The Tech Glow Up - Fabulous conversations with innovative minds.

Unexpected Treasures, A Career in Innovative Media - Christina Heller

• Nathan C Bowser • Season 1 • Episode 37

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Christina Heller is an Senior Producer at Meta Reality Labs Entertainment and multimedia producer with over 11 years of experience in XR innovation.

From launching two startups—VR Playhouse and Meta Stage—to producing indie film "Unexpected Treasures," Christina embodies the creative spirit that drives breakthrough storytelling across emerging media platforms. 

Key Takeaways:

  • Technology as Enhancement, Not Escape: Christina focuses on how VR can improve people's real-world experiences—from fitness and meditation to front-row concert access—rather than providing mere escapism.
  • The Builder's Advantage During Troughs: While markets fluctuate through hype cycles, builders consistently see technology improving. Christina emphasizes that "troughs of disillusionment" are actually when the most meaningful innovation happens.
  • Collaborative Leadership in Creative Media: Whether producing VR experiences or indie films, Christina prioritizes team dynamics, good vibes, and appreciation throughout the creative process, recognizing that impact happens in the journey as much as the destination.
  • Embrace Strategic Naivete: Christina's approach combines confidence with comfort in the unknown—diving into new mediums knowing she'll become an expert through the doing, while being smart enough to accept help where needed.
  • Community-Driven Storytelling: Her latest film "Unexpected Treasures" is rooted in local Joshua Tree alien folklore and shot entirely in her community, demonstrating how authentic stories emerge from what you know and where you belong.

Christina's work spans from helping millions find wellness through VR fitness apps like Fit XR and meditation through Tripp, to bringing fans closer to their favorite artists through immersive concerts. Her indie film represents a return to "flatties" (2D films) while maintaining her commitment to community-centered storytelling and the XR creator ecosystem she calls "absolutely obsessed with."

About Christina Heller

Christina is a multimedia producer and entrepreneur with a passion for creative technology. For the past decade she has led teams and created projects for virtual and augmented reality. She is currently a Senior Producer at Meta for the Reality Labs Entertainment team.

Christina was the founding CEO of Metastage from 2018 - 2023. During that time, Metastage completed over 200 productions with major brands and award winning projects, including two Emmy nominations. Prior to leading Metastage, Christina was the CEO of VR Playhouse, an immersive content company with projects featured at SXSW, Sundance, and Festival de Cannes. 

She is a recipient of the Advanced Imaging Society's Distinguished Leadership in Technology Award (2018), an AWE XR Hall of Fame inductee (2024), one of 2024's top "Women of the Future" and was named in the Huffington Post as one of 5 women changing the virtual reality scene. 

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Tech Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Nathan C Bowser:

Like XR creators and like spatial creators are like some of my favorite people to be around. So What I like is like the always making, doing, building, exploring, and where it shows up as an innovative person, I think is the interesting

Christina Heller:

Yeah. then we'll do just fine. And I love that you're a theater nerd and also an XR nerd because I am too.

Nathan C Bowser:

Right. If you've met people in spatial computing, they're of a similar

Christina Heller:

they are my favorite. I'm absolutely obsessed with this community. I love XR.

Nathan C Bowser:

Hello and welcome to the Glow Up. I'm Nathan C, and today I'm talking with Christina Heller, Executive Producer at Meta Reality Labs Entertainment and Producer and Writer of the upcoming indie film, Unexpected Treasures. Christina, it is so great to talk with you today.

Christina Heller:

Thank you, Nathan.

Nathan C Bowser:

Okay, so let's just jump right in. Can you introduce yourself and, some of the work that you do in, innovation, technology, and maybe even storytelling?

Christina Heller:

I have been a multimedia producer and storyteller since college, I feel like at this point I've probably produced in almost every medium one can create in, and the ones that I haven't had a chance to yet, I still want to, I just love. Trying new methods of content creation, storytelling, and, the way that most people know me is as a XR, innovator and, producer, which if you, I imagine if you're listening to this podcast, you know what XR is, but in case you don't, it's the catchall term for virtual reality, Augmented reality, mixed reality. I have been working happily in this space for 11 years now. And am currently in EP at Meta, but before this ran and launched and led two startups, one called VR Playhouse and one called Meta Stage. In over the past two years, I produced and wrote an indie feature film called Unexpected Treasures with my partner who, co-wrote it and directed it. And we are excited to be getting that out into the world. this fall.

