Posts with tag dreamworks

Masi Oka plays the fan-favorite character Hiro on the television show Heroes, but that's not the only role he plays -- we've heard before that he's a big World of Warcraft player as well (which makes sense -- before his star turn on NBC's superhero show, he actually worked at Industrial Light and Magic developing water effects, so he's a geek at heart). And now he's using his MMO experience to create a movie: he's just signed a deal with Dreamworks to create a movie called "The Defenders," a family adventure about a group of teens playing an MMO who have to come together to have some adventures of their own. Both Oka and writer Gary Whitta are fans of WoW, so they're drawing on their experience in the game to put together the project. Oka tells the Hollywood Reporter that "the question came to me: What if you had to live up to the person you created in the virtual world?" He also cites The Goonies as an inspiration for the story, as an adventure that brings back an innocence found in those old Amblin Entertainment films.

Sounds interesting. It might be aimed a little young for the average WoW player (even The Goonies, while considered a cult classic nowadays, was really aimed at kids in the '80s), but a film that can take a good look at the comparison between our in-game selves and their real-life counterparts (and have some fun doing it) would definitely be something to see. The project's only just getting underway now, but we'll keep an eye out for it.

A few days ago, Gadgetress at ocregister.com wrote about the perks of attending the Laguna College of Art & Design, or more specifically, being on board their new video game program. Thanks to a well connected chair of the Game Art major, artists from Blizzard Entertainment, Dreamworks Animation, and Double Helix Games are on staff. Gadgetress also talks about a few students in particular, as well as Blizzard's new University Relations program.

Personally, I can't think of many companies better than Blizzard or Dreamworks to have a hand in educating upcoming artists on the industry. Both of them are quite good at developing distinct, marketable styles, and obviously the individuals on staff have extensive experience in the industry. Considering this college is located near the Blizzard Campus, it's likely many of the individuals in this program have dreams of working for that particular company. Being taught by the very people you'd like to one day work with must be way cool.