Last month, as E3 raged in the downtown environs of Los Angeles, Nerd Poker went physical with House of Game, its first hosted event intended to mix up professionals from Hollywood with the game industry's own top creative talent. Guests included film executives like Michael Aguilar (The Departed) and Mark Varhadian (Transformers), and actors including Chuck's Zach Levi and Heroes' Greg Grunberg and Masi Oka, and screenwriter (and voice of Solid Snake) David Hayter. On the game side, names like Cliff Bleszinski, Tim Schafer, and Jordan Mechner were also in attendance.
I was more curious about where Nerd Poker came from and what influence its creators expect it to have in the wake of this inaugural event, so I fired off some questions to founders Kevin Chang and Justin Marks--respectively a production executive at Misher Films and a screenwriter currently working on the Shadow of the Colossus film adaptation--and one of the partners, Zach Schiff-Abrams, a producer at Sony Pictures. Their answers follow.
What's your basic pitch for Nerd Poker? How do you describe it to those who don't know anything about it?
Chang: Nerd Poker is just a group of folks who work in Hollywood, gaming and comics. We also share a passion for playing video games and play regularly over Xbox Live.
Schiff-Abrams: In the growth of its membership, Nerd Poker has quickly become an entity that is extremely unique in terms of its cultivation of taste in the pop culture landscape. In today’s entertainment marketplace, everyone with money to spend is desperately searching for the right things to spend money on. This is what Nerd Poker has become, through a truly organic process.
How did Nerd Poker bolster your own career in its early stages, prior to House of Game? Did it open any specific doors for you?
Chang: I don’t think most of the members were specifically looking to bolster their careers through Nerd Poker (though some have tried and those folks were pretty quickly alienated and ousted). The group has grown pretty organically from a love for video games. With that said, we’ve all built some great friendships through the group so certainly that does facilitate “networking” and ultimately (as I’ve said in previous interviews) who wouldn’t want to work with friends?
Schiff-Abrams: Amen.
Where did the impetus come from to turn an informal network like Nerd Poker into an official event like House of Game, and who spurred that process along?
Zach: It should be said that Tom Ham, a Nerd Poker partner and a 14 year veteran of video game journalism, came up with the initial idea of creating something during E3 that didn’t exist in the same madness of the actual show. Something a bit more relaxed and exclusive.
Chang: Yeah, as the group grew and all these friendships formed, individuals within the group began actively collaborating with each other on creative projects in film, TV, games and comics. I think we also recognized that we were in the unique situation of being of a generation that grew up with all these mediums. Where part of our day jobs were educating our bosses on video games, comics and geek culture. What better opportunity than during E3 to give them an education in video games they’ve never had before, and in a venue they’d feel comfortable in?
Marks: Oddly enough there wasn’t much of an ulterior motive. We just love games and wanted to share them with our friends in an intimate environment. Most of us spend so much time having to explain our passion to outsiders that we just figured a hands-on experience would probably be easier.
The idea behind House of Game is to get people in Hollywood and the games industry talking to each other. How do you gauge the success of an event like this? What sort of deals or developments do you see coming out of it?
Marks: Coming out of this event, we weren’t looking to simply “pimp out” games that could make good potential movies. That’s certainly a component of it, and if that ends up happening then we’re proud to have facilitated it. The real focus of the event was to provide Hollywood with a sample platter. We tried to have a variety of games represented. If, say, one more executive is now able to speak the language of a more “indie” game, then that gives them a firmer grasp with which to understand the most broad, mainstream material. To us, that’s a success story. It would be great to get both industries into a headspace where they’re more willing to stretch the medium’s potential. Would a FLOWER movie work? I don’t know. But the day we discourage experimentation is a sad, sad day for all art.
Schiff-Abrams: Film, literature, theater, pretty much every creative medium that has ever been in existence started when a creative individual looked to express themselves and grew into a commercial marketplace. The medium of video games (and certainly AAA games) was almost reverse-engineered. Even with the commercial success that video games have become (more successful than any other form of media), Hollywood has had trouble taking video games seriously because they cannot see the creative expression. In addition to what has already been discussed, for me House of Game was an opportunity to communicate to Hollywood that these days the indie gaming landscape (which is in the process of becoming much less “indie” and much more mainstream) is perhaps the best way for individuals to artistically express themselves.
Neither game-to-movie nor movie-to-game projects have a great track record. How will this sort of crossover event raise the bar and revise the processes on both sides of the aisle?
Chang: I think it comes back to that disconnect. Both sides (Hollywood and games) speak different languages. I think what’s unique about Nerd Poker is that we’re good translators for the nexus of the three industries; dictionary to sort of bridge that gap because we are the generation that grew up with it.
Marks: I think a big problem with the relationship between movies and games is the learning curve. Games are not the easiest medium to just “pick and play,” so to speak. The language of gaming is entirely different and the fan base for gaming is very difficult for outsiders to read. Hopefully, by getting Hollywood’s hands on a controller in a more intimate environment, we can equip the industry with more familiarity, which is a big first step.
Justin, you're currently working on a screenplay for the film adaptation of Shadow of the Colossus, a game with a highly loyal cult following that's otherwise somewhat obscure by mainstream standards. In your dealings with NP/HOG, have you found many of your contacts on the Hollywood side familiar with the property?
Marks: All I will say is that SOTC was born out of Nerd Poker. The agent who put it together, the executive in charge for the producer, and myself, are all online playing with each other every Thursday night. I don’t consider that to be a unique phenomenon either. There are young people in every industry and young people who play games, period.
In your dealings with NP/HOG, have you found many (any?) of your contacts on the Hollywood side familiar with SOTC in particular? It's much less visible in the mainstream than games like Gears of War and Street Fighter.
And now the question every hopeful wants answered: Do you think the sort of online camaraderie that Nerd Poker offers is a viable avenue for up-and-comers to break into one or both of these industries? If so, how might they begin following that path?
Marks: We are a platform-agnostic generation. So people who come into the business just looking to be the best at one thing are going to be at a serious disadvantage going into the future. Nerd Poker is definitely one way to encourage that curiosity.
Schiff-Abrams: In echoing Justin’s sentiments, if you are entering into the gaming or Hollywood environs - it is mandatory to keep an open mind if you want to be successful. We are living in a truly unique time in which the creation, production and distribution models of both industries are in desperate need of change. While those who are holding onto those old models are terrified, I for one am truly excited by this time and am constantly on the lookout for new talent who think along similar lines.
Chang: Absolutely. Whether it’s Nerd Poker or not, finding your peers in any creative field is a good path to take. It’s just smart business sense to be out there networking and educating yourself about the industries.
Thanks for your time, guys.
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