Nathan C Bowser:

So somebody who's very interested in like spatial computing as a communications and storytelling medium. Somebody who's telling stories building entertainment experiences at one of the largest computing companies in the world right now. I'm curious, how did you get here? what started, this passion for creating, telling stories, and, exploring the edges of media.

Christina Heller:

I think that my desire to create, and it's just innate, I think I have to be creating things all the time to feel satisfied I live in Joshua Tree now, and so I feel like I can just lean into desert cliches. But I love the tarot. And when you see Unexpected Treasures, you'll see there's a little tarot scene in it. My tarot card is the empress, and the empress just wants to create all the time. And that's how I feel. It is my joy. When I was in my twenties, I was. Interested in nonfiction storytelling, journalism, documentary filmmaking had the pleasure of making two feature documentaries in my twenties, along with other short documentaries for Current TV if anyone remembers that era. And I became interested about the intersection of technology and media. And it was just at that time when I had the chance to try the DK one at Sundance New Frontiers. And so I had this question looming like where did is tech? Where is the intersection of media and technology? And then tried the DK one and was like, oh, there it is. Along with some of my creative collaborators at the time, we decided to start a company called VR Playhouse, which specialized in content creation for these headsets, which was very early days, and we didn't, we weren't even really aware of just how early days we were at that point in 2014, but it kicked off what has now been an over decade long passion with virtual reality. the promise of it. What it can do. and then now the working on the film, it's been a passion project on the side that's a chance to go back to in some ways a more simple medium. We call them flatties. So I went back and I had the fun of making a flatty, with some of my friends that are also in that space. I just know that. I'm happiest when I'm building and creating and innovating.

Nathan C Bowser:

if a two dimensional screen-based movie is a fatty, does that make spatial like fatties or spaces like Have

Christina Heller:

we, I guess it's more just 3D, it's 3D, it's facial. So I, I don't know if we call it a fatty, but I just, but I do think that the term flatty is really funny. And, and so when I'm talking to my VR friends, they're like, oh, you're making what? You're making a regular film or a VR film? I'm like, I'm making a flatty.

Nathan C Bowser:

So I appreciate, one you called out, DK one, and I think if you go back and listen through, the 45 or so episodes from this season, DK one is gonna be one of the most, regularly occurring keywords, and it's such an interesting time for people getting excited about spatial computing. the first really mainstream feeling, VR headsets. I'm curious. 11 years of hype cycles and ups and downs. Everybody defining the metaverse, maybe running away from the metaverse, running to ai. there's been a lot of disruption and I joke that every year it feels like the year something's gonna really grip. So how do you over, so many hype cycles stay focused. Stay engaged. And maybe more importantly, like how do you, when something is always in the future and always now, how do you think about delivering value with an emerging technology or, that's not perfect. That's five questions. Pick your favorites.

Christina Heller:

I've certainly, like many in this industry, ridden the rollercoaster of hype cycles and troughs of disillusionment, which does set me up well to be entering the film industry at this particular time in history as well. I feel like the film industry is in their own trough of disillusionment at the moment, and it's funny because I've been there so many times with VR that I'm like oh, this feels familiar and actually not scary Usually that's a time of change, a time of transformation. And what I'll say for VR and Mr is that despite the hype cycles, if you were a builder in this space, you couldn't help but notice how much. progress was being made the whole time. if you can see the video right now, I have one arm steadily climbing when it comes to, improvements in the software, better headsets, more innovative content experiences, social VR. It's like this whole time it's been steadily climbing and getting better and more. Powerful while, the market or the interest around it in terms of money has been going up and down. while US builders were slowly improving the systems. Given me excitement and hope is that when I look at the Met Quest three and I compare it to the DK one, it is a miracle device and it can do so much that headset 10 years ago couldn't do. I had to, I remember lugging a DK 2 and a desktop computer into Jason Rubin's office in 2015 to try to pitch him a VR travel series and now you know, I can pop into my headset and world surf with friends across the country. I can work out with them. We can go see a concert. So for me, I just see it getting better and better. I know how VR can actually help. Improve people's day-to-day life experiences too. And that's what I'm always focused on. Like what about VR can actually can make customers or fans life better? so it's not about escapism, it's about aiding and providing a superpower to people in their real life.

