ABOUT

During times of emergency, 911 dispatchers are the first to arrive on scene. They are routinely subjected to the sounds of raw violence and terror few ever experience. 'Dispatch' is a Virtual Reality series that tells the story of Ted, a dispatcher in a small American town as he undergoes the most challenging night of his career. Voiced by Silicon Valley’s Martin Starr, Ted is a jaded dispatcher yearning to be at the scene of the crime. After devising a way to insert himself into the danger, he is about to get what he wished for. 'Dispatch' harnesses abstract visuals and immersive sound design to craft a haunting thriller set inside the mind of a 911 dispatcher. Rather than seeing the events unfold in live-action, the minimalistic approach lets viewers fill in the visual gaps as the narrative progresses.

The experience was fully created in Unity, allowing blue-and-red wireframes craft silhouettes of the action. 'Dispatch' relies heavily on hyper-realistic spatialized sound based on real 911 calls to bring people deeper into Ted’s high-stakes experience. The sound design mimics the experience of a 911 dispatcher, where any noise might be a clue to better understand a situation. Silicon Valley actor Martin Starr voices Ted, delivering the action with his patently monotone voice.Dispatch premiered its first two episodes at the Venice Film Festival, and distributed episodes 1-3 on the Oculus Store in November 2017. Dispatch launched its final episode at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. By making each viewer a firsthand witness to Ted’s story, Dispatch reveals a powerful glimpse into the lives of those who plunge their minds into the terror, one call at a time.