About – Magical Masterclass

Hi, I’m Jason.

I ask the questions behind remarkable places.

If you have ever walked into a place where every detail belongs and thought, “How did they do that?” you are my kind of person.

I’m Jason Klein, Founder & Host of Magical Masterclass. For more than 20 years, I have studied how story turns ordinary spaces into places people feel.

Now I sit down with experienced Placemakers, ask the questions I wish someone had answered when I began, and share what I learn with you.

Start with the first 3 episodes

Learn from the people behind remarkable places. Discover the principles they used. Practice them. Create an original place of your own.

I was the kid who kept asking, “How do they do that?”

I loved walking into places where every detail seemed to belong. The buildings, landscape, color, music, signs, and even the smallest objects appeared to tell the same story.

Then I learned that people created these places for a living. I wanted to understand how they did it.

I read every book and watched every video I could find. I gathered ideas, but I could not find a clear path a beginner could follow.

For 20 years, I kept searching.

A few questions became pages of questions.

One day, I heard that Disney Legend Tony Baxter was speaking about experience design at a local college. After the talk, I asked if I could take him to lunch and bring a few questions.

Tony taught me about Narrative Placemaking, which is kind of like telling a story through a physical place. Architecture, landscape, color, sound, texture, and tiny details all support one clear idea.

Much of this rare craft lived as Tribal Knowledge passed from one experienced Placemaker to another. Over four intense days, Tony and I used index cards to organize the questions a Placemaker should ask before a project begins.

Then, on Christmas Day, a car came through our daughter’s bedroom. Nobody was hurt. But our home was damaged and rain came inside.

I used what I had learned to give every choice in our home a reason. One man later stopped his car to thank me for creating something that made him smile on his way home from work.

That moment helped me see that you do not have to build a theme park to become a Placemaker. You can begin with the place you already have.

START WITH THE FIRST 3 EPISODES

See how experienced Placemakers turn story into place.

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What is the story?

Tony Baxter

DISNEY LEGEND

Why I built it

This knowledge deserves to be carried forward.

Magical Masterclass is where I keep asking questions, studying the details, and learning from people who spent their lives practicing this complex craft. You do not have to be a theme park designer or attend an expensive university to start thinking like a Placemaker. You need clear questions, thoughtful examples, and permission to practice. My role is to help preserve where the lessons came from, make difficult ideas easier to understand, and encourage you to begin creating a story-driven place of your own. I believe in story before style. I believe details should rhyme. I believe guests come first. I believe we should honor the teachers and create something original. I am still learning. I hope I never stop. I am a Placemaker. I design happiness.

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