racial Black larper, who truly believes that the single best thing you can do for inclusion at your events is to put people in power who represents the diversity that you want.  

 

Amanda-Rose Villareal (Intimacy Consulting, Risk Management)

Amanda Rose (she/they) has been creating and participating in larps and interactive performance since 2007. They started as a mascot, performed at the Texas Renaissance Festival and Sherwood Forest Faire, and toured with American Immersion and Viral Ventures. Amanda Rose earned their PhD in Performance Studies, focused on consent in immersive and improvised performance. They work as an intimacy choreographer and coordinator for theatre and film, and have recently worked at the Groundlings Theatre, Lee Strasberg Institute, Geffen Playhouse, and Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles. They also care for special needs pups.

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