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Press Room

Stornaway.io: the interactive video editor,

game engine and player

for the web, YouTube and other platforms

Fast Facts

Stornaway.io was founded in 2020 by filmmaker Ru Howe (CEO) and writer/producer/performer Kate Dimbleby (Creative Director). Read more about us here.

Based in Bristol, UK, angel funded and part of SETsquared, the world’s number 1 university business incubator.

Free to use for students and to play with ideas, with monthly and annual plans for professional features.

Find images on our resources page, and email us for more at press@stornaway.io

Examples of recent interactive films on Netflix, YouTube, BBC and Stornaway (see credits top right)

Summary for journalists

Stornaway is an interactive video editor, game engine and player designed for creative producers. Think of it as like iMovie, Unity or Vimeo for interactive video.

What’s the problem we’re solving?
Before Stornaway.io, interactive filmmaking was creatively difficult, expensive and locked into proprietary platforms. Most projects were one-off custom coded projects, where the creative team couldn’t see what it’d play like until the very end, and with a limited shelf life on a specific system. Typically the hugely expensive code base would not be reusable, and the team would be disbanded, never to work on interactive again – all the learning lost.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch was a viral hit which showed the massive potential of this new form that sits between film and games. But although Netflix see this potential and have made 15 other interactive specials now, the same blockers remain for the industry. Charlie Brooker said about making Bandersnatch, “It was like doing a Rubik’s cube in your brain – there are no tools aimed at professionals” and his co-producer Annabel Jones said, “If we’d known how hard it was going to be, we’d probably never have done it.”

Stornaway.io fixes this, with a magically simple and affordable web application for creators at every level – from feature film console games to teachers and vloggers.

Unlike all other interactive video systems, we are focused on storytelling and simplicity, we complement professional tv, film and game workflows and we uniquely provide open compatibility for delivery to other VOD and game platforms – now including YouTube.

Watch our 3 minute Getting Started video to see how it works.

As you see in the video, one of the key concepts of Stornaway.io that really strikes a chord with creatives is the Story Island – a block of story which might be a scene, a sequence, a location or a clip. A story is made by linking up Story Islands. This concept came from co-founder Kate Dimbleby’s work in devising theatre shows, and is a great help for producers getting to grips with this new non-linear form.

Stornaway.io was created by a team with decades of experience in tv, film and digital production at large media brands, who believe that empowering creatives will drive a new wave of interactive experiences in the 2020s, to be monetized on multiple platforms.

Since we came out of beta in 2021, thousands of users in over 150 countries are signing up to use Stornaway.io to create interactive experiences in Business and Marketing, Learning, Entertainment and in Film and Game schools. See some examples here – the range of ideas is much broader than choose-your-own-ending stories. This is just the beginning.

In July 2021, we launched the world’s first game engine for YouTube, an extension to Stornaway.io which lets you craft interactive experiences and then publish them and link them up on YouTube.com, using YouTube’s interactive end screens. Read more in the press release below and find out more in this YouTube video.

People always ask about our name. We named ourselves after the town of Stornoway in the beautiful Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, well known to the British public as a regular feature of the Weather Forecast. We wanted an untechy name that carried the sense of travel, islands, mapping and exploration – but we’ve changed the name slightly – to away, not no way!

Press & News Releases

Adobe Max 2023PressUncategorized
October 9, 2023

Stornaway.io Unveils Game Engine for Adobe Videos at Adobe MAX 2023

Los Angeles – October 10, 2023Stornaway.io, the trailblazing interactive and immersive video start-up, is set to unveil a groundbreaking new feature at Adobe MAX 2023, allowing creators to use Adobe’s…
Adobe Max 2023NewsPressResources
July 26, 2023

Stornaway.io named as Best Startup at the Sparkies 2023

by Kate Moody | July 2023Stornaway.io was delighted to attend the 2023 Sparkies Awards in Bath, a few weeks ago, picking up the award for Best Startup. It was a…
Adobe Max 2023BlogMasterclassNewsPress
April 11, 2023

The Guardian on ‘The Gallery’ : Viewers can choose the outcome of the characters in this cleverly assembled art-world thriller available on PC, console and your local screen

by Kate Moody | Stornaway Communications Assistant, April 2023The Gallery by British director Paul Rashid recently hit screens at the London Games Festival, gaining a wonderful review from The Guardian.…
A man sits wearing a blue patterned silk shirt and a leather tie. Two options are shown on the screen - "create distraction" or "call for help" Adobe Max 2023BlogMake interactive videosNewsPressStorytelling
December 23, 2022

“The startup reinventing interactive video editing software” – TVBEurope article

TVB Europe interviewed Stornaway.io Co-CEO and Creative Director Kate Dimbleby this month to find out more about the game-changing plans Stornaway has to reinvent interactive video editing software. Read the…
BlogImmersive ExperiencesMake interactive videosNewsPress
October 10, 2022

Stornaway.io wins Innovate UK grant to ‘transform the future of video editing’

UK start up Stornaway.io wins Innovate UK SMART grant to  transform the future of video editing  “CreaTech One To Watch” start-up wins Innovate UK award for ‘game-changing innovation’ BRISTOL, UK…
MasterclassNewsPress
January 25, 2022

Stornaway.io develops simple app creation for interactive video stories

Stornaway.io wins Audience of the Future award to automate Unity game creation for multiple platforms PRESS RELEASE - BRISTOL, UK – 25th Jan 2022  Interactive filmmaking platform and UK based…
We are Tilt - Wrong Side of the Road website collage Customer StoriesKey Case StudiesNewsPressScenario & Training
October 15, 2021

CASE STUDY: Tilt & Diageo – Wrong Side of the Road

Tilt are using Stornaway.io to produce interactive educational experiences for their client Diageo. This global project is using the art of interactive conversations to challenge the attitudes of millions towards…
OFCOM Object Based Media Report says Stornaway is industry leader in interactive video tools BlogCustomer StoriesNewsOpinionPress
September 9, 2021

Ofcom highlights Stornaway.io as industry leader in new report on Object Based Media

This week, the UK government’s media industry regulator OFCOM featured Stornaway.io in an important report - the first of its kind - about the emerging era of Object Based Media.
BlogExplainers & DemosNewsPress
December 22, 2021

Make interactive 360Âș video with Stornaway.io

Use Stornaway.io, the world's favourite interactive video platform, to connect up 360Âș videos into immersive interactive experiences, for publishing on the web, social media - and to VR devices via…
Josephine Baker Portal Customer StoriesImmersive ExperiencesNewsPress
November 1, 2021

CASE STUDY: The Egg Interactive Digital Learning Portal

The Egg at the Theatre Royal Bath are using Stornaway.io at the heart of an enhanced performance experience for students and teachers. Brushing aside the traditional A4 teacher’s resource pack,…
BlogNewsPressResources
December 15, 2021

12 interactive videos from 2021 – and introducing interactive 360 video in Stornaway!

We have collected some of our favourite, creative videos from 2021, to round up the year. And our Christmas present to you this year is interactive 360Âș video in Stornaway.io…
Still taken from Kate Moody, Felix Hodgson and Louis Barron-Forde's interactive student film “Lost and Found”. Customer StoriesNewsPress
September 30, 2021

UWE partners with Stornaway to teach interactive filmmaking using ground-breaking storytelling platform

The University of the West of England has partnered with the interactive filmmaking platform Stornaway.io to introduce its filmmaking and animation students to interactive film production. This collaboration with the Bristol-based startup…