Cardboard City is an interactive documentary that blends Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and user-generated content. It held its World Premiere at the 54th Annual New York Film Festival (NYFF) at Lincoln Center on October 1, 2016. Directed by Kiira Benzing of Double Eye Productions, and produced by Stina Hamlin and Alyssa Landry, Cardboard City was part of the NYFF “Convergence” program, which offers an array of immersive experiences that redefine cinematic storytelling.

1. CARDBOARD CITY
www.doubleeyeproductions.com
doubleeyeproductions@gmail.com

2. CARDBOARD CITY
In 2015, over 300 artists were forced out of their
Gowanus studios due to skyrocketing rents and
runaway development.
Cardboard City is an interactive documentary that blends
Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and user-
generated content.
Viewers uncover the stories of Gowanus artists and
activists through AR, step inside an artist’s studio in VR,
and come together to build a new cardboard city, adding
their own buildings, memories, and stories to an ever-
evolving cityscape.
Cardboard City held its World Premiere at the 54th Annual
New York Film Festival (NYFF) at Lincoln Center on
October 1, 2016. Directed by Kiira Benzing of Double Eye
Productions, and produced by Stina Hamlin and Alyssa
Landry, Cardboard City was part of the NYFF
“Convergence” program, which offers an array of
immersive experiences that redefine cinematic storytelling.
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3. 3
CARDBOARD CITY:
THE INSTALLATION

4. 4
AUGMENTED REALITY
Cardboard City harnesses the magic of augmented
reality, inviting participants to scan images in the
cardboard city and uncover the stories of the community.
The AR landscape features the work and stories of
Gowanus artists Jessica Dickinson and Marc Handelman,
as well as interviews with the arts activist and founder of
ArtBuilt Mobile Studios, Esther Robinson, and Arts
Gowanus director, Abby Subak.

5. 5
VIRTUAL REALITY
Two VR shorts are available for participants to view:
Cardboard City
This 60-second VR film provides an immersive visit inside
the enchanted studio of Brooklyn-based stop motion
animator Danielle Ash, who has built a cardboard world
inside her studio, complete with a pickle vendor, a bakery,
and a neighborhood bar. As her studio comes to life,
viewers find themselves transported inside a cardboard
rollercoaster.
Cardboard City, the VR film, is a co-winner of the
Samsung Gear Indie VR Filmmaker Contest and its “There
in 60 Seconds” challenge. It debuted at the Samsung
Studio during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Boxed Out (work in progress/teaser):
An interactive VR film combining live action with stop
motion and 3D animation. Boxed out is a story about a
beloved world of characters in Gowanus and about loss.
This is the teaser for the follow up VR film to the award-
winning “Cardboard City”.

6. 6
THE MAKER SPACE
Participants are encouraged to write down their thoughts
and reflections about what an ideal neighborhood should
be, before tucking their answers into one of the many
windows in the cardboard landscape.
They then make a cardboard building that they would like
to see in this future city, one that they have helped to
create.
The object here is to spark a conversation about
gentrification and to raise awareness that we all have a
voice in the shaping of our communities.