Nathan C Bowser:

thank you for that, this idea, That the troughs are when change is happening and that is a good time for builders. is a very, smart point that you only would know through experience. so thank you. I know that, working for, a big five tech company, describing the kinds of things that you do can sometimes, be a little challenging. I'm curious though, can you give us a little bit of an insight into, the kinds of stories, the kinds of connections, and, these values that you're trying to foster, how that shows up in your work at Meta,

Christina Heller:

I'll preface this by saying that, I'm not on this podcast as an official representative of Meta, but I do happen to work there and really love it. I have had, the chance to work on VR fitness and wellness apps for the last couple of years. I had the pleasure of working with Fit XR, which was an exercise app that people could do from their homes. People were finding immense value from this app. Losing weight, getting in shape, gaining confidence, gaining community I also loved it too, like I would pop in between Zoom meetings and work out a bit. It was a lot of fun. And then I also worked with Tripp, the meditation app, Really cool AI integrations that allow you to anchor and focus your frazzled monkey mind in into a meditative lens using their technologies. And I loved working with Tripp, and again, if you look at the reviews of people who have integrated it on a day-to-day basis, it has impacted and touched, millions of lives around the world. Now I'm working on the Metaverse Music Team. So you can get front row seats at a concert, through your headset. And check out either your favorite artist on a tour you weren't able to make or check out an artist you would've never thought to attend a concert of. And maybe now you are interested and incentivized to go check them out in real life. For me, it's always anchored in the real person and how this technology can broaden their world or make them happier and healthier.

Nathan C Bowser:

So in just the small list that you shared of the things that you've done at Meta? I've been impacted personally by almost every single one of them. Tripp was, the only tool. that I could use to meditate consistently and I no longer use the VR app. But When I first started, I needed the VR app because putting the headset on, I. Being free of additional distractions was really important. it was actually the measurement and the quantification, that showed me that, every time you go through a session and ask how you feel before and after, and I was always noticing, I was noticing that I was always making progress and I was like, oh, if this helps me regularly, maybe, like at your in between meetings, maybe if I'm feeling a little agitated or overstimulated. Tripp could help me get to where I wanted, and that unlocked the power of meditation for me. I love being able to go to concerts in headset because I can stay up on things. I can go see the hottest acts, I can be front stage. I, there was a K-pop band, that I was like in a small recording studio with. It was just so upfront and personal, but. I got, the thing I really have to thank you for is I love the new Charlie XCX albums. The Sweat Tour seemed like it was so fun, but they were coming through Portland on a Tuesday night and I can't go to the club on a Tuesday anymore. But that VR concert gave me the ability to watch in my house, like at my dinner table, in my pajamas, I got to see all of that artistry, all of that performance, but it was on my terms in a way that lowered so many barriers for me to have a really good time.

Christina Heller:

Yeah, that was a really successful VR concert and kudos to my teammates that put that together I think sometimes people think that virtual reality is meant to take us away from our humanity. But here, all we're doing is bringing you closer to incredible performers and their artistry and getting to appreciate, live music in this new way. And for me, that's just such a net positive.

Nathan C Bowser:

Thank you. Amazing. I have to know more. as somebody who's been producing in all sorts of mediums, all sorts of dimensions, tell me a little bit more about the inspiration, to produce a flatty, right, in a time where traditional media is having, its own trough. and also do share as much or as little as you're able, to get us enticed.

