Richard Winkler is Vice President at Curious Pictures. Alongside the development of film and TV shows, Curious have been working on a new downloadable PC video game called Brenda’s Brain.
Tell me about Curious Pictures?
We manage creative talent. We find them, we nurture them, we get them work and we exploit them—in a nice way.
You seem to have thumbs in a few pies.
I think that’s one reason why people want to work here—they can work in multiple disciplines. There are at least five areas they can be involved in, from programming to advertising to broadcast promotion, etc. Periodically we diversify into businesses that are related to what we do.
I know you do film and shows, but tell me about this game you have developed.
We’re always interested in developing original IP. We worked with gameLab to create a property that will launch from a downloadable game into other media, including TV. The game, tentatively titled “Brenda’s Brain,” has a narrative that allows enough DNA to be seeded in the characters so they can be extended into other media. When it comes to IP, you have to have a wide-spectrum approach.
Who’s going to play this game?
Downloadable gaming is huge—yet still very much under the radar—and the demographics of the format tilts towards women. These games—also known as casual games—target women, from soccer moms in the ‘burbs to urban twenty-somethings who might play in the office. It’s the sort of game where you play to take a 15 minute break, and before you know it you’ve been playing for two hours and you’re like, “Oh, shit!”
There’s not a lot of companies out there doing this. We think game development often seems to be an afterthought when tied to existing media properties. Peter Jackson may be one of the few artists who’s thinking about the King Kong game as he’s making the film.
How do brands get involved?
For downloadable games, many of the players are adults, which helps us avoid issues about marketing to kids. For this particular project brands are not involved, but going forward it’s a great opportunity. The cost of entry for advertisers is surprisingly low. We’re already thinking about brands that would benefit from a presence in this realm.
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