According to Grand View Research, the immersive experience market is predicted to reach almost $100 billion annually. With the launch of a new division to support the distribution of its Original ticketed attractions worldwide, multidisciplinary entertainment studio Moment Factory is ready to satisfy demand in all locations, indoors or outdoors, day or night, permanent or temporary.
Moment Factory has been a leader in the industry for almost 25 years, creating amazing location-based experiences internationally. The company has produced over 550 productions, combining video, lighting, architecture, interactivity, sound, and special effects to create captivating and memorable moments for audiences. As the company enters its next growth phase, it will continue to push creativity and technology to new limits.
The new division will work with promoters, operators, and venue owners to support the global distribution of Moment Factory Originals.
We speak to Moment Factory co-founders Sakchin Bessette and Dominic Audet, alongside Jonathan St-Onge, executive director of Moment Factory Originals, and Marie-Pier Veilleux, director of public relations and international affairs. Together, they share more insights into the company’s latest growth strategy, which represents a significant shift in its business model.
Two distinct offers from Moment Factory
Moment Factory has a global reputation as a creative studio that merges art, technology, and live experiences. With over two decades of delivering large-scale multimedia projects, the studio has long focused on location-based entertainment. However, its roots are in music and live events:
“We come from the nightlife scene of the late 90s, and we started Moment Factory in 2001,” says Bessette. “Over time, as we kept nourishing our foundations, we also started pushing our creativity to permanent installations in airports, malls, museums, and theme parks. We applied theatrical techniques to different architectural environments.”
“Our motto is ‘We do it in public’. So, we’re really about using digital to bring people together in the physical world.”
See also: Moment Factory: ‘we do it in public’
St-Onge clarifies the company’s structure, saying it now has two distinct offers: Custom Experiences and Moment Factory Originals.
Custom Experience and Moment Factory Originals
“With Custom Experiences, we create unique installations tailored to serve clients visions and aims,” he says. Meanwhile, Moment Factory Originals is a library of ticketed attractions with proven global box-office success.
For the past decade, Moment Factory has been experimenting with its own intellectual properties (IPs). From Lumina, a nighttime experience in natural settings, to Aura, a multimedia spectacle in historical sites, these immersive experiences have gained worldwide recognition, selling over 7 million tickets so far.
“Custom experiences are at the core of who we are,” says Veilleux. “This is where we started more than 20 years ago, and so much of who we are as a company comes from our ability to tailor our services to meet different client needs.
“We’ve built dedicated teams across eight key markets: themed entertainment, cultural and educational, transportation hubs, public spaces, sports entertainment, brand activations and events, concerts and shows, and hospitality and leisure, and we had the privilege to work with major clients over the years.” These include Disney, FIFA, Billie Eilish, Universal, Changi Airport Group, Boston Museum of Science and more.
Now, with Moment Factory Originals, the company continues to evolve :
“Traditionally, Moment Factory has been a service studio,” says Bessette. “We’ve created mesmerising, memorable experiences for audiences by blending both creativity and technology. With our new division, we are shifting from a purely service-oriented approach to establishing a branch where we also become co-producers of our entertainment experiences and IPs.”
This shift allows the studio to focus on the creative aspects of the projects while partnering with key players worldwide for deployment and distribution. “We’re scaling our Originals, working alongside promoters and operators to take these experiences to new markets,” says Audet. “It’s a faster process, so it allows us to bring our experiences to more people globally.”
Scaling with purpose
The studio focuses on scaling five distinct types of experiences through its new division. Among these, the well-known Night Walks series (Lumina) immerses audiences in captivating outdoor nighttime experiences, while the AURA series revitalises cultural sites and landmarks through multimedia integration, honouring their rich heritage.
Additionally, Immersive Now (Brand Storyworld) offers multi-room experiences inspired by exclusive intellectual properties and renowned brands, including the recent touring project The Messi Experience. Digital Art Experiences (Mirror, Mirror) showcase stunning participatory digital artworks, while Augmented Games provide interactive, projector-based, real-world gaming that allows participants to use full-body motion to control gameplay.
With over ten projects launching in the next months, Moment Factory Originals’ scope is vast.
A prime example of the success of these experiences is the Night Walks series, implemented in over 20 locations in less than a decade. This trademark experience of the studio has extended the operating hours of parks and attractions, created new revenue streams, and also helped rebrand local regions. Combining creativity and innovation, this award-winning series transforms natural sites into dynamic narrative settings.
“When we started the Lumina night walks back in 2014, it was this idea of creating a story world inspired by nature and local culture, and being able to have people be immersed in the forest and to acknowledge and rediscover it differently,” says St-Onge. “How we seamlessly integrate technology into the natural environment is a big part of the success of this series.”