7. MEET THE CREATORS
KIIRA BENZING
Director and Producer
Kiira Benzing is a storyteller crossing the mediums of theater, improv, documentary, fiction and virtual reality.
Cardboard City, her first venture in Virtual Reality, won the Samsung Gear Indie Milk VR contest (2016) and
debuted at Sundance. Directing credits include: Matterspacetime (short), Cardboard City (VR), Double
Portrait (short), Finding The Wave (web series), and Boxed Out (VR in post production). Producing credits
include: Shockwaves (VR), Dinner With Friends (VR), A Butterfly Space (short) and the comedy feature film
Other Plans starring Jamie Kennedy and Malik Yoba. She produced and co-starred in the social fiction multi-
platform series Connection Unavailable.
STINA HAMLIN
Producer
A veteran member of the Producer’s Guild of America and the Women’s Impact Network, Stina Hamlin has
been producing non-fiction television for over 20 years. Producing credits include Post Production
Supervisor and Production Executive for lifestyle and food series on HGTV, Food Network, and TLC
networks. After working in commercials Hamlin transitioned to running post production facilities, DuArt then
East Coast Digital in New York. She partnered with Director, Kiira Benzing on “Cardboard City” which won
the Samsung Gear Indie Milk VR contest and premiered at Sundance on the MilkVR platform. She is
currently producing the sequel to “Cardboard City.”
ALYSSA LANDRY
Producer
Alyssa Landry is a storyteller, performer and director who writes and designs immersive and interactive
audience experiences using new technologies. A regular on the French musical theater stage, her acting
credits include leading roles in Sweeney Todd, Nine, La Vie Parisienne and She Loves Me. Her love for
storytelling led her to begin conceiving and writing original musicals. Writing credits include: the award-
winning Jusqu’aux Dents (co-author), Bons Baisers de Broadway and Hashtags, her first transmedia project.
She is a free-lance show writer and director for Disneyland Paris. Credits include: The Jedi Training
Academy, Frozen Sing-Along, The Forest of Enchantment, as well as numerous press events and live
entertainment.
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8. MEET THE TEAMS: Augmented Reality and Installation
Directed by – Kiira Benzing
Produced by – Kiira Benzing, Stina Hamlin, Alyssa Landry
Featuring – Jessica Dickinson, Marc Handelman, Esther Robinson, Abby Subak
Experience Designer – Katie Edmonds
Developers – Loren Abdulezer, Christopher Lobello, Cecile Ragot
Post Production – East Coast Digital
Effects by – Juan C. Santiago
Graphics Designed by – Jessy Winchester
Publicity by – Fiona Smith, David Weiss
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9. “CARDBOARD CITY 360”
Directed & Written by – Kiira Benzing
Animation & Artwork by – Danielle Ash
Narrative Designer – Eulani Labay
Producers – Danielle Ash, Kiira Benzing, Eulani Labay,
Tarik Mohamed
Editing, Art Direction & Post Sound Design by –
Danielle Ash
Post Producer – Stina Hamlin
Cinematographer – Tarik Mohamed
Gaffer – Mike Doyle
Technical Director – Jimmy Marerro
Colorist – Verne Mattson
Stitchers – Danielle Ash, Jimmy Marerro, Tarik
Mohamed
Unity Developer - Christopher LoBello
CTO of East Coast Digital – Scott Kleinberger
Post Production Facility - East Coast Digital
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MEET THE TEAMS: VIRTUAL REALITY
“BOXED OUT” (Work in progress)
Directed & Written by – Kiira Benzing
Produced by – Kiira Benzing, Stina Hamlin
Exective Producer – Lydia Dean Pilcher
Edited by – Juan C. Santiago
Unity Developer – Christopher Lobello, Evolving
Technologies
Artwork & Stop Motion Animation by – Danielle Ash
Spatialized Sound Design by – Diego Jimenez
Hobo Audio by – Tim Korn
Music by – Lucas Lechowski
Colorist – Rick Broat
Post Production Facility – East Coast Digital

10. 10
CARDBOARD CITY: APPENDIX
Watch Cardboard City in 360° P. 11
Press release P. 12-13
Contact us P. 14

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Cardboard City in 360° virtual reality
Load your smartphone into a Google Cardboard headset and watch Cardboard City on Youtube 360°. You can also see it
online through your computer by clicking below.

