Eric R. Williams

Area of Expertise

• New Media Storytelling
• Cinematic Virtual Reality (Cine-VR)

Education

• Northwestern University; BSC
• Columbia University; MFA

Books and Digital Series

Eric creates books, podcast series*, and TV series** to encourage innovative storytelling. 

• The Future of Entertainment  2023**  

• Virtual Reality Cinema: Tips and Techniques 2022 

• The Power of Virtual Reality Cinema 2021 

• TV's New Golden Age  2021* 

• How to Appreciate Great Movies  2020* 

• Falling in Love with Romance Films  2019* 

• How to View and Appreciate Great Movies  2018** 

• Screen Adaptation: Beyond the Basics 2017 

• The Screenwriters Taxonomy  2017 

• Media and the Creative Process  2014 

Production Awards

Across media, Eric has won various awards for his creative work. 

• Emmy Award for Interactive Media; regional  

    National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 

• Davey Award for Interactive Arts; silver award  

    Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts 

• Best New Screenplay 

    Writers Guild of America 

• Individual Excellence in Screenwriting 

    Ohio Arts Council 

• Best Virtual Reality Award; first place  

    New York Nil Gallery International Media Festival 

• Best use of Sound & Music in XR; semi-finalist  

    Real World XR Festival 

• Outstanding Virtual Reality Film; first place  

    Short Sweet Film Festival 

• Screenwriters' Lab; semi-finalist  

    Sundance Film Festival 

Teaching Awards

Eric has also won a variety of teaching awards at Ohio University: 

• Distinguished Mentor Award (Honors Tutorial College)  

• Innovation Strategy Award (Ohio University) 

• Presidential Teaching Award: Finalist (Ohio University) 

• Teaching Leadership Award (Scripps College of Communication) 

• University Professor Award: Excellence in Teaching (Ohio University) 

New Media

Eric writes, directs, and produces fiction and non-fiction new media projects across platforms. 

Cinematic Virtual Reality

• Appalachian Law Enforcement Initiative (ALEI), an innovative training method that leverages the cinematic virtual reality to improve law enforcement training.
• Medicaid Equity Simulation Project (MESP) a multi-year project using cine-VR to address biases towards certain populations seeking medical care.

• Emergency Room Training (Emergency Medical Training) employing 360-degree technology to enable medical professionals to experience life-saving trauma events from various perspectives. 

• Working with OHIO students, Eric directed and co-produced five award-winning cine-VR shorts that screened around the world:  

  • For the Love of God  

  • He Loves Me (not)  

  • Lost Broken Alone  

  • Moving In Moving On 

  • Re: Disappearing 

Interactive Storytelling

Eric’s first interactive story was the dinner theater murder mystery Tangerines at Midnight, performed in Columbus, Ohio in 2001. Additional major projects include: 

• Co-writing and co-directing the Emmy-Award-winning interactive series What's the Problem? for WOUB Public Media 

• Co-writing the transmedia thriller series SubterraNYa for Fox Online 

• Co-writing and co-producing the interactive leadership game Centauri for OHIO’ School of Business 

• Co-writing and co-producing the award-winning, interactive film Dating Forward for the New American project 

• Co-writing the mixed reality comedy experience Operation Big Missile for the GRID Lab 

Film & Television

Eric’s background in traditional media informs his work in emerging technologies. In 2000, Eric’s screenplay Crystal Messiah was performed on Broadway after winning the Writers’ Guild of America Best New Screenplay award. Since then, Eric has written more than three dozen screenplays, and directed hours of film and television including: 

• Writing and directing the feature film Snakes & Arrows  

• Writing screenplays & producing TV pilots for American Movie Classics, Grateful Films, Fox Online, and Universal Studios 

• Writing & directing documentaries in (and about) Ecuador, Guyana, and Ukraine 

• Directing and producing daily, live television series (19@Noon and Jeff Carter Live) 

• Adapting Bill Littlefield's novel The Prospect & Louis Urrea’s anthology Across the Wire into screenplays  

• Adapting the anthology Voices From the Heartland into a television series 

You can find more details about Eric and his work here.