Wonderstorm brewing animation and AAA games
Avatar: The Last Airbender writer, Uncharted 3 director and Riot Games R&D finance head set up studio to work on linked game and Netflix series
A little over two years ago, a trio of Riot Games employees left the League of Legends studio to set up their own studio, Wonderstorm. Since then they've been quiet but apparently quite busy, as the company's investors have announced Wonderstorm is working with Netflix on an original animated series and is also working on a "AAA-quality" game, both set in the same universe.
It's an ambitious gambit for a new studio, but the three founders--Aaron Ehasz, Justin Richmond, and Justin Santistevan--at least have some experience in these matters. Before he was a producer at Riot, Richmond served as a designer on Uncharted 2 and director on Uncharted 3. Likewise, Ehasz has experience with animation as head writer and co-executive producer on Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender, for which he earned a Peadbody Award and an Emmy nomination. As for Santistevan, he spent four years at Riot as head of finance for R&D.
Wonderstorm is being backed by founding investor MWN (formerly Madison Wells Media), which will executive produce the TV and game project, as well as work with the studio to produce tie-ins in other media, including film, live events, and AR/VR experiences.
"The Wonderstorm team is exceptionally talented at franchise building and creating outstanding animated TV and interactive content," MWM co-founders Gigi Pritzker and Clint Kisker said. "We believe in them and are excited to help them launch this new chapter."