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Business Interview: Movie man turned gamer

TODD Eckert, producer of the acclaimed biopic Control, featuring the troubled life of Joy Division frontman, Ian Curtis has spent the last two and a half years working with Gateshead based Eutechnyx on several videogames that have taken the US by storm.

The company has already sold over a million copies of its hit racing game Big Mutha Truckers in the States and is now working with revolutionarytechnology to create a whole new concept for the industry.

BD: What are you up to at the moment?

TE: My title at Eutechnyx is director of North America and I’m working on three different games and they’re going to make a substantial difference to the company. We’ve just had a publisher for one of the games here in Gatesheadand we¹ll have a full public announcement about that in July. We’re in Germany next week to speak to another publisher as well, so things arelooking very bight for the company indeed.

Why did you join the company?

I’ve known the guys founders Daren and Brian Jobling - for six years. Iwas producing a film right here in the UK, which took me a long time to do.It was a huge project and it was about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division. I met them before I got seriously into the production work that was involved in the film. It’s surprising to some that I would do a film like that and then go into video games, but the games we do are all interconnected with what I like and what interests me.

What games are you working on?

We’re known for the car and racing games but one of the games we’re working on right now is massively character orientated and given all the time I’ve spent in film and in music, we’ve been able to place lots of the characters I’ve met and worked with into the game.

The band Elbow is going to be in the one we’re working on at the moment. They want to be characters in a bar that you beat up. On this game you can also walk into a pub, and the bar tender will be Peter Hayes from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It’s lots of fun.

What’s the state of the gaming industry in the region?

We have some massive projects going on here at Euthechnyx that is relevant not just to the company’s business but the region as a whole. There are some massive international projects based here and it’s certainly a good time towork here. I actually prefer it to LA because the people are more honest.

Aren’t you here for the wonderful weather?

Definitely not!

What does the future hold for video games?

They’re in a place now where you can do more expressive and creative things than in any other medium in the world. It really is a fantastic time to be involved with them and the future for them is a special one.

Will you ever turn your back on film?

I haven’t turned my back on film but I¹ve been asked to produce several films over the last couple of months, but that kind of work would take an entire year. I just don’t have time to do it at the moment. We’re in a place where video games are becoming much more sophisticated. They can tell a story just like a film and I feel a responsibility to show that to the world.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .