How Eloise Singer and Daisy Ridley brought the astonishing story of Bertha Benz to life

Emmy-nominated director Eloise Singer's latest project began in the most mundane of ways—going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. The entry she stumbled upon seemed almost too extraordinary to be true. "I read about Bertha Benz and thought: Is this a joke? Is this actually true?" she recalls, laughing.

The story that captivated Eloise—an innovative director, producer and screenwriter specialising in immersive storytelling—was that of a 19th-century German woman who secretly 'borrowed' her husband's invention (the world's first automobile) and embarked on what would become history's first long-distance car journey, forever changing the course of transport history.

"It blows my mind, the tenacity and courage she had," Eloise explains. "It was a bit like going on the world's first spaceship because this machine was so noisy and loud, in a way no one had ever heard or seen before; people thought it was the work of the devil."

An audacious act

What makes Bertha's journey even more remarkable is the context in which it took place. "She went on this road trip at a time when it was illegal for women to travel by themselves," Eloise points out. "Not only were there no roads, so she was going completely cross-country and could have blown up at any point, but it was illegal for her to be travelling by herself. It was audacious in the best way possible."

This historic road trip was, it should be noted, just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Bertha's achievements as the business partner, investor and wife of automobile inventor Karl Benz. Yet she remains largely ignored by history because her contributions had to be kept hidden. Not least because, as a woman, she was not legally allowed to study, invest or have her name on a patent. But she did it all anyway, making an invaluable contribution to the early development of the motor car.

It's fitting, then, that the VR experience Trailblazer: The Untold Story of Mrs Benz launches on 7 March, in time for International Women's Day. Executive produced by Eloise, Lesley Paterson and Daisy Ridley, the next stages of the project will involve a graphic novel and a feature film. I was keen to sit down with Eloise and find out more.

Who is Eloise?

To some, this project might sound unusual, but not to Eloise, who's carved a highly distinctive path in the entertainment industry. As the founder of Singer Studios, her work spans film, podcasts, and immersive media. Notable projects include The Pirate Queen, a VR experience starring Lucy Liu that was released in March last year.

Eloise has also executive produced films, including Billie Piper's directorial debut Rare Beasts and The Last Rifleman, starring Pierce Brosnan. But while these projects are diverse and wide-ranging, what unites them is a deep commitment to cultural authenticity and a passion for highlighting forgotten historical narratives.

Trailblazer fits right into that mould. The experience, which is available for the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 VR headsets, stars Daisy Ridley as Bertha Benz and immerses viewers in Germany in 1888 at a pivotal moment in her family story.

Bertha's husband Karl had patented the world's first motorcar two years earlier, but his first public demonstration had ended badly. "In 1886, Karl Benz showed his invention to the world and crashed it into a wall, lost control, and it was an absolute disaster," Eloise explains. "It threw the family into financial ruin, and their reputation was completely in tatters. Karl didn't want to take the invention out again. He was really afraid of showing it because of the failure."

What ultimately saved the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which eventually became the first-ever car to go into production, was Bertha. "She took it upon herself to take Karl's invention without telling him and go across Germany on this road trip," says Eloise. "So while it was a rebellious act, it's something that she did out of love, not out of malice. And as a result, his invention was seen by the world."

This emotional nuance is what draws Eloise to figures like Bertha, who offer a more nuanced take on history than a simplified story of goodies versus baddies. "I think there's something really interesting about showing people as not being perfect," notes Eloise. "Truthfully, no one is, and showcasing all of their flaws and the complexities behind them can make for a compelling story."

Why Daisy Ridley?

For the main role, Eloise had one person in mind from the beginning: Daisy Ridley. The English actress is best known for portraying Rey in Star Wars (a role she's set to return to in the forthcoming film Star Wars: New Jedi Order), along with roles in Murder on the Orient Express, Ophelia and Chaos Walking. For Eloise, she was the obvious choice to play Bertha.

"Daisy herself is a trailblazer," Eloise points out. "She chooses the best projects. She just did a really cool movie with Disney, Young Woman and the Sea, about Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, which is incredible. Daisy just completely backs projects that are about forgotten females from history and female leaders. Plus, we actually worked together before when I worked on Murder on the Orient Express. So it's a nice full circle that we've reunited on Trailblazer."

