Rick Treweek has won an Emmy for ‘Uncanny Alley: A New Day’, putting South African virtual reality on the international stage. Image: Hilton College Facebook
Rick Treweek takes VR world to South African Emmy glory
Rick Treweek has won an Emmy for ‘Uncanny Alley: A New Day’, putting South African virtual reality on the international stage.
10-09-26 11:56
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Fab South African Stuff
Rick Treweek has won an Emmy for ‘Uncanny Alley: A New Day’, putting South African virtual reality on the international stage. Image: Hilton College Facebook
Animation artist Rick Treweek has creatively turned a virtual world into an international award winner, giving South African skills a place on the Emmy stage.
His production, Uncanny Alley: A New Day, won Outstanding Emerging Media Program at the 78th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on 5 September 2026.
For South Africans, the story reaches beyond one trophy. Treweek grew up on a farm in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, and now lives in Kommetjie.
Treweek’s Emmy win is a new highlight in his unusual career, which has travelled from animation and mobile games into virtual worlds and immersive theatre.
WHAT MADE RICK TREWEEK’S VIRTUAL WORLD STAND OUT?
Uncanny Alley: A New Day does not ask audiences to sit back and watch. They enter its virtual world through VRChat and become part of the performance.
The production combines virtual reality with live theatre. Two actors portray 15 characters and interact directly with audience members. Their responses can therefore change how each performance unfolds.
Treweek created the original Uncanny Alley universe during South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown. The project later attracted Ferryman Collective, a Los Angeles-based immersive theatre company. Together, Ferryman Collective and Treweek’s Virtual Worlds Company developed the Emmy-winning production.
HOW DID TREWEEK REACH THE EMMY STAGE?
Treweek started in animation at Triggerfish Studios, where he learned how to create digital characters. He later moved into digital entertainment and mobile gaming.
In 2004, he co-founded Breakdesign, which developed mobile games before smartphones transformed the industry. The company later moved to Singapore and worked on World of Rabbit, which recorded more than 16 million downloads
Treweek spent eight years in Singapore before returning to immersive technology. He co-founded Eden in 2018 and established Virtual Worlds Company in 2020.
His earlier work also reached international audiences. In 2019, he worked with his sister, Ree Treweek, on The Lost Botanist. Forbes reported that the project became the first VR experience from Africa screened at Annecy.
WHY DOES THIS EMMY MATTER FOR SOUTH AFRICA?
The Emmy places a South African-created virtual universe alongside major international productions. The other nominees included Blumhouse Enhanced Cinema and The World of Fallout, according to the Television Academy’s official record.
For Treweek, the recognition also validates an unconventional creative path. He has spoken about growing up without a computer until adulthood and retaining curiosity because technology once felt unfamiliar.
That curiosity now drives work watched from inside a virtual world. It also carries a distinctly South African origin story from Kokstad to Kommetjie, and finally to Los Angeles.
Treweek has said the collaboration succeeded because Ferryman Collective brought live performance to the universe he created.
The Emmy, therefore, recognises more than a digital world. It celebrates the meeting of South African expertise, live theatre and emerging technology.
