Integrated production house Stept Studios has enlisted Jolie Miller and her team at Simpatico to represent its directors in the East Coast market. Stept joins a Simpatico roster of clients that includes editorial house Cut + Run, production companies brother and JOJX, Believe Media, and several other notable studios. Rounding out Miller’s band of talent reps are Dunja Jovicic, Cara Herrick, Camilla Birgogni and Maddox Fraad. Stept previously had an in-house representative, Susanne Kelly, for the East Coast. Stept, which maintains bases of operation in Los Angeles and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is currently represented by Content Chemics on the West Coast and Doug Stephen & Partners in the Midwest….
Sequin AR has appointed Brad Rumler as its VP of sales. In this newly created position, Rumler will lead Sequin AR’s sales and business development efforts further into existing and new market sectors for its augmented reality and virtual production solutions, including Sequin AR’s Glimmer Virtual Control software and related service offerings. Additionally, Rumler will also help further develop and expand Sequin’s Partnership Channels. Rumler joins Sequin AR with more than 25 years of experience, primarily within the Australian, U.S., and Canadian markets, holding in-house positions with top technology companies working across the disciplines of graphics, broadcast, VFX, and IT. Prior to joining Sequin, Rumler most recently served as VP of sales for Brainstorm, a real-time graphics solutions company that collaborated with global broadcasters and studios in the U.S. and Canadian markets….
More Than A Game: Bringing Sincere Representation Of The Shawnee Tribe To Civilization 7
Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes grew up playing video games, including "probably hundreds of hours" colonizing a distant planet in the 1999 title Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.
So when that same game studio, Firaxis, approached the tribal nation a quarter-century later with a proposal to make a playable character out of their famous leader Tecumseh in the upcoming game Civilization 7, Barnes felt a rush of excitement.
"I was like, 'This can't be true,'" Barnes said. "Do they want us to participate in the next version of Civilization?"
Beloved by tens of millions of gamers since its 1991 debut, Meier's Civilization series sparked a new genre of empire-building games that simulated the real world while also diverging into imaginary twists. It has captivated nerdy fans like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and a young Barnes with its intricate and addictive gameplay and rich historical context.
Choosing among leaders that can range from Cleopatra to Mahatma Gandhi, players build a civilization from its first settlement to a sprawling network of cities, negotiate with or conquer neighbors, and develop trade, science, religion and the arts. Circana, which tracks U.S. game sales, says it's the bestselling strategy video game franchise of all time.
But things have changed since the early days of Civilization. Of course, video game technology has advanced, but so too has society's understanding of cultural appropriation and the importance of accurate historical framing.
Firaxis dropped plans to add a historical Pueblo leader in 2010 after tribal leaders objected. The game incorporated a Cree leader in 2018 but faced public criticism in Canada after its release.
Developers knew that to properly represent the Shawnee leader, they would... Read More