12. Press Release
Interactive Documentary “Cardboard City” to Make World Premiere at 54th Annual New York Film Festival
Visitors Can Experience Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and User-Generated Content
Installation October 1st and 2nd at Lincoln Center
NEW YORK -- September 26, 2016: Cardboard City, an interactive documentary, will hold its World Premiere at the 54th Annual New
York Film Festival (NYFF) at Lincoln Center on October 1st. Directed by Kiira Benzing of Double Eye Productions, and produced by
Stina Hamlin and Alyssa Landry, Cardboard City is part of the NYFF “Convergence” program, which offers an array of immersive
experiences that redefine cinematic storytelling.
Cardboard City can be viewed at the NYFF October 1st and 2nd, from 12:30 - 5:30 PM at The Elinor-Bunin Munroe Center, 144 West
65th Street. Admission is free. The total experience time is 30 minutes.
The Cardboard City Installation
In 2015, over 300 artists were evicted from their studios in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Gowanus. Blending Virtual Reality (VR),
Augmented Reality (AR), and user-generated content, Cardboard City, is a hands-on, interactive installation that uses these artists’
stories as a jumping-off point. Viewers uncover the stories of Gowanus artists and activists through AR; step inside an artist’s studio in
VR; and come together to build a new cardboard city, adding their own buildings, memories, and stories to an ever-evolving cityscape.
The 60-second VR film Cardboard City provides an immersive visit inside the enchanted studio of Brooklyn-based stop motion animator
Danielle Ash, who has built a cardboard world inside her studio from the pickle vendor, to the bakery, to the neighborhood bar. As her
studio comes to life, viewers find themselves transported inside a cardboard rollercoaster.
As part of the installation, the Augmented Reality landscape will feature the work and stories of Gowanus artists, Jessica Dickinson and
Marc Handelman, as well as interviews with the arts activist and founder of ArtBuilt Mobile Studios, Esther Robinson; and Arts Gowanus
director, Abby Subak.
The VR film debuted at the Samsung Studio during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It was a co-winner of the Samsung Gear Indie VR
Filmmaker Contest and its “There in 60 Seconds” challenge, collecting a $10,000 prize in the first of a series of competitions from the
global electronics giant.
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13. Valuing Artists & Neighborhoods
Benzing teamed with Hamlin, Post Producer of East Coast Digital, and Landry to make Cardboard City a reality under challenging
circumstances. “We build our cities and we decide the story of our city,” Benzing says. “Through the creation of Cardboard City I
posed the question: ‘How do we value the arts and the artists in our neighborhood?’
“I love change,” continues Benzing, “however, I am seriously concerned about the studios and cultural centers disappearing across
NYC and its boroughs. I continue to observe that the artists cannot keep up with the changes in their own neighborhoods. This is an
age-old story and it has repeated itself before in New York City and now the story repeats itself in Gowanus. Throughout the creation of
Cardboard City I have wondered: ‘When does this cycle end?’”
Benzing has spent years attempting to bring audiences into the intimate worlds that the artists she films have shared with her. The
result is an adventurous entrée into their beautiful, unique, and often otherworldly studios.
“I have found Virtual Reality to be the medium for intimacy and it is now my chosen medium as a filmmaker,” Benzing explains. “I
began with the story of Danielle Ash, a stop motion animator whose artwork, constructed entirely out of cardboard, reflects the
neighborhood around her. I documented her beautiful world in 360 degrees and I played with the concept of scale.
“Danielle's story was meant to be the first of several that I wanted to film in VR, but the artists were displaced so quickly that their
studios were dismantled in a matter of months and, like so much else, that opportunity was lost. I am now returning to Gowanus to tell
the stories of this community of artists through Augmented Reality.”
With the goal of sparking a conversation about gentrification in these neighborhoods, Kiira Benzing and her collaborators have
assembled a world where the viewers become players and are transformed into creators.
“They are given the tools and the power to build a new city,” she concludes. “Cardboard is a fragile material – it reminds us of how
temporal life’s moments can be. The stories of Gowanus are the first layer in what I hope will be a continuum – bridging the digital with
the physical; a reconnection to what our neighborhoods mean to us.”
Press Release Continued
13

14. Contact Double Eye Productions:
E-mail:
doubleeyeproductions@gmail.com
Website:
www.doubleeyeproductions.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/doubleeyeproductions
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/doubleeye
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/doubleeyepro
Press & Social Media Inquiries
Fiona Smith – fionavirginiasmith@gmail.com
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Contact us
About Double Eye Productions
Double Eye Productions is dedicated to telling
inspirational stories that break boundaries.
Founded by Director/Producer Kiira Benzing, the
company specializes in immersive, interactive Virtual
Reality (VR) films and hybrid storytelling.
For more information on Cardboard City and Double Eye
Productions, please visit:
www.doubleeyeproductions.com