An Emmy for Human Connection, and for the XR Community
by Deirdre V. Lyons
We are still trying to process the words: “And the Emmy goes to… Uncanny Alley: A New Day.”
On September 5th, our live VR theatre production won the Emmy for Outstanding Emerging Media Program, an extraordinary recognition for a project created by Ferryman Collective and Virtual Worlds Company and performed live inside VRChat.
But from the moment we stepped off that stage, we knew this win felt bigger than us.
Ferryman Collective began with a handful of theatre artists asking what might happen if live performance could exist inside virtual worlds. We did not have a major studio behind us or a famous existing franchise. We had collaborators, performers, audiences, fellow artists, and a community willing to believe that something new was worth building.
XR Women has been part of that community.
Women across XR have shown up for us, shared our work, opened doors, offered advice, celebrated our successes, and reminded us how powerful it is when we amplify one another. This kind of support matters enormously in an emerging field, where so many of us are building the path while we are walking it.
That is why we see this Emmy not only as recognition for Uncanny Alley: A New Day, but as a watershed moment for independent creators and the wider XR community. Announcing to the world that work born inside virtual worlds, created by small teams, centered on live performance and human connection, can stand on one of entertainment’s biggest stages.
A few of the awards from Ferryman Collective Website: Ferryman Collective | Live Immersive VR Experiences
And now we get to celebrate where this work actually lives and explore how we got here.
Deirdre V. Lyons and Whitton Frank were thrilled to join XR Women on September 16, 2026 for a special live immersive gathering inside VRChat, where we shared the history, the work, and the community behind it together.
Because for all the technology involved, our greatest discovery has remained remarkably simple:
The killer app is people.
This Emmy win reminds us what can happen when a community connects, supports one another, and builds the future together. A future focused on Human Connection.
A link to the XR Women Immersive Gathering inside VRChat: https://www.youtube.com/live/GCbUMpkrT94?si=4pVHhLiLr1S0h_bh
Some of Ferryman Collective’s work: Live Performances / Moving Performances / Unprecedented Experiences