Partnerships fuel the future
At the heart of Moment Factory’s growth strategy is collaboration.
Bessette emphasises the role of partnerships in shaping the company’s future, “We don’t see any of our new IPs happening without partners. Whether it’s promoters, operators, or supply chain collaborators, partnerships are key to our strategy. We focus on content and experience, while our partners focus on promotion and operation.”
By leveraging these partnerships, Moment Factory ensures it stays geographically diverse and can deliver its experiences globally without needing a massive operational structure. “We’re not experts in selling tickets or operating sites; that’s where our partners come in,” he adds. “We want to focus on delivering amazing experiences.”
A culture of innovation at Moment Factory
Moment Factory fosters creativity through internal gatherings, events, and the cross-pollination of ideas among its diverse staff of artists, technologists, and storytellers.
Veilleux says: “We like to gather together, celebrate, and use our internal events to try stuff and to workshop. This is part of our culture. However, we also have a team of 450 employees with different areas of expertise. Our in-house school, MF School, is part of our learning spirit.”
She adds that Moment Factory emphasises three core values across all projects and employee development: teamwork, initiative, and the commitment to being both inspired and inspiring.
Audet says: “It’s about not being afraid to fail. While we have a dedicated innovation department, it’s also a culture throughout the company. We are driven by what excites us, where we see the future going, what we see as the tools we need, and how we can merge things that were not merged before.”
A global presence
Moment Factory has expanded globally since its beginning, with more than 80% of its projects now outside Canada, where the studio is headquartered. It has offices in key locations, such as Singapore, Tokyo, Paris, and New York, and additional permanent teams in Madrid, Sydney, and Riyadh. This global presence allows it to both understand and adapt to local cultures through close collaboration with the clients, partners, and stakeholders on site.
“We have local people working on projects so we can understand the cultural context more,” says Veilleux. “Because we work on giving an identity to a site, it is essential for us not only to think that we know about this place as foreigners but also to really feel it and make sure that it resonates with the local population.”
“For some of our projects, we also collaborate with local specialists and historians to ensure we respect and honour the culture involved. One example is Onhwa’ Lumina, an immersive multimedia experience inspired by Wendat cultural myths and symbols. This Night Walk was created in close partnership with the Huron-Wendat Nation, ensuring both their ancestral values and deep connection to nature are represented authentically.”
The future of immersive experiences with Moment Factory
When asked about the future of immersive entertainment, both Bessette and Audet spoke about their belief in the power of location-based, participatory experiences. “The pendulum is swinging back toward real-world connections,” Audet says. “As more entertainment has shifted online, we’re seeing a renewed importance on human connections in physical spaces.”
Moment Factory plans to expand on this trend by creating experiences that blend technology with human interaction. “Participation is key,” he says. “We’re not just creating shows to watch—we’re creating experiences where audiences are engaged and involved.”
The company sees immersive entertainment as a rapidly growing field, especially in ticketed experiences. Its long-term goal is to remain at the forefront by continually innovating and integrating different media forms.
“The world of immersive entertainment is at the beginning of its life,” says St-Onge. “I think for us, the goal is to continue to be at the forefront and find the new types of experiences we can offer to the public. We will continue to push forward how we master the integration of different forms of art and media to create new immersive Originals or new types of experiences that people will want to be a part of.”
A cycle of creativity
The expansion plan is not just about scaling Originals but also about feeding creativity and innovation back into the company’s other projects, he adds:
“We believe that our work in distribution will creatively and technologically support our other activities, helping us grow our ecosystem and drive innovation in the entertainment industry.”
Bessette also pointed to the company’s recent work in unexpected spaces like French theme park Futuroscope‘s unique new water park, Aquascope, as an example of how it is pushing the boundaries of immersive entertainment. “We’re merging things that weren’t traditionally merged—like water parks and digital experiences. The future is in creating new, unexpected experiences.”
Moment Factory has a slate of new projects coming soon, says Veilleux, including new Night Walks in Kyoto, Milan, and Birmingham and significant projects in Hong Kong and Seoul:
“We have ten Originals experiences launching in the coming months, including a Light Cycles at the Kyoto Botanical Gardens as well as a second Light Cycles in Milan. We’re also engaged in a major project at Hong Kong SkyCity, an expansive business and entertainment complex near the International Airport. We are also excited to collaborate with Real Madrid on various innovative and connected experiences to be part of the enhanced Santiago-Bernabéu Stadium. “
With Moment Factory’s ambitious growth plan, it’s clear that the company is not just scaling up but also evolving its approach to immersive entertainment, setting the stage for more groundbreaking, global experiences in the years to come.
“At the end of the day, we want to create experiences worth leaving the house for,” Bessette says. “That’s what we’re all about.”
