Tom Hanks has told The Standard his latest project, The Moonwalkers, an immersive experience chronicling Nasa’s Apollo missions of the 1960s, was born out of an off-the-cuff question from Tom himself on a visit to London’s Lightroom venue.
At a private view of Lightroom’s first show, Bigger & Closer, chatting about the creative possibilities of the space and form at the venue, Tom said “you could walk on the Moon in here!”
Just a matter of months after making that comment, Tom has teamed up with filmmaker Christopher Riley and the Lightroom venue to write, create and narrate The Moonwalkers.
Using 14 projectors and a unique loudspeaker system, the venue projects 4K footage and images around the entire room, taking people back to the 1969 Apollo 11 launch, and to the moon itself.
Speaking of his passion for the Apollo moon landings, which he remembers watching as a young boy, Tom told The Standard podcast “it remains an absolute constant source of fascination for me”.
In this episode of The Standard, Tom recalls the story of how the production was born, and explains why he is so passionate about both the moon launches of the 1960s and Nasa’s planned Artemis launches throughout 2024-2028.
Christopher Riley explains why Lightroom was the right venue for such a production, and reveals what he hopes audiences will gain from The Moonwalkers.
Andy Saunders, author of Apollo Remastered, tells The Standard podcast how he was able to upscale the original footage and images from the ‘60s for the production.
Listen above, find us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you stream your podcasts.
