501(c)(3) Immersive Event Production

We build worlds
people walk into.

Our events have performers who stay in character, original stories, and plenty to do. We make them for fans who already love these worlds.

About IRIS

A production team built inside fan communities

IRIS Interactive is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit event production group based in Southern California. Our team is 50+ volunteers and employees, including event producers, A/V techs, and marketing staff, and we have 60+ cosplayers on our talent roster. Almost everyone on the team came from the fan communities we make events for.

Most fan groups plan one show at a time. We run more like a company, with assigned roles, ongoing responsibilities, and people who stay on between productions. We love the IPs we work with, and we care just as much about the quality of our work. That's why our shows stay consistent no matter which property we're working with.

1,000+
Peak event attendance
15 to 18
Performers per production
85%
Peak quest completion rate
50+
Volunteers and employees
60+
Cosplayers on our talent roster
Featured Work

A growing slate of productions.

We build every show from scratch for the property, the crowd, and the venue. The only thing we reuse is what we learned from the last one.

Upcoming
Cosmix LA
Multi-IP Oct 17, 2026 Recurring Upcoming

Cosmix LA

A cosplay and photography meetup in Los Angeles at FD Photo Studio - Art. We teamed up with FD Photo Studio to offer affordable studio space and gear to anyone who wants to shoot cosplay. Our hosts teach attendees how to pose and how to shoot, working alongside our cosplayers and photographers.

3
Cosplayers
3
Photographers
IRIS Ichiban Mart
Multi-IP Oct 18, 2026 City partner Recurring Upcoming

IRIS Ichiban Mart

The follow-up to Sugoi Sunday, produced with the City of Tustin at Columbus Tustin Recreation Center. It's an anime community market with 100 vendors, game shows run by local organizations, live music, and a community cosplay swap meet.

100
Vendors
Video Games Live
Multi-IP Sep 11-12, 2026 Official Upcoming

Video Games Live

We produced Video Games Live's first Los Angeles show in 12 years, working with the VGL team and SGV Symphony, who ran the music side. We handled logistics, staffing, audio and lighting sourcing, graphic design, web design, and day-of production for a $50k+ show. Our performers greeted guests in character and ran photo ops at the entrance of each concert. We also worked with local San Gabriel high schools to get free tickets out to the community.

2,000+
Attendees
2
Nights
6
Performers
Event guide
Deepspace Fest
Love and Deepspace Sep 19, 2026 City partner Upcoming

Deepspace Fest

A Love and Deepspace fan festival produced with Summoner's Stories and the City of Fullerton, set up like a school sports day with a team for each love interest. We ran the free Market zone, which was open to everyone without a ticket and had interactive activities, in-character performers, and snacks and drinks we made in-house. Every event slot on our side filled up.

600+
Attendees
6
Performers
Event guide
Sugoi Sunday
Multi-IP Jul 26, 2026 City partner Recurring Upcoming

Sugoi Sunday

A family-friendly anime community event we produced with the City of Tustin. Admission was free, and there was cosplay, vendors, a maid cafe, itasha, and interactive activities for all ages.

100+
Vendors
4
Performers
Event guide
UmaFest
Uma Musume Pretty Derby Aug 29, 2026 City partner Upcoming

UmaFest

A full Uma Musume fan event we produced with the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute. There were 5 stations of racing-themed activities run by performers in character as the trainees, 4 live dance performances of popular Uma Musume choreography, and food and drinks made in-house. Registration hit the venue cap in 24 hours, and the announcement post got 3,000+ likes.

700+
Attendees
5
Stations
17
Performers
Event guide
Finished
NIKKE at Anime Impulse Orange County
NIKKE: Goddess of Victory Aug 22-23, 2026 Official

NIKKE at Anime Impulse Orange County

An official NIKKE booth activation we produced for Tencent. Attendees met NIKKEs in person and worked through an interactive exhibit with T.T. Star. We also ran attendee data collection and drove a 60% increase in sales of the booth's special items.

170+
Attendees
60%
Special item sales lift
6
Performers
SHWA: Last Seen
SHWA Jul 2-5, 2026 Official

SHWA: Last Seen

An interactive exhibit at Anime Expo we built with SHWA. Attendees worked through a live missing-persons mystery across 3 stations, with in-character performers guiding the investigation.

700+
Attendees
3
Stations
12
Performers
Event guide
Shore Leave
NIKKE: Goddess of Victory May 2, 2026 Supported by NIKKE City partner

Shore Leave

A beach-themed show with a maid cafe, a scavenger hunt, and a Nerf shooting range. Our F&B team made custom food items for the event, and the NIKKE NA marketing team supported us with exclusive merch for giveaways during the show.

