What Is the Future of Dimension 20?
With huge production jumps being taken every season, Dimension 20 Series Producer and Co-Executive Producer Carlos Luna wants to be sure the show doesn’t “get lost in its own sauce.”
“I see the project beginning to end.” Dimension 20’s Series Producer and Co-Executive Producer Carlos Luna’s is as essential to the creation of the medium-pushing actual play as anyone at the table. “Development, pre-production production, post marketing; I'm in every single meeting for every single part of it. I work closely with Brennan [Lee Mulligan] to make sure that Dimension 20 keeps being Dimension 20.”
Before starting on the show, Luna had been working as a content producer for Roll20, who referred him to Dropout (then CollegeHumor) as a freelance content producer. While he had heard of Dimension 20 before, Luna didn’t quite get the vibe. “I thought it was more of a spoof show. I thought they were like a HarmonQuest, or kind of making fun of D&D.” The assumption is an understandable one, given D20’s main cast consists of people mostly known for their careers in comedy.
Luna’s first major contributions to D20 came as the show navigated its first remote seasons during the quarantine period of the ongoing Covid pandemic. In lieu of Rick Perry’s physical battlemaps and the iconic geometric dome set, Luna integrated the Roll20 virtual tabletop system and designed the NYC map backgrounds used during the second season of Unsleeping City. He’s also been in front of the camera, performing in D20’s Pirates of Leviathan series. All this to say, Luna’s understanding of exactly what makes the show unique has come with a lot of prior experience. Though, the most exciting conversations happening off screen seem to be what the future of Dimension 20, and actual play at large, is going to look like.
The philosophy of Dimension 20
“We're having a lot of these philosophical questions about Dimension 20 behind the scenes,” Luna said. “Right now, I feel like we've been leveling up, leveling up, leveling up.” The core driver of those advances was in finding new ways to “delight [the show’s] cast and viewers,” during production. In its most recent seasons, Dimension 20 has experimented with immersive projections, intricate set design, and theatrical lighting; all while honing in on their already industry standard-setting sound design and video editing. With huge production jumps being taken every season, Luna wants to be sure the future of Dimension 20 doesn’t “get lost in its own sauce.” Instead of trying to consistently top itself moving forward, the Series Producer says now is the time to perfect what they’re already doing, but maybe do it a little faster.
"Having these north stars really does guide how you make decisions in creating, in pre-production, in development, and in post."
