Origin Story
I never planned to become a cultural strategist. I planned to tell stories. Turns out, they’re the same thing.
My career makes no sense on paper. Media producer. Event creator. Cultural strategist. The thread connecting them? Story architecture.
The Media Years
I started in London’s media scene, producing content for brands and broadcasters. The work was good—creative, challenging, well-paid. But something was missing.
I kept noticing a pattern: the most successful content wasn’t the most polished. It was the most structured. The stories that worked had a clear emotional arc, a defined transformation, a beginning that promised change and an ending that delivered it.
I started studying narrative architecture—how stories are built, not just written. Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. Robert McKee’s story structure. The Pixar story framework.
The Pivot
In 2013, a friend from Sichuan showed me photos of Zigong lanterns. I was captivated. These weren’t the paper lanterns I’d seen at Chinese restaurants. These were massive steel-framed sculptures, illuminated from within, creating something between art installation and architectural wonder.
“We want to bring this to the UK,” he said. “But we don’t know how.”
I didn’t know either. But I knew stories. And I knew that if we could frame this experience correctly, British audiences would respond.
Building Lightopia
The first Lightopia festival was a crash course in everything I didn’t know: logistics, safety regulations, weather contingency, vendor management, ticketing systems. I made every mistake possible.
But the storytelling worked. We created an experience that felt both exotic and accessible, both foreign and familiar. Visitors didn’t need to understand Chinese culture to appreciate the beauty. The beauty was universal.
The Discovery
As Lightopia grew, I started seeing patterns. What worked in Manchester worked in Birmingham. What failed in London taught us what to avoid in Edinburgh. I was building a system—not just for lantern festivals, but for any cultural experience.
That’s when CAAP began to take shape. Culture As A Product wasn’t a theory. It was a retrospective analysis of what had actually worked.
Where I Am Now
Today, I work with cultural organizations, government agencies, and creative entrepreneurs who want to take their cultural IP international. Lightopia continues to run. Immersia, our XR theatre project, is in development. And I’m writing, speaking, and consulting on the future of cultural export.
The media background wasn’t a detour. It was preparation. Everything I learned about storytelling, audience psychology, and narrative structure applies directly to cultural productization.
Stories are the operating system of human experience. Culture is just a particularly rich story library.
About Ian Xia: Cultural strategist, founder of Lightopia and Immersia, and architect of CAAP™ (Culture As A Product). Ian helps cultural organizations and creative entrepreneurs take their IP to international markets.