Secrets of the Ultimate Immersive Star Wars Experience 

FEATURING MIKHAEL TARA GARVER, SARA THACHER & ANN MORROW JOHNSON

The team behind Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser takes the stage in Denver to share the story of the collaboration behind this groundbreaking project. Join project executive producer & creative director Ann Morrow Johnson, creative director Sara Thacher, and director of immersive experience Mikhael Tara Garver to learn about the hard work that went into making the most ambitious immersive adventure of our time. 

They’ll discuss how technology, immersive theater, game design, and stellar hospitality combined with new business models to produce a profoundly transformative guest experience. For the first time, they’ll share some of the discoveries made along the way and collaborative lessons learned while bringing this brand new format to life. Read more about the featured speakers below!

When & Where

About the Speakers

Sara Thacher

Creative Director

Ann Morrow Johnson

… leads Creative Development and Blue Sky for Walt Disney Imagineering. She helps craft the next generation of experiential creative ideas and make them a reality.  As the Executive Creative Director & Producer for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, she worked to find the intersection of immersive theater, game play, hospitality, design, and storytelling to bring a galaxy far, far away close enough for guests to step into and to play a part in the saga.  Previously, she acted as the Global Producer for Star Wars activations, bringing Star Wars storytelling to parks all around the world.

Sara Thacher

… is a Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering, where she works with engineers, computer scientists, architects, artists, and inventors to fashion new technology into revolutionary guest experiences. She focuses on creating experiences that are participatory and playful. Her work at Imagineering includes creative leadership on the recently launched Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser two-day immersive experience and the TEA Award winning Haunted Mansion: Ghost Post. Previously, she served as Executive Producer and Experience Designer at Nonchalance where she co-created the groundbreaking experience, The Jejune Institute.

Mikhael Tara Garver 

… was the Director of Immersive Experience for the Galactic Starcruiser. Garver has been a pioneer in original experiential and immersive entertainment for over two decades. She has created innovative immersive work combining digital and physical across theaters, brands, non-profits, corporations, start-ups, social justice organizations, and civic spaces.

Mikhael has received some of the first large-scale immersive commissions by national arts organizations like the American Repertory Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Goodman Theater, RiverLA, Montclair New Work Initiative,The United Nations, National Park Services, and The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, The United Nations, The Public Theater, and The New York Public Library, among others.  She was the Head of Experiential Entertainment for Category41; the Managing Artistic Director of Woodshed Collective; and the Founder and Artistic Director of lauded Chicago Uma Productions. She was a director on American Repertory Theater’s Production of Sleep No More and an associate producer for Anne Bogart and SITI Company. From 2020-2021 Garver was commissioned to create Rio Records, an epic covid-safe storytelling digital and physical experience weaving over 90+ artists to bring the LA River to life in partnership with Los Angeles and RiverLA.

Mikhael is a three time grantee of Pop Culture Collaborative: funding pop culture leaders spearheading positive change in our stories and storymaking. Most recently as a part of their Becoming America Cohort for her experiential studio, 13Exp , an experiential studio that centers ambitious IP primarily led by women, LBGTQIA, non-binary, veteran, differently-abled, undocumented, and BIPOC creators. Mikhael has been a consultant in the creative business potential of digital/physical immersive work. Mikhael has led the charge in how this work can create successful financial models for a diverse slate of artists and audiences. Mikhael’s work has been live in rock clubs, on subway cars, in stadiums, street corners, multi-floor architectural masterpieces, drive-thrus, the largest billboards in the world, in theaters, and in someone’s covid safe home. She has consulted and built award-winning experiences for AMC Television, The National Park Service, Viacom, Amazon, Bloomberg, Smirnoff, Facebook, Warner Brothers, and many more.

Garver is a member of the Guild of Future Architects, a board member of the Immersive Experience Institute, an advisor for Starfish Entertainment Accelerator, and an International Sacatar Fellow. She has taught at Yale, Columbia University, Harvard, North Carolina School of the Arts, and NYU/ Tisch School of the Arts, among others. Her speaking and thought leadership on the  Power of Experiential Entertainment for Positive Culture Change has brought her to speak at SXSW, the Immersive Design Summit, Switchpoint, Immersive Homecoming Summit, and the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. www.mikhaeltaragarver.com, mtg@13exp.com, ig @mtgexperience