The project also brings together an impressive behind-the-scenes team. Eloise is executive-producing the film adaptation alongside Ridley and Leslie Patterson, who was the executive producer of All Quiet on the Western Front, which dominated the Oscars and BAFTAs last year and whom Eloise describes as "an absolute powerhouse".

However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of Trailblazer is how it fits into Singer Studios' unique approach of developing stories as VR experiences first before expanding them into other media. As Eloise explains to me, this approach is no accident but central to the way they do things.

Why VR first?

"Our industry is changing massively," Eloise points out. "We're now a long way from the days of being able to take a script into a studio and get a million-dollar option fee. That happened in the 80s and 90s, but it doesn't happen any more."

Instead, her company, Singer Studios, demonstrates there's an audience by creating immersive experiences that can then be developed into traditional formats. One recent example is The Pirate Queen, a virtual reality experience that immerses users in the 19th-century world of Cheng Shih, a former prostitute who led the largest and most successful pirate fleet in history. This historically grounded project, available on Meta Quest 2 & 3, PCVR, and HTC Vive, features the voice of Lucy Liu as Cheng Shih and allows players to explore meticulously recreated environments.

Pirate Queen garnered a huge amount of critical acclaim, including awards from the Tribeca and Raindance Film Festivals and an Emmy nomination, and Singer Studios is currently developing it into a TV series starring Lucy Liu, plus a graphic novel to be published by Andrew McMeel Publishing and released internationally with Simon & Schuster.

But why VR first, I wonder? Is it because it's easier or cheaper to make than a full-blown movie or TV series? Eloise gives me a wry smile. "Ironically, the budgets aren't actually that much smaller, and the production time is longer," she reveals. "Pirate Queen took us five years in VR, and it was full-time, with about 40 developers creating it over a two-year chunk, which is a chunky budget."

Singer Studios doesn't start with VR for monetary reasons, then, but because they believe firmly in the unique value of the medium. "I really do believe that it is the future," Eloise stresses. "I don't think this is a fad at all. At the same time, it's never going to replace film or TV. It's simply a different format, like comparing it to a painting versus a photograph."

Crucially, for Eloise, VR's immersive nature creates opportunities that are impossible in other formats. "You get to drive the world's first car!" she stresses. "That doesn't happen in real life. You can watch that on TV, but you can't actually feel that experience. That's what makes VR so special."

The lure of unsung heroes

Along with the creative possibilities of new tech, Eloise's passion for bringing forgotten female pioneers to light is a driving force in her work. And maybe that's not surprising because her own family has some pretty interesting historical roots. Most notably, she is the great-great-granddaughter of the inventor Isaac Singer and Isabella Eugénie Boyer, who many believe to have been the model for the Statue of Liberty.

"Isabella was married to Isaac Singer, who invented the sewing machine," Eloise explains. "She was a lot younger; Isaac went through many wives and had many children. They got married when he was 52 and she was only 22. Then basically, she had an affair with the artist Bartholdi, who then created the model for the Statue of Liberty."

As you might expect, Eloise is keen to develop this family connection into a movie one day, but for now, she's strictly focused on one project at a time. For her, getting things right isn't just about critical and commercial success: she is deeply committed to cultural and historical authenticity in all her projects.

"For example, on Pirate Queen, the first thing that we did was bring on the Emmy-nominated director Maja Bodenstein—who's actually half Chinese and half German, and who specialises in telling culturally accurate stories—as lead writer," she recalls. "Then we brought on fact-checkers and sensitivity checkers who were all East Asian, and 50 per cent of our development team had East Asian heritage." This approach is central to Eloise's vision. "I think it's a perfect example of what I hope the future of storytelling is going to be, which is sharing culture and sharing information."

While Singer Studios' meticulous approach may not produce the volume of content that larger studios deliver, their commitment to bringing overlooked pioneering women to the forefront of popular culture is creating something perhaps more valuable – a new framework for how we understand history and who gets to be remembered as its heroes. We can't wait to see where this and the studio's other franchises go next.

Trailblazer: The Untold Story of Mrs Benz will be released on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 on 7 March 2025, ahead of International Women's Day, with film and other media adaptations to follow.