Aaron Vanek
Director/producer Aaron Vanek has been involved in larping for over thirty years.
He has designed experiences for the West Hollywood Book Fair (Trail of the Necronomicon), the San Diego Public Library (Bookworm; Something Wicked This Way), the Paul Biane Library in Rancho Cucamonga (Harry Potter Family Fun Day), the Girl Scouts of America, Sanrio, Inc., and an educational escape room for Green Dot Charter Schools. He has consulted with Texas State University to use larping techniques for their nurse training (simulation) program, designed neighborhood disaster preparation larps for Creative Crisis Leadership, co-founded the 2014 global Larp Census (nearly 30,000 respondents), edited the 2016 volume of Larp World Magazine and co-edited the 2012 and 2013 WyrdCon Companion Books.
He also founded and ran the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival® in San Pedro for seven years, as well as having written, directed, and produced five Lovecraft-based short films.
He currently teaches analog game design at a private middle school and serves as the vice president of The Game Academy, a 501c3 non-profit that develops and runs educational role-playing games and larps.
He frequently moderates panels about larp at WonderCon and San Diego Comic-Con®.
He finally earned an MFA in cinema directing from Columbia College Chicago.
He directed his first play at Hollywood Fringe in 2017, a staged adaptation of the Norwegian larp “Fallen Stars”. Better Lemons review compilation: https://better-lemons.com/production/fallen-stars-at-the-charity-sale/
