Foundation 9 teams up with Hollywood management specialists
North America's largest independent game developer, Foundation 9, has acquired an equity stake in Hollywood management firm Circle of Confusion as part of plans to establish a new strategic partnership.
Circle of Confusion specialises in developing "genre" properties, generating high concept ideas and managing film production and talent to "bridge the gap between the fringes of pop culture and the Hollywood mainstream."
The company's client roster includes the Wachowski brothers (creators of the Matrix Universe), Reign of Fire writers Gregg Chabot and Kevin Perkerka, and comic book author Brian Michael Bendis - currently working on Activision's Ultimate Spider-Man game.
"Cementing our relationship with Circle of Confusion enables us to bring our publishing partners access to some of the top creative talent in the industry," said Foundation 9 CEO Jon Goldman, "As well giving us the ability to create original concepts that extend beyond the videogame industry."
"Our relationship with Foundation 9 will give us the ability to offer another service to our clients," commented Circle of Confusion founder Lawrence Mattis.
"Horror, fantasy and science fiction, as well as other genre IP, is extremely important to the videogame industry. Being able to offer the services of our clients to Foundation 9 and its publishing partners is a great opportunity for everyone involved."
The two companies have already worked together on Death, Jr., a PSP title from Konami due to launch in the States this summer.
"It's a model that worked extremely well," said Foundation 9's Mike Mika.
"Working with Circle of Confusion enabled us to bring Death, Jr. to a wide variety of outlets, from a comic book with Image Comics to a toy deal with Gentle Giant, and a motion picture."
The creation of a partnership with Circle of Confusion is the latest in a series of strategic moves by Foundation 9, which was formed as the result of a merger between Backbone Entertainment and The Collective. The developer's most recent acquisition was US studio Pipeworks Software.