GONE is a VR series released exclusively on MilkVR produced by a collaboration of Skybound, MilkVR, and Wevr that allows the viewer to experience the dread and panic of a couple whose child vanishes.



Explore the scenes in complete 360-degree freedom, looking for active clue points as the story unfolds around you. Finding these hotspots (which are only active for a limited time) will allow you to see events at different times and different perspectives. In short, exploring your environment will shape the way you experience the story. Miss a hotspot and you might miss an aspect of the story. →Skybound

VReview: Thanks for sitting down to talk with us.

First off, how did you get into the entertainment business?

JT: I made a micro-budget horror film called “Soft for Digging” that got into the Sundance Film Festival. And while that was happening, was also writing for video games, including the original “Splinter Cell.”

VReview: What are some of your notable previous works?

JT: On the film side: The Burrowers, S&Man (Sandman), in video games: The first two Splinter Cell games, Outlast, Telltale’s The Walking Dead. My latest graphic novels are the Aurora West books, in collaboration with Paul Pope and David Rubin.

VReview: Favorite director?

JT: That’s a long and constantly changing list. The Coens, primetime Frankeheimer, Park-Chan Wook, Takeshi Kitanno, Buster Keaton, could go on for a while.

VReview: What was your first experience with VR?

JT: I tried the Virtual Boy back in the day. Before I’d written the script for GONE, Samsung sent me a headset to take a look at.

VReview: Do you personally own a Gear VR, and if so, how do you like it?

JT: I do, and I love it. Though I wish it didn’t overheat so much.

VReview: How’d you start working with Skybound, WEVR, and Milk on GONE?

JT: I’d worked with Skybound on Telltale’s 2nd season of the Walking Dead game and had a good experience. And Skybound producer David Alpert is part of my management team and a longtime friend. They introduced me Wevr and Samsung.

VReview: What inspired the story of GONE?

JT: I have two children. Like any dad I think a lot about potential dangers to my children and what I’d do to protect them. I’m also fascinated by their interior lives; they’re getting old enough now to be keeping secrets, having their own ideas. They’re these little creatures literally made of my DNA, but always growing further into their own people. In terms of inspiration from other works, the game GONE HOME was a big influence. Also the movie SPOORLOOS, PRISONERS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND.

VReview: What have been the benefits and challenges in shooting in VR?

JT: This would need to be 5 page answer. But the short version was that all of our equipment was cobbled together from film shoot equipment or custom-built for this show; so we were always working with functioning tools, but rarely the perfect tool for the job. The cameras were pretty limited in terms of light, etc. Everything about how we move the camera, light the scene, monitor the picture, record audio had to be re-thought. The actors were able to get much deeper into scenes than you’d get by regular coverage, but we also had to be able to nail complete scenes in terms of choreography and performance in long, single takes. Benefits were of course the immersion and intimacy of the medium; though we’re still trying to figure out the pacing and language of telling stories in VR.

→Check out Skybound’s YouTube playlist for more BTS on GONE.

VReview: Why was 2D chosen over 3D?

JT: Money is the shortest answer. Also, any 3D system we could have built at the time would not have let us get actors within arm’s distance of the camera ball, and it was important both in performance and in investigating clues that we could get right up next to objects.

VReview: What changes, if any, did you have to make in directing the cast in VR?

JT: Everything was a long single take, so direction was more like theater. And because you can see in every direction, we monitored the performance from a considerable distance, which often felt more like FBI surveillance than a film shoot.

VReview: On to the actual show, there are obviously a lot of mysterious clues, and the tension really has picked up. You probably can’t, but any hints you can reveal to us?

JT: I don’t want to give away much. The opening title is important, I’ll say that much.

VReview: Have you finished shooting the show, and if so how many episodes are in the first season?

JT: It’s all shot, and will be eleven episodes total.

VReview: Where can we expect to see you in the future?

JT: The video game Outlast 2 will be out at the end of this year. I’ve got some TV and feature stuff cooking.

JT is on Twitter @PettyJTyrant.