The Ankler reposted this
I loved this article by Peter Kiefer for The Ankler. It meets my interests in intellectual property, movies, and video games. A quick summary: The titular "Grand Theft Auto guy" is Dan Houser, co-founder and former head writer of Rockstar Games, with credits including the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series. "His synthesis of Hollywood influences into gaming spurred the Grand Theft Auto titles, for example, to sales of more than 400 million units." Since departing from Rockstar Games, he has founded Absurd Ventures, which is looking to develop IP in-house through various methods, including narrative podcasts, gaming, and graphic novels. Here's my take—I'm curious to see what Absurd does in the future. While I haven't listened to their podcasts yet, I don't want to bet against Dan Houser or his team. His sense of social satire is better than most films being made today, with a dry British wit on par with anything on HBO. Houser's vision for Absurd Ventures feels audacious and something I'm deeply excited about. My hesitation, however, comes from the idea of reverse-engineering IP. I can't speak for graphic novels, and as the article points out, narrative audio storytelling isn't as prominent in the United States as it is in Houser's native England. However, I know what is so refreshing about gaming is how invigorating it can feel even when their products are remixes and spins on well-worn material (Uncharted is modern Indiana Jones, Ghost of Tsushima has a Kurasowa mode to play the game in Black & White with a Japanese dub). Can Absurd Ventures create enough brand association with excellence as Houser's other venture? Will reverse-engineering IP with graphic novels and indie games turn them into film and television work? I have no idea, but if this is a way to trick the film industry into producing semi-original work by crowd-sourcing an audience while getting more material from Dan Houser, then I am all in.
