VIN DIESEL GAME FOR NEW BIZ MODEL (GAME/MOVIE/COMMUNITY -HYBRID)
VIN DIESEL --
IS PROBABLY BEST KNOWN AS AN ACTOR YET, MANY OF US IN THE NEW MEDIA KNOW THAT HE'S GOT GAME TOO....According to a report at Gamestop.com: Diesel wrote the introduction to Thirty Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons, a retrospective of the groundbreaking pencil-and-paper role-playing game and "allegedly, his character in the films Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick was based on his favorite D&D character, a Dark Elf, or Drow". Recently, Diesel set about proving that he's got game for a new business model starting to gain popularity in the new Hollywood. Sometimes I say it's not what you blog about that you remember the most-- it's what you don't. And I've started to blog about this a few times but did not for some reason -- probably time. But since I talk about the model a lot and point to it as a significant 'flux' in the biz, let's take a look:
VIN DIESEL NEW BIZ MODEL: Background: In 2003 Diesel formed Tigon Studios, a game-production-company sidekick to his film-production firm, OneRace Films. Tigon's first game was The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay for the PC and Xbox, was a tie-in with Diesel's Sci Fi film of the same name. Bottomline, the movie bombed, but the game went on to be one of the most popular of 2004. Once again, according to Gamespot.com, Tigon is currently working with X-Men director Bryan Singer on an all-original next-gen game, Secret Service.
WHEELMAN COMBINES FILM, VIDEO GAME, COMMUNITY & MORE..... (back on Feb 22, 2006 a press release announced): 
– Bringing together some of the top content providers in entertainment, Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment industry publisher and developer, Tigon Studios, founded by Vin Diesel, and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA, VIAB) MTV Films, Paramount Pictures and MTV Games today announced a collaboration on a groundbreaking action-entertainment property, The Wheelman. THAT's right folks-- MTV Films, Paramount Pictures and Tigon Studios and Midway Games....
"With The Wheelman we have created the first integrated franchise being launched for both the gaming and film industries," said Vin Diesel. "In collaborating with Midway, MTV and Paramount, TIGON Studios has brought together an incredible team to execute this project."
HINT AT NEW COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY FOR GAME: "With the close cooperation of Midway, Paramount and MTV Films, we are putting together a new way to tell a story," said Cos Lazouras, production executive, Tigon Studios. "Working in tandem with the movie, we envision the video game will introduce The Wheelman in a way that creates a unique connection with the audience that will blend the interactive world with the experience of the motion picture."
WHAT MTV HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE DEAL/FRANCHISE: Van Toffler, President, MTV Networks Music/Films/Logo Group. "With some of the biggest names in the feature film and gaming worlds joining forces on The Wheelman, we've got all the makings of a very cool franchise."
HOW IT WILL BE PRODUCED:
The Wheelman is being developed as what the press release calls "an intensely riveting video game" from Midway, in association with Diesel's Tigon Studios and MTV Games, intended to serve as the introduction to a series of related entertainment offerings.
MTV Films and Paramount Pictures have purchased the rights to develop a major motion picture based on the video game. The Wheelman is being developed as an adrenaline-charged action movie starring Diesel as an expert wheelman who comes out of retirement to protect a woman from his past.
WHO WILL DO WHAT? PRODUCTION CREDITS ETC: Rich Wilkes, who worked with Diesel on "XXX," is slated to write the script for the project. Diesel's Tigon Films and MTV Films plan to produce the film, and Paramount Pictures intends to release it. Overseeing the film for MTV Films will be David Gale, Executive Vice President, Loretha Jones, Senior Vice President of Development and Jason Weiss, Senior Director of Development. Overseeing for Paramount will be Dan Levine, Senior Vice President Production, Matt Jackson, Vice President Production and Eben Davidson, Director Creative Affairs. Overseeing for Diesel's Tigon Studios will be Samantha Vincent, Vice President and Coz Lazouras, Product Development Executive.
IN-GAME ADVERTISING.....
The Wheelman will be the second of three titles under the recently announced strategic relationship between MTV Networks and Midway to market, jointly sell in-game advertising and collaborate on soundtrack development. Most recent update I find on Google-- March 3, 2006: The Wheelman On PS3, 360 news from 1UP.com
Last week, Midway announced a licensing deal for The Wheelman, ... And given The Wheelman's release date, we may be waiting to find out for a long time. ...
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