Christina Heller:

I have to give credit where credit's due. my Life partner John Paul Ungaretti, who goes by JP Ungaretti, who's the director of Unexpected Treasures. He has been working in the industry for over 15 years and has always wanted to make His feature film. And so after the strike, which was very challenging for everybody who works in entertainment, there was this feeling of we're not getting any younger. You gotta do the things in life that you want to do If your soul is calling you to do something, just it. I know it sounds maybe simplistic to be like, just do it because there's a Oh, but what about this? What about this? Of course there's a lot of. there's a lot of things that need to come into place sometimes to make these dreams come to reality, but I think there's nothing sadder than a song unsung, and so I think we, we looked at each other and we thought, you know what? Let's do it and let's be practical about it. we'll write a script that is, shot that, that is placed and filmed entirely in the Joshua Tree area because that's where we live. that's where we'll have community support and resources. it's also they say, write what you know. So this is our day-to-day life. And Joshua Tree, this area is rich with interesting stories. Ours is an alien story, so it's a cute, like 90 minute popcorn flick about an alien who meets a girl and she has to help him, escape a bounty hunter that's chasing him we rooted this story in the real alien folklore of the area. So if you start to dig into the past of, UFO history and Joshua Tree, it's a fascinating onion to keep pulling the layers of There was a man named George Van Tassel who. Hosted some of the biggest UFO conventions of his day in the fifties, sixties and seventies. They were called the Giant Rock, spacecraft Conventions. And 30,000 people would show up at Giant Rock in Landers, California to hear his stories of being contacted by visitors from Ven. Our film is totally rooted in that history and our leading alien is a veian who knew George Van Tassel. and so it's this cheeky like wink we started writing the script. With the idea that we're just gonna write a script, I think sometimes if you think about the end goal, where you are going to end up, it can feel so big that you won't even wanna get started. So at that point, the goal was just, Hey, let's try to write the best script we can. And then once we finished the script and we showed it to a few people, they liked it. They thought, oh, this is really cute. Then we did a table read on Zoom. So it really was just this one step at a time process. but what happened for me is that the further we got, the stronger my desire to make it became, it went from, oh, we're just making a script to being like, now I really wanna shoot this thing. How can we shoot it? So it just. Became this snowball that continued and then, and this is how all of my endeavors begin, because once you're halfway in, you realize, oh my gosh, what have I done? This is so big, this is so hard, this is so expensive. But at that point, there's no way out, but through, you're already in too deep. And so that. I, that has been the story of all my endeavors. I go in with this blend of confidence and naivete, which is key to, to even beginning. And then I get so far in that to turn back is inconceivable. And so you just have to keep moving forward. One step in front of the other until you finish or whatever.

Nathan C Bowser:

I love it. I think you're selling yourself short. Though, right? If you've started several companies, if you're producing experiences for a company as large as you are, I suspect that naivete at this point, is maybe more, being okay about unknowns, rather than being unaware

Christina Heller:

Well, Nathan, I will say that you are right. I am very comfortable diving into a space that I'm not. Fully an expert in yet knowing that by doing it, I will become an expert. But I will also say that midway through production, I thought, oh my gosh, I have wildly underestimated how hard this is. A film production with all of its moving pieces, going through SAG, for instance, and having to follow all of their, rules and restrictions and paperwork. I will say that making this film, especially in the production, was harder and more intense than I had anticipated. and halfway through I did have that feeling of oh, wow. I was very naive To what it takes to make a feature film. two or three weeks before the film, we were, gonna start shooting. One of my executive producers, Ginny Galloway, asked me who the. assistant director on the shoot was gonna be, and I said, I'm gonna do it. And she said, no, you're not. You need a real assistant director. And again,'cause I think I can do everything. how hard could it be? I can do it. So she said, trust me, Christina. You need a real ad on set. And I'm at least smart enough to listen to my executive producers and we found, a great ad to join us at the somewhat last minute. And then once we got into the filming, I thought, oh my gosh, I can't believe I thought I was gonna be the ad on this. If sometimes if you knew how challenging or how hard something it truly is, you might be like, I'm just gonna hang on my couch. I'm just gonna watch movies, not make them. But then you get through it and obviously it was the highlight of my year, nothing compared to that production in that shoot. And it's, it will probably be one of the things I'm most proud of when I look back.