400+
Attendees
6
Stations
18
Performers
Event guide
Thousand Lights Festival
Genshin Impact Jan 31, 2026 City partner

Thousand Lights Festival

A family-friendly festival themed around Genshin Impact's Lantern Rite and Lunar New Year, put together with the City of San Gabriel. It had 7 activity stations, including in-character roleplay, a tasting show, and arts and crafts.

1,000+
Attendees
7
Stations
17
Performers
Event guide
Torrance Lunar New Year Festival
Genshin Impact Jan 11, 2026 City partner

Torrance Lunar New Year Festival

A Genshin Impact Lunar New Year celebration we produced with the City of Torrance. Performers in character hosted 3 craft stations and taught Chinese cultural traditions to 500+ attendees over the afternoon.

500+
Attendees
3
Stations
8
Performers
All-Out Holiday
Persona Dec 13, 2025

All-Out Holiday

A Persona-themed event built around a meta-story about learning to look out for your friends. We designed a fully themed escape room, built a custom web-based mini-game platform that ran live on-site, and hosted an interactive game show alongside crafting activities. Posts about the event got 2,400+ likes across social media.

900+
Attendees
4
Stations
16
Performers
Event guide
Sixth Street Takeover
Zenless Zone Zero Oct 11, 2025

Sixth Street Takeover

An event with 5 interactive stations and in-character performers, including a live maid cafe, a mystery puzzle, and live sword fighting demos. We partnered with local community groups like FIIO (audio) and KRON (sword fighting) to bring in outside experts and support the local scene.

700+
Attendees
5
Stations
17
Performers
Where the Wind Blooms
Genshin Impact Aug 16, 2025

Where the Wind Blooms

This was our first event as IRIS Interactive. It was a Windblume Festival celebration with interactive games like Jenga and tier-list making, live performances, and over a dozen local vendors we worked with.

800+
Attendees
6
Stations
15
Performers
Why We Do This

Why we started IRIS,
and why we keep going.

IRIS Interactive started because we kept going to conventions and asking, "Why isn't anyone doing this?" Fan communities have the talent and the love for these properties, but there weren't many places where you could step into the world yourself. So we started making them. Every show we build has the same goal: put the audience inside the world, give them something to do there, and make it clear the event was made for them.

Being a 501(c)(3) lets us keep things accessible, and every IRIS production so far has been free to attend. We bring the same approach when we partner with bigger events. The experience has to be good for the people in the room, and we don't cut production quality because there's no ticket price. We hold the same standard for 100 people at a community activation as we do for 1,000+ at a city-partnered festival.

Hands-on work experience

Our volunteers and employees include people who work on larger productions outside of IRIS, along with students and early-career creatives who are just getting started. Experienced members teach newer ones on live shows, covering event production, A/V, marketing, performer direction, food service, and project management. Everyone learns on productions that are open to the public.

Community-first events

Everything starts with the people who show up. We keep admission free, design for accessibility, and put in the production quality that makes people come back and bring their friends.

Built to partner

We're a 501(c)(3), so contributions are tax-deductible. Sponsorship, merchandise, venue access, and promo support all help, and whatever the arrangement is, it goes directly into community programming.

From Our Events
Thousand Lights Festival
All-Out Holiday event
Sixth Street Takeover
Where the Wind Blooms
Shore Leave maid cafe
Thousand Lights Festival
All-Out Holiday event
Shore Leave performers
Sixth Street Takeover
Where the Wind Blooms
Shore Leave meet and greet
Video Games Live concert
SHWA: Last Seen performer
UmaFest performers
Video Games Live photo op
SHWA: Last Seen performer
UmaFest performer
What We Do

We handle the whole show,
top to bottom

Our shows are built around trained performers who stay in character, talk with attendees live, and guide them through story-driven activities. We make the food, props, marketing sites, and custom tech in-house and match all of it to the property.

Experience design

We plan the concept, the story, the station layout, and how people move through the space, so the whole event feels like one connected experience instead of a row of separate booths.

Performer casting & direction

We find the right people, get them in costume, and rehearse until they can stay in character in a live crowd and improvise when something goes wrong.

Story & lore

Every event has a story that ties it together. We write it for fans who know the source material well, since they're the ones showing up.

Activities & games

We make the activities people line up for, like escape rooms, scavenger hunts, game shows, live combat demos, crafting stations, and puzzles.

In-house food & beverage

Our F&B team makes original themed food and drinks in-house for each show and matches every item to the property.

A/V production

We handle sound, video, and tech setup, build custom web tools for live events, and support production on the day of the show.

Event production & logistics

We handle venue coordination, vendor management, scheduling, and staffing, and we run day-of operations for crowds of 1,000+.

Marketing

We run pre-event campaigns, social media, and community outreach, and we work with IP holders and local organizations to get the word out.

