By Sarah Morisano, for The Los Angeles Tribune
In an era when Hollywood is searching for the next evolution of storytelling and looking for new ways to not only grab but keep an audience’s attention, Nadeem Majdalany, a multihyphenate filmmaker, musician, composer, and innovator, believes he may have found it. His latest film, La Pandora’s Box, an ambitious extended reality (or “XR”) experience, has emerged as one of the most talked-about immersive projects of the year on the independent circuit.
An impressive mix of cinematic concert, virtual reality film, and musical odyssey, the 43-minute experience places viewers directly inside a living world of music and indelible visuals. Long before James Cameron and Billie Eilish released their high-budget 3D immersive concert experience, La Pandora’s Box was there at the independent forefront, challenging conventional notions of what a concert film could be, blurring the lines between theatrical cinema and interactive media.
La Pandora’s Box has now entered the awards conversation for Emmy consideration in the Emerging Media category, where industry observers have celebrated its technical innovation and artistic ambition as notable strengths worthy of recognition. But for Majdalany, such attention is less about awards and more about proving that immersive storytelling and XR theatrical runs can become a viable artistic medium for the mainstream media landscape.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Majdalany to discuss his unexpected journey with La Pandora’s Box, the future of virtual reality cinema, and what’s on his professional horizon.
Sarah Morisano/Los Angeles Tribune: When you first conceived La Pandora’s Box, did you imagine it would become one of the year’s most discussed independent immersive projects?
Nadeem Majdalany: Not at all. I knew it was ambitious, I knew it was risky, but what I didn’t know was whether audiences would be willing to embrace something that didn’t fit neatly into an existing theatrical format. It’s not a traditional concert film or feature film in the conventional sense, and it’s not a video game. It exists somewhere between all of those things. The response has been incredibly rewarding because people seem willing to take that journey and what more could a filmmaker ask for?
SM/LA Trib: Why is that? What do you think audiences are ultimately connecting with?
Nadeem Majdalany: Authenticity… Everything in La Pandora’s Box was built around emotion first and technology second. People often focus on the film’s 12K 360-degree capture, the visual effects, the immersive environments, and the spatial audio… and those things are important, sure… but they’re not the reason the project resonates. At its core, it’s about curiosity, chaos, beauty, hope, and human connection. Those ideas existed long before virtual reality and they will continue to be the driving force of any successful project regardless of its technological innovation.
SM/LA Trib: Speaking of technological innovation, La Pandora’s Box has generated considerable attention for its technical achievements. Was innovation always part of the goal?
Majdalany: Innovation was a requirement, not just a goal. If you’re going to ask people to put on a VR headset, suspend disbelief and enter another world, you need to give them something vital that they can’t experience anywhere else. We weren’t interested in simply filming a concert in 360 degrees or in 3D. We wanted viewers to feel like they had stepped onstage and into the music itself. That meant developing new workflows, visual techniques, and storytelling approaches that didn’t really have a roadmap. Many times during production we had to blaze a trail and invent solutions because they simply didn’t exist.
SM/LA Trib: The Television Academy’s Emerging Media category has become increasingly competitive. How does it feel to be part of that conversation?
Majdalany: It’s an absolute honor. The Emmy recognition would be wonderful, of course, but what’s most exciting is that immersive storytelling is finally being taken seriously as an artistic medium. A few years ago, many people viewed VR as primarily a gaming platform. Today we’re seeing filmmakers, composers, and artists of all stripes using immersive media to tell stories in entirely new ways. Being included in that evolution is incredibly meaningful.
SM/LA Trib: Do you think immersive entertainment will eventually become mainstream?
Majdalany: Without a doubt, yes. I don’t think we’re heading toward a future where immersive experiences replace movies or live concerts. I think we’re heading toward a future where audiences have more choices. Film didn’t replace theater. Television didn’t replace film. Streaming didn’t replace television. Every medium finds its place while the cream rises to the top. Immersive media gives creators a new language. Once audiences discover what’s possible, adaptation becomes inevitable.
SM/LA Trib: Many artists talk about technology. In the course of getting to know you a little bit, I’ve often heard you talk about philosophy. Why is that?