Nathan C Bowser:

I love this, reminder, right? Whether you are a screenwriter or a founder, asking for help with the things that are not your core strengths can be liberating and inspiring. And helps you focus on where you're strong. so I love that lesson, taking good advice is, harder than it sounds sometimes, especially when you have a really, strong internal image of, what a thing is or how it should be. this interesting. theme that's emerging of can't help but be creative, can't help but explore the boundaries and tell the stories and learn, and building this pattern of learning and growing and, always insatiable curiosity. Other than the doing and the making things right. Because as a creator, that feels really great and it's always, lovely to see people playing in your apps and, appreciating the partnerships that you've built. how do you think about the impact of the work that you do maybe as a creative, it's like, how does it, drive you and nourish you? while you're doing all of this hard work, in the lead up, nobody's seen the film yet, and you're still busting your butt. so how do you measure the impact and stay engaged, through these long and sometimes, arduous processes.

Christina Heller:

I tend to think about impact on both the micro and macro level. So for me, it's not about the impact of just the work or the product on the people who engage with it, it's also on the experience we had making it the journey along the way. Honestly, know how much impact the things I've created have or haven't had on the world. to be honest, I did production services for many years. We did a lot of, advertising, marketing installations where you would get some data at the end of it, but you weren't there with the end consumer to necessarily see the smiles or see how they reacted. I always feel like my most impactful work is in the future, but I do know that what I can control is the set or the studio or the calls that Zoom calls I had leading up to the final project. And I always try to put as much emphasis on good vibes, collaboration, appreciation, fun. As I can throughout the whole process because that is part of the experience and may end up being where the impact is most felt because we're all working on these things together and we are all real people. And at the end of our life we're gonna look back on these things we did together and tell stories about it and reflect It's just where I put a lot of my emphasis on impact is like in this call today, how can we uplift each other? How can we support each other and make it a fun experience? And that's not to say that there aren't challenges. they do come, how can you respect people through the challenging times, and then. Be grateful for their effort when you've successfully untangled the mess and give them their credit and their flowers having the resilience to get through those tough times. So that's what I tend to focus on Now, with this film, there's a more tangible impact because it is a story that's gonna go out into the world. And I know that the film won't be for everyone. Like I know this, like some people are gonna watch it and they're gonna roll their eyes. But I do hope that there, I do feel in my core that there's people who will really appreciate the messages of community and, Connection and friendship that this movie is emphasizing, and my hope is that it can make an impact on the people it's meant to find. And we'll see. We'll see.

Nathan C Bowser:

We'll see, I am, enamored with your response. Thank you diving in there. there's this thing that really stuck out to me and I'm trying to do it justice as, We don't know what the future holds, right? Like even while we have these big, 5, 10, 50 year, I've talked to Fortune 100 companies who have a 500 year vision, right? We're a 200 year old company. Let's make the next 200 years like outrageous long-term goals. But at the end of the day, we are people trying to do our best. And if the future is uncertain, why not enjoy the journey? Don't delay. I honestly believe, creates the kind of culture. Where you talk about what's important, you can make space to prioritize, like real action there. There's this misconception that, work has to feel hard and pain. If you're not hustling, it's not good work and in a creative and a strategic field, right? Like I know My work is based in like me being rested. I know that like physiologically, you cannot do strategic and creative things if you're in fight or flight. so like this mentality, there's this hustle mentality that says if you're not just like at 120%, you're failing. What I have seen and what it seems like you have adopted for yourself is this idea that actually enjoying the journey, being curious about it being open to it is what like unlocks both the quality work and lets us

Christina Heller:

The hustle, like enjoying the hustle, which. I will say I feel very lucky that I genuinely love my work because I imagine if I was hustling in a sector or doing work that I didn't love, then that hustle wouldn't feel as good. But I tell people, I'm like, I love. My work. I love it. it is a hustle, like it is a lot of work, but I personally find a lot of joy in the process of doing that work because I like what we're doing. I like who I'm doing it with. we talked about this briefly in the pre-interview. I love XR, the XR community. I had briefly stepped into the world of documentary filmmaking and journalism and broadcast television in my twenties, and I never felt like I had found. The people who I wanted to spend eight to 10 hours every day working with until I got to XR and I was like, oh, when I'm on Zoom calls with these people again, it doesn't feel like work. I love these people. And so yes, it is a hustle. But I love the hustle and that's. Just something I'm always grateful for every day, but I know also makes me sound like just like such a kiss ass. It is what it's.

