Botticelli Interactive

Botticelli Interactive

Founded by a core group from MIT in 1995, Botticelli Interactive invented digital forms of documentary, fiction, museum, and educational applications, including the award-winning projects: Star Festival nonlinear documentary and web series; CamKidz interactive television pilot; and Titian Kiosk. press kit

Ellen Sebring (Co-Founder and President)
Michael Roper (Co-Founder and Principal)
Glenda Manzi (Principal and Executive Producer)
Scott Shunk (Senior Producer)
Dustin Di Tommaso (Senior Producer)
Andrew Burstein (Designer/Coder)
Stuart Lipsky (Business Manager)
Douglas Tanger (Business Development)
Mia Keinänen (Research/Producer)

Advisory Board: Leah Osterman, Jane Tollinger, Ellen Galinsky, David Kleeman, Michael Levine

Botticelli Interactive Projects Overview PDF

Titian Kiosk

The Titian Kiosk was designed by Botticelli Interactive (Ellen Sebring, producer and script), for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1998

Awarded the Silver Medal, New York Festivals International Multimedia Competition

“As for the computer images, they actually are a big deal. The Gardner’s DVD (Digital Video Disk) kiosk allows you to take any element of Europa and blow it up to full-screen size without sacrificing resolution. The Gardner staff have divided the painting into 20 “nuggets” (you can get a list by touching KEY): Europa, the bull (Zeus in disguise), the fish, the putti, the mountains, etc. — each with its own lucid accompanying text. The “black hole” area toward the lower left is the “Death” nugget; it tells how Titian died, in 1576, from the Plague. Don’t miss “Echoes,” which shows how Titian unifies the painting by repeating thematic elements: the angle of legs, the swirling of drapery, the preponderance of eyes. You could easily enjoy an hour at the kiosk, but even five minutes before going in to the show will have you poised to compare what Titian and Rubens have done.”

— Jeffrey Gantz, on the "Titian Kiosk" in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, “Europa Europa: Another Gardner Thunderbolt: Titian and Rubens,” The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 29-Feb.5, 1998

Star Festival: A Return to Japan (interactive documentary)

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Star Network (web series)

Star Festival: A Return to Japan is an interactive cinéma vérité-style documentary based on the experiences of Shigeru Miyagawa, Professor of Linguistics at MIT, upon returning to his hometown of Hiratsuka, Japan after moving to the US as a child. The user finds a PDA on the street filled with a professor’s video recordings voiced by actor George Takei. The PDA (personal digital assistant) design pre-dates broad use of video cameras in mobile devices by some six years. The user’s quest is to reconstruct the Professor’s journey. In addition to language tools and cultural information, the documentary probes what it means to have multiple heritages. Awarded Best in Show, MacWorld Expo, Boston

“In an increasingly complex and diversifying world, it is through the understanding of the personal histories and cultures of other people that we come to recognize the common bond we all share and begin the work of building the global community of the future. ‘Star Festival’ does this with style and luminous humanity.”

— George Takei, lead actor, Star Festival

Star Network: Star Festival was adapted into a narrative web series with additional actors, and became the first interactive digital curriculum adopted systemwide by Boston Public Schools. Awarded Distinguished Award, Multimedia Grandprix 2000, Tokyo.

“The most powerful aspect of the Star Festival project is its infinite adaptability into school curricula . . . We can show our students many universally common themes throughout the program, such as family, self-identity, sense of belonging, and the timeless value of humanity."

— Yu-Lan Lin, Ed.D Senior Program Director, World Languages

Produced by Botticelli Interactive, 1995 - 2000, for MIT, Professor Shigeru Miyagawa, lead investigator/executive producer; Ellen Sebring, producer and script; Michael Roper, director and cinematographer.

Selected Projects & Awards

CamKidz, interactive television pilot, commissioned by the Institute for Civil Society

This Place Called Home, interactive documentary, Environmental Protection Agency

Star Festival, interactive documentary, Best of Show, MacWorld Expo

Star Network, web series, Distinguished Award by Multimedia Grandprix 2000, Tokyo

Iridium Games, Best of Show, Iridium Booth, Geneva Telecom

Sybase Lab, learning tool visualized in 3d animation

Titian Kiosk, touch screen, Silver Medal, New York Festivals Interactive Multimedia Competition, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Discovery Kiosk, touch screen, Worcester Art Museum