Mixed media production house Curious Pictures has entered into an agreement with gameLab to partner on the creative development and production of downloadable online games. Both companies are based in New York.
Plans call for their first joint project to be a game tentatively titled “Brenda’s Brain,” which combines a playful and contemporary visual look with the more adult subject matter of neuroses and psychological quirks.
The game will be distributed by gameLab as part of its new game publishing initiative. Curious, with its relationships in the advertising and entertainment sectors, will extend the game’s characters and storyline to a variety of other media.
Curious is known for its animation work in advertising (spots for American Express, Coke, Pepsi, Target, Burger King), TV programming (Little Einsteins, A Little Curious, Codename: Kids Next Door), branded entertainment (for Mattel, AOL) and broadcast design.
GameLab is the developer of “Diner Dash,” a leading property in the casual games marketplace. The company also designed “Subway Scramble,” another successful downloadable game, as well as assorted other titles. Such games, which are sold exclusively on the Internet and downloaded onto players’ personal computers, are gaining prominence in the marketplace.
“As a creative collaboration, both Curious and gameLab are bringing their significant talents to bear on this title [“Brenda’s Brain”],” said gameLab CEO/co-founder Ed Zimmerman. “Gamelab creates new kinds of games for a booming mass audience, and Curious creates award-winning animations for all kinds of media. It’s a totally complementary hookup.”
Curious partner/executive producer Richard Winkler stated, “We see a lot of parallels between the work we do in animation and the work they [gameLab] produce for the gaming industry. We’re excited about the prospect of partnering with them to develop a broader outreach for both companies.”