[futuristic music] - Hi, I'm Jee Vahn Knight.

I'm the CEO of BVO.

I joined the project in October of last year.

the power was out in this building, so it was a unique introduction to the space that they were working in.

But they've got a brilliant creator, world builder who's also grounded.

He's not running around with flights of fancy.

He's got beautiful flights of fancy, but he knows how to achieve them if he's got resources and people.

They have a location.

It's the most incredible location, probably in the city for something like this.

That is always going to be both, needs to be inspired, needs to be creative, and accessible.

But the asset in the building, it's both the people and the history of the museum.

Where else are you going to have a three story riverboat that's a full scale replica that you can use to bring to life again?

Where else are you going to have two stories of a Civil War ironclad that has six different replica cannons?

So to be able to actually take that museum history and give it a new life, instead of it being demoed, it's incredibly exciting.

Memphis has an abundance of natural resources and it's a convergence in the city, whether it's the creative talent, whether it's the property, whether it's the history, whether it's the existing twelve million people that come here from the tourism industry.

There's a natural abundance in the city, which is amazing.

But creatives are never finished.

So first and foremost, there just has to be an opening, because once you're open, then the project can evolve, you know, to its next level.

I think the future phase, what I'm most excited about is giving the riverboats a new legacy.

You're talking about a creative genius who built those boats in 1980 to 1982.

Like the ability to, for the most part, maintain what they are, but then give them a new life and put them in a new universe and actually make them travel through space and through portals.

If we had had the exact same concept but did not have that as an asset, we wouldn't build it in the same way.

So there's something--I come out of museum conservation.

There's something about being able to hold on to the historical elements, that even if you recreate it, a different way, it wouldn't look the same for future generations.

We don't want people to think that this is just passive entertainment.

They're just waiting for the next piece of creative to come back and consume it because it is about active play and discovery.

So one of the best transitions from phase 1 to 2 and 3 is when we go from 1 to 2, we're going to be able to greatly expand the technology in this space.

So it's not just that there's more storylines, it's that your ability to interact with the technology is going to get more depth.

And then when we go from 2 to 3, I mean, there's some two story slides that are planned.

There are other bioluminescent caves that you can crawl into.

The physical play is then going to expand greatly as well.

So all along, all of those elements are in world and in story.

So the story is going to come with them.

But also comes with them is how you're able to engage with it.

You can engage with it physically.

You can engage with it on a story element.

You can engage with it on a technology element.

You can just sit and wander and listen to the soundtrack and look at the art as well.

However it is that you want to experience the space.

BVO opening is a success for everybody to take pride in.

It's a success for River Parks and being able to bring new life to this part of the riverfront property.

It's a success for Mud Island.

It can be a success for the city of Memphis, economic development wise, and for state tourism.

So I think what we need it to be is not just ours.

BVO's story is Memphis's story.

It's West Tennessee's story.

It's the Mid-South's story.

And the more people that you know choose to come and embrace it and be a little bit proud of, that's ours.

And that's in our backyard.

That's what then launches it into the next 5, 10 years.

[futuristic music]