Nathan C Bowser:

when you are, a leader of teams, Your job is to help people maintain focus. It is to help them understand the direction, and it is to inspire the best work out of those people. and maybe this relates, especially like founder CEOs. Get stuck in kind of the duality of I had to build everything to start and moving into empowering teams and like letting go and it being more about the journey and like setting the end point and like pushing the team to get there. I think for me, shows that you're in that higher leadership, making things happen on a vision. Level rather than necessarily, fighting for all of that win. on your own team, you've called out your teams like five different times

Christina Heller:

it is. These are all incredibly collaborative mediums. Okay? VR film. Probably some of the most collaborative mediums on Earth. So it, you have to call out your team because you know as well as anybody, how many humans spent their life energy to help make this thing come into fruition. So it really is like it is a team and I. Am grateful for everybody that spent their, time and energy to, unlimited resources and budget. It's not like we had, super deep pockets on this movie, or ever in VR, like VR never had a lot of funding, either. So I feel like I've always worked in these mediums where it's super collaborative. People have a lot of heart. We don't always have, millions and millions of dollars to pull off what we're trying to do. So I do call out my teams because they are there and you couldn't do anything without them.

Nathan C Bowser:

creatives, right?

Christina Heller:

Yeah. You couldn't do anything without them.

Nathan C Bowser:

Yes. I love this. you're teeing up the next question perfectly. so thinking about all of these big goals, big dreams, and the real state of the world, the show is called The Glow Up, and I'd love to learn about, what sort of glow up you're working on. Is there a rebirth or a transformation or some big goals that you have for, Unexpected Treasures, that you're working on this year?

Christina Heller:

By the time this podcast airs, we have already premiered the film at Comic-Con, which is very exciting. My dream is to get as many eyes on the film as possible so that it can find the community where it can make its impact. And, I want the barrier to entry on this to be as low as possible. I really want people to see the film so that the people who like it and maybe are interested in seeing this story continue in some fashion, find it and can support it. So that's my big dream for the next six months is get Unexpected Treasures out into the world and hopefully find some people that like it.

Nathan C Bowser:

Amazing. premiering a movie at Comic-Con and moving into general distribution across streaming platforms. Heck yeah. Love it.

Christina Heller:

yes.

Nathan C Bowser:

Goodness, we are, breezing through these questions.

Christina Heller:

You.

Nathan C Bowser:

So on every Glow Up episode, we do make time for a community spotlight. I'm curious, is there an organization, a group, a nonprofit, or otherwise that's doing great work, that you think could use a little extra attention or a shout out?

Christina Heller:

I just spoke to, JP about this yesterday. We are going to donate a portion of proceeds from the film to, the local Joshua Tree, no kill animal shelters. You'll see in the film that. My dog, Rosie is prominently featured in the film. There's also another dog named Polly who's in the film. They're both rescues. We love dogs, and so we thought it was only right that a portion of proceeds go to help these great organizations that. Help animals. so I'll call out all of the no kill shelters of the world, and encourage people, when they can to adopt, not shop. We just, dogs are the best and they all deserve a happy, healthy home.

Nathan C Bowser:

I love it. My, dog is feet away from me, napping. So just in wrapping up, with all of these goals and all of these plans and endeavors, is there anything that you're currently looking for help with or connections around, whether it's networking, distribution, support, how can folks, get to know you more online?

Christina Heller:

That's a great question, Nathan. I probably need help with everything, so feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, or follow Unexpected Treasures on Instagram or Facebook. I welcome any advice from people who have been in my shoes a bit longer than I have in this space. And, am very inspired by other filmmakers and people who are trying to achieve, big dreams in a challenging landscape. Yeah, I probably need a lot of help, but at this point I can't think of anything specific.

Nathan C Bowser:

Amazing. This has been just an outstanding treat. Christina Heller, executive producer for Meta Reality Labs Entertainment, a serial entrepreneur, a leader of delightful teams moving through complicated process and even an indie movie, screenwriter, producer and distributor doing so many things, to tell stories. Explore the possibilities of media, and always hang around spatial creators. Thank you for joining us on the Glow Up today. It has been such a treat.

Christina Heller:

Thank you for having me. It's been a long time since I've done a podcast, so this was a lot of fun and I couldn't have asked for a nicer host, so I appreciate being here so much.

Nathan C Bowser:

I love it.