Ferryman Creators Hope To Beat Emmy Odds With Uncanny Alley A New Day

BusinessMediaFerryman Creators Hope To Beat Emmy Odds With Uncanny Alley A New DayByDavid Bloom,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I’m an LA-based columnist & consultant focused on tech & entertainmentFollow AuthorAug 22, 2026, 02:26pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more. (Image Courtesy of Ferryman Collective)Among the most intriguing corners of the TV Academy’s many, many Emmy categories now being voted upon is Outstanding Emerging Media Program, featuring apps from Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout adaptation and NBCUniversal’s Blumhouse specialty horror unit, facing off with a quirky, boundary-pushing hybrid virtual/live experience from the tiny non-profit Ferryman Collective. Ferryman’s Uncanny Alley A New Day is built on Rick “Metarick” Treweek’s six-year-old Uncanny Alley universe of virtual worlds, and itself is accessed through the 12-year-old VRChat, a social virtual-world that attracts an estimated 10 million monthly active users globally. Ferryman sells tickets online to scheduled performances that run on the widely available Quest VR headset, and also streams the virtual experiences on YouTube. So far, so familiarly out there compared to the usual broadcast sitcoms, limited-run streaming series and cable-network reality competitions that stuff dozens of Emmy categories. Where Ferryman takes an extra, highly intriguing step is A New Day’s use of two live actors, who voice a total of 15 characters, while simultaneously interacting with the audience and triggering in-experience actions that drive the narrative. Writer-director Stephen Butchko, for instance, may voice a robot cop with a Southern drawl, then seamlessly shift to a fussy Jarvis-like service bot with an English accent. Show producer and Ferryman development director Whitton Frank voiced the “female-presenting” characters during my experience, again with...