Majdalany: Because technology inevitably changes but ideas do not. The inspiration behind La Pandora’s Box came from a simple belief that life is chaotic, random, and beautiful all at once. We spend so much time trying to control everything. Sometimes the most meaningful experiences are beautiful “mistakes” and only happen when we embrace uncertainty. That’s what the myth of Pandora’s Box has always represented to me—not catastrophe but possibility.
SM/LA Trib: Has the success of the project changed your career trajectory?
Majdalany: It has expanded it, which is quite gratifying and surreal. I’ve spent my life as a composer. Music, first and foremost, will always be my foundation. But La Pandora’s Box showed me that audiences are willing to follow larger creative visions that combine music, cinema, technology, and storytelling. That’s opened doors I never expected.
SM/LA Trib: If you could form a band featuring your favorite musicians — a supergroup, dead or alive, basically your own personal Traveling Wilburys — who would be in the lineup? Would you be playing along with them or just conducting and producing?
Majdalany: Oh, I’d definitely be playing along with them. First, I would put Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Roy Orbison too. Prince on any instrument he wanted! Pablo Casals on cello. Casals is a very unrecognized Latino artist who I wish more people knew about. For keyboards, I’d like to play keys but you know my favorite is Rick Wakeman, so Wakeman would be part of this dream lineup for sure.
SM/LA Trib: Let’s go back to early stages of your life for a moment. Who are your music heroes? From a young age, who made you want to be a professional musician and composer?
Majdalany: This is going to be a long eclectic list… Jerry Lee Lewis, Miles Davis, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Jim Morrison. My earliest music-related childhood memory is sitting in the backseat of the car, in my carseat, with my dad playing the radio the car and hearing the song “Light My Fire” by the Doors, and just kind of being hypnotically entranced by it and overcome by this feeling of pure happiness. Listening to music always had the power to transport me to other worlds, just like reading books or watching movies.
SM/LA Trib: Speaking of movies, who are your film heroes and what are your favorite films? You’ve already had much success composing scores for film and television projects… which directors inspired you to step into the director’s chair?
Majdalany: Star Wars and Indiana Jones… specifically the original Star Wars from 1977 and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Then as I got older, I started watching a lot more Spielberg, a lot of Martin Scorsese movies like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, along with Darren Aronofsky and David Lynch. Lynch is just an incredible artist and I love Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, and Eraserhead.
SM/LA Trib: So what’s next for you? Where do you see yourself going after La Pandora’s Box?
Majdalany: Bigger worlds, larger stories, more ambitious immersive experiences… I’m interested in developing projects specifically designed for spatial computing and immersive cinema rather than adapting traditional formats. We’re still at the beginning of discovering what’s possible. I think in the next decade we will redefine how audiences experience narrative entertainment. We’re gonna need a bigger boat, so to speak… [laughs]
SM/LA Trib: [laughs] We love a JAWS joke… So what would you say, personally, is your ultimate goal?
Majdalany: To create experiences that people remember years later. Don’t me wrong, awards are wonderful, recognition is wonderful. “It’s an honor just to be nominated” isn’t just a cliched phrase to me — it’s genuinely true in my experience. But it’s not the reason I do this. To me, real success is when someone removes a headset, walks away, and sees the world a little differently than they did before… and maybe if we’re super lucky, they tell all their friends about it. If La Pandora’s Box accomplishes even a fraction of that, then it’s already a success in my book.
After sitting down with Majdalany, an artist teeming with ideas and a palpable passion to create, it became clear to me that he stands among a growing circle of innovative storytellers seeking to redefine the relationship between audience and narrative, and heighten the interactive experience. Whether La Pandora’s Box ultimately secures Emmy recognition or not, its impact may already be visible – proving that immersive entertainment can be more than a technological novelty. It can be an artistic medium in its own right, and Majdalany’s film will remain one of the original works establishing it as such.
La Pandora’s Box has been described as a first of its kind VR/XR cinematic concert and has drawn attention within industry circles for its seamless blend of orchestral composition, performance, and immersive storytelling. For Majdalany, however, the future remains beautifully unwritten. And that, perhaps, is exactly the point.
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