Disney's Remembering: Brie Larson And Elijah Allan-Blitz Discuss

Remembering is an eight-minute AR (augmented reality) short film that premieres at midnight tonight on Disney+. The film is directed by Elijah Allan-Blitz and stars Brie Larson as a young woman who uses her inner child to recall her greatest forgotten ideas. As far as I know, this project has been three years in the making and when I first met Elijah in 2019, he explained the project to me but didn’t realize the scope until seeing it for myself.

Back in 2019 at the Toronto Film Festival after party for Just Mercy, I met Oscar winning actress Brie Larson, and her guest Elijah. She introduced us and said, “he’s really smart, and working on something mind-blowing.” Of course, I was curious to know what it was so I asked, He told me he was working on an interactive AR (augmented reality) project that would was similar to the 3D, but even more advanced. Elijah then began to explain all the technicalities and mechanics behind what he was doing and automatically lost me. I have an education in basic computer science and AR technology was way out of my league. Elijah began to really nerd out, and his enthusiasm for the project was so palpable, I became just as excited. And here we are in 2022, nerding out about it all over again.

My first experience with Remembering was in my living room with my iPad. Once I downloaded all of the apps needed, I held my iPad up to my television and suddenly an animated waterfall and foliage appeared—in apartment. The visuals took over the iPad screen and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. There’s also a great story in there as well and ask existential questions like: where does you’re mind go when you remember? Where is the origin of your ideas? Why is it when we get older, why do adults become afraid to use their imagination, and how do we tap into that inner child? It’s a conversation starter for sure.

I spoke with Larson and Allan-Blitz over zoom and the three us had a deep conversation about imagination, vulnerability, and protecting your inner child.

Deadline: Where did the idea for Remembering stem from?

Elijah: I was mostly inspired by the work of Elizabeth Gilbert’s books, and Ted Talks, dealing with the, just the concept that ideas are not from us, but they are all around us. Ideas don’t always come to use in the conscious world and aren’t necessarily manifested in physical form. I wanted to explore what that looked like.

Deadline: Using children and child actress Dusty Peak in the film as a source of inspiration is smart because they articulate kids communicate their ideas in a three-dimensional way.

Elijah: I used to teach kindergarten, so this was the opportunity to explore an environment through the eyes of a child and utilizing AR technology to take it to another level.

Deadline: Anything you can tell me about the technical aspects of the film?

Brie We’d ask Dusty questions. What does the world of imagination look like? What are the rules? Elijah and I took those answers to some incredible artists to create all those visuals that you see in the film. She’s the one who came up with Dolphin clouds and rainbows you can slide down.

In the volumetric stage, she is interacting with the very things that she had talked about, so when see her in awe witnessing this world, she’s Dusty is experiencing her own ideas in real time. It’s an incredible blend of Elijah having the structure, this story, and the vision, with the forward thinking of child-like essence that converge in this short film.

Deadline: Elijah, can you explain, in your own words what about Remembering that makes it unique ?

Elijah: There’s that Picasso quote, that “all children are born artists,” but the problem how do you stand in that as you get older? And it’s just to be able to create something that takes it from just what we’re watching on this rectangle, into your interactive space, that gives you the freedom to explore. This is the future. we connected with the Disney StudioLAB and figured out a way to make this happen—and this is just the beginning. Eventually, there will be a world where we are operating with AR glasses and the same level of comfort that we have our smartphones. These stories will come off your screen, and into your home.

Deadline: Where do you think your ideas come from within you? Where do they start?

Brie: It’s part of the magic of existence for me. I feel like my work is just to be available for it to arrive and then to be able to catch and capture it. Life is a series of creating the right conditions for myself to be able to receive whatever that idea is for me. Sometimes it comes in form of story, or performance, but it’s coming from something. I feel like I’m just a conduit for it which is what we’re exploring in Remembering.

And to your point earlier, a thing that’s been so interesting about this project is for young people will see this with their parents and think about their own imaginations. I go there all the time. And it truly is a place that as you get older, we might forget. We might forget that playful spirit, that imagination and that limitless potential is always there.

The fact that I got to be a small part of building out what is the future of content and entertainment is still quite hard to grasp, I am lucky that Elijah took me on this journey because he’s been talking about this for a really long time and I’ve watched him many times try to explain it to people. Their reactions at first were mostly confusion and asking How does that work?

Deadline: What about your Inner child? How does that factor into idea conceptualization?

Brie: I am where I’m at in my life and in my career based off of the inspiration of a child. I remember when I told my mom that wanted to be an actress. Now, I’m living this remarkable life based off of true clarity from an incredibly shy, introverted child. It doesn’t make sense to think about how shy and introverted I was versus then wanting to do this very public, stand on a stage type of profession.

Deadline: There is a certain level of vulnerability that comes with that, and that experience, especially when you’re looking inward for inspiration and ideas. I think Remembering touches on this. The inner child is empathetic and passionate. How do we protect it? How do we nurture it as we grow?

Brie: I think you’ve really hit it. There is such vulnerability in that. That’s what is so scary about it. It’s terrifying to put our dreams and ideas out there when it might not work out. You’re admitting to a desire or a belief or a dream that might not be, but the key is how we get to this point? It’s the same thing. It all cycles in on itself. Elijah had the idea of going outside of the rectangle and created a story that’s really going to live on.

Elijah: Absolutely! This is going to be part of the future of how humanity will interact with entertainment. I mean, this is something that we’re all going to want to see. Like Brie said, to go outside of the rectangle to let this be something that is so much more immersive. It’s a completely interactive environment. It’s not an optical illusion much like your inner child.

REMEMBERING is available to watch and interact with starting at 12am Thursday on Disney+