David Wally is chief creative officer at Mycotoo, a leading agency in entertainment strategy and experience design. Having dedicated a career to film (producing Scent of a Woman and Meet Joe Black), Wally then moved on to directing, writing and working with actors for various live experiences. With his extensive experience, he bridges the gap between themed environments and live theatre.
Highlights from Wally’s career include the Westworld Experience at SXSW in 2018. This garnered over 1.9 billion impressions in just three days, and he was the creative lead, show creator and writer. He also served as the creative lead, show writer and director for Netflix’s Stranger Things: The Experience – a multi-city global touring, immersive experience. This essentially created a new business model for studios and brands to connect with Gen Z.
Back at SXSW in 2019, he created HBO’s Bleed for the Throne experience in collaboration with Giant Spoon, a marketing agency, bridging the conversation between experiential entertainment and impact, crafting a seamless story that allowed guests to enter the world of Westeros while reminding them of the importance of donating blood.
One of Mycotoo’s most famous successes is Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor. Wally was the creative lead for over a decade at the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, one of the premiere immersive haunt destinations in Southern California with over 150 live performers, attracting over 150,000 visitors in October alone.
Wally has also mentored some of today’s most sought-after immersive directors including Bonnie Hallman and David Ruzicka, among others.
One nominator said: “He’s an unsung hero and the catalyst engine often hidden humbly behind the work. Wally is 100% deserving of the influencer distinction for the mere fact that he’s touched most of the benchmarks we speak of for this category. Wally is a theatre maker at his core and has successfully transferred his love for film, television and acting into not only leading the creative team at Mycotoo but also producing some of the most talked about experiences today.”