IRIS Interactive held an amazing immersive experience where Genshin fans could meet their favorite characters in our city. Can't wait to have them back again!
Mayor Denise Menchaca · City of San Gabriel
How We Work

From first call to
day-of execution

Most shows take 6 to 10 weeks of prep, depending on scale.

01

Discovery

We learn about the IP, your goals, the venue, and your audience. We also ask what a good outcome looks like for you and what the hard limits are, and we agree on scope before we design anything.

02

Concept development

We design the experience, including the story, the station flow, what people do at each station, and how the event feels from the moment someone walks in until they leave.

03

Casting & rehearsal

We recruit performers, get them in costume, and rehearse with them. Training covers improv, crowd interaction, and staying in character when things get chaotic, which they usually do.

04

Production build

We build the A/V setup, props, F&B menu, marketing materials, and any custom tech, and we test all of it before the event.

05

Day-of execution

Our full team is on-site running performers, logistics, vendors, and A/V, and handling problems at every station for the whole show.

06

Post-event debrief

We put together attendance numbers, engagement data, social media results, and straightforward notes on what worked and what didn't. We document everything.

Built In-House

The digital side of
what we produce

Our team makes the marketing sites, live event systems, mini-games, and voice-over for our productions.

Original Experiences
Officer Portal evidence terminal, Case 19-C
Browser Horror Game
Daily Safety Department: Officer Portal
A horror investigation game set in Hethereau from Neverness to Everness, built as a single HTML file. Players work Case 19-C from a decommissioned precinct evidence terminal, going through property records, a remains ledger, and phone calls while something in the system notices it's being watched. It has a WebGL CRT simulation, original sound design, an adaptive tension system, and persistent saves. It's desktop only, and headphones are recommended. Content advisory: the game has distressing material, flashing images, and sudden audio.
Neverness to Everness · 2026
Enter
Event Marketing Sites
Single-Page Application
Shore Leave: NIKKE Event Site
A full marketing site with an animated intro, a performer showcase grouped by faction, activity breakdowns, a maid café reservation flow, and a vendor directory. We designed it to match NIKKE's visual style.
NIKKE: Goddess of Victory · May 2026
Visit site
Single-Page Application
SHWA: Last Seen Event Site
A missing-persons case-file site for the Anime Expo booth activation. It walks visitors through the 3-step investigation (find the booth, collect clues, solve it) and has a roster of the 10 cosplayers with Instagram links, a SHWA and Moonmay product storefront, and a case-file panel that tracks the subject, leads, and reward.
SHWA · Jul 2026
Visit site
Live Event Tech
Web Application
Event Guide & Registration System
A live attendee registration portal that ran on-site at All-Out Holiday. Guests created IDs, signed in-world contracts, played online multiplayer web games, and tracked their progress across stations in real time. The entry password is "reality".
Persona · Dec 2025
Visit site
Live Game System
Phantom Thieves Live Game
A multi-session mystery platform with admin controls for running it live. It ran 4 sessions in a row during the event with real-time scoring and audience participation.
Persona · Dec 2025
Visit site
Mini-Games
Browser Game
S.E.E.S. Gacha Intervention
An in-character Persona 3 card mini-game that ran as a side activity at All-Out Holiday. Players go up against Akihiko, Junpei, and Mitsuru in a blackjack variant, with character dialogue and battle analysis from Fuuka.
Persona 3 · Dec 2025
Play game
Interactive Event Suite
Thousand Lights: Event Guide
An on-site digital companion for the Thousand Lights Festival with a visual novel tutorial, a themed joke generator, and an interactive lantern wishing activity. All of it ran live at the event.
Genshin Impact · Jan 2026
Visit site
Story Writing
Interactive Fiction
All-Out Holiday: Prologue
A branching, choice-driven prologue that set up the story for All-Out Holiday. Players make decisions across 3 acts in a story about grief, isolation, and finding community, which leads into the live event.
Persona · Dec 2025
Read story
Visual Novel
What the Sky Remembers
A Yoimiya short story made as a web-based visual novel, with an animated starfield background, typewriter text, and scene transitions. It's a full original story set the night after a festival.
Genshin Impact · Aug 2025
Read story
Graphic Design
Zenless Zone Zero graphic design
Persona graphic design
Persona graphic design
Shore Leave graphic design
Shore Leave graphic design
Shore Leave graphic design
SHWA: Last Seen graphic design
SHWA: Last Seen graphic design
Sugoi Sunday graphic design
Sugoi Sunday graphic design
UmaFest graphic design
UmaFest graphic design
UmaFest style guide
Voice Over
Female VO 1
0:00
Male VO 2
0:00
Female VO 3
0:00
Spanish VO
0:00

Thanks for taking the time.

There are a lot of groups doing good work in this space, so it means a lot that you scrolled through all of this. If something here caught your eye, or you want to talk through an idea, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch
echao@irisinteractive.org

The IRIS Interactive team