Rory Mitchell(II)
- Production Department
- Producer
- Director
Based in Los Angeles, Rory Mitchell is an XR Director with a diverse background in theater and documentary. His work explores contemporary social, cultural and community-based issues with awe at the complexities of interdependence and the joy at the intersections of Humanism and Technology. His work has screened at the Cannes Film Festival, DOC NYC and has been broadcast on PBS.
He studied directing at Kenyon College in Ohio where he directed plays by Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Sam Shepard and Yasmina Reza, Howard Korder and others. In 2005 he conceived and directed the experimental documentary theater piece "Ripper's Last Log", which was inspired by real-life webcam experiences in a recreational drug chatroom. One of his first attempts to make work at the intersection of Art and Technology to make sense of the early Internet and the future of social interaction in online spaces, it premiered at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown Los Angeles.
In 2009 he directed "The Conquest of the South Pole" by Manfred Karge at the Elephant Theater in Hollywood, of which the L.A. Weekly said "Mitchell's staging has just the right blend of whimsy and gravitas."
In 2013 he adapted and directed another experimental documentary theatrical experience inspired by the Internet called "Unmoderated", inspired by the comment section of a pioneering community-based blog in Los Angeles, The EastsiderLA. It was a lively snapshot of a neighborhood in flux, the original multicultural population of Hispanics and Asians mingling with the original gentrifiers from the queer community with the young hipster gentrifiers, and a love letter to the messiness of living with other people in Los Angeles. It premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2013 and was named "Best of Fringe" and was recognized by KCRW, NPR, and KPCC.
In TV and Film, Mitchell worked from 2006-2010 in physical production at NBCUniversal and CBS both in office and on the set where he received his filmmaking education.
He then began producing short documentaries for non-profits in Los Angeles, as well as a series of well received short documentaries on the history of Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park. This led to him being the Los Angeles Producer for the PBS Series "One Day in the American City" in which he produced shoots for 150 short documentaries on a single day.
In 2015 Mitchell founded his first VR Company, Beard & Glasses VR, to bring his theater and documentary practices into the exciting new field of Virtual Reality, which he had become fascinated by during its first coming in the late 1980's and 90's. His first cinematic 360° narrative, "The Visigoths" (written by Martha Marion) was an intimate romantic drama putting the viewer feet away from a young couple falling in, and out, of love. It premiered in 2017 at the Museum of Broken Relationships in Los Angeles and went on to screen at 2018 Seattle International and the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2019, he wrote and directed a 360°VR Documentary called "Diverse & Subversive: The Anti-Gentrification of Boyle Heights" in which he embedded with radical activists protesting gentrification using black bloc style tactics. A study in using the power of VR to place the viewer on the front lines of political conflict, and in the bedrooms and galleries of the different community members affected by gentrification it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 and has been watched around the world, inspiring activism from Hong Kong to New York City.
In 2020 he founded The Mercantile Agency, a creative agency and production company producing branded documentaries and marketing videos as well as 360° videos, AR and VR for Fortune 500 companies, tech startups and other businesses and brands that want to change the world.
His commercial VR work includes 360° documentaries about the history of the Los Angeles River, a tour of the Ketel One Distillery, Star Wars Galaxies Edge at Disneyland for Disney's internal advertising Agency, Yellow Shoes, and many others.
Mitchell lives in Los Angeles with his wife and young daughter.
He studied directing at Kenyon College in Ohio where he directed plays by Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Sam Shepard and Yasmina Reza, Howard Korder and others. In 2005 he conceived and directed the experimental documentary theater piece "Ripper's Last Log", which was inspired by real-life webcam experiences in a recreational drug chatroom. One of his first attempts to make work at the intersection of Art and Technology to make sense of the early Internet and the future of social interaction in online spaces, it premiered at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown Los Angeles.
In 2009 he directed "The Conquest of the South Pole" by Manfred Karge at the Elephant Theater in Hollywood, of which the L.A. Weekly said "Mitchell's staging has just the right blend of whimsy and gravitas."
In 2013 he adapted and directed another experimental documentary theatrical experience inspired by the Internet called "Unmoderated", inspired by the comment section of a pioneering community-based blog in Los Angeles, The EastsiderLA. It was a lively snapshot of a neighborhood in flux, the original multicultural population of Hispanics and Asians mingling with the original gentrifiers from the queer community with the young hipster gentrifiers, and a love letter to the messiness of living with other people in Los Angeles. It premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2013 and was named "Best of Fringe" and was recognized by KCRW, NPR, and KPCC.
In TV and Film, Mitchell worked from 2006-2010 in physical production at NBCUniversal and CBS both in office and on the set where he received his filmmaking education.
He then began producing short documentaries for non-profits in Los Angeles, as well as a series of well received short documentaries on the history of Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park. This led to him being the Los Angeles Producer for the PBS Series "One Day in the American City" in which he produced shoots for 150 short documentaries on a single day.
In 2015 Mitchell founded his first VR Company, Beard & Glasses VR, to bring his theater and documentary practices into the exciting new field of Virtual Reality, which he had become fascinated by during its first coming in the late 1980's and 90's. His first cinematic 360° narrative, "The Visigoths" (written by Martha Marion) was an intimate romantic drama putting the viewer feet away from a young couple falling in, and out, of love. It premiered in 2017 at the Museum of Broken Relationships in Los Angeles and went on to screen at 2018 Seattle International and the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2019, he wrote and directed a 360°VR Documentary called "Diverse & Subversive: The Anti-Gentrification of Boyle Heights" in which he embedded with radical activists protesting gentrification using black bloc style tactics. A study in using the power of VR to place the viewer on the front lines of political conflict, and in the bedrooms and galleries of the different community members affected by gentrification it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 and has been watched around the world, inspiring activism from Hong Kong to New York City.
In 2020 he founded The Mercantile Agency, a creative agency and production company producing branded documentaries and marketing videos as well as 360° videos, AR and VR for Fortune 500 companies, tech startups and other businesses and brands that want to change the world.
His commercial VR work includes 360° documentaries about the history of the Los Angeles River, a tour of the Ketel One Distillery, Star Wars Galaxies Edge at Disneyland for Disney's internal advertising Agency, Yellow Shoes, and many others.
Mitchell lives in Los Angeles with his wife and young daughter.
