Hans ten Cate has joined Method Studios as VP, sr. business development, games. The former Sony PlayStation manager and Electronic Arts studio executive and producer will focus on bringing Method Studios’ award-winning creative talent and deep technology resources to game developers and publishers to produce cinematics, trailers and teasers, marketing and social content.
“Video games have become more film-like in recent years,” ten Cate said, “with tremendous attention paid to realism and details in character models, animations, cinematics, and effects. Concurrently, the film industry has started using game engines as essential tools in the production process. Method is right at the crux of both of these worlds, with expertise and technology in both, and creative work that has earned Oscar and Emmy recognition. They can also create, direct, produce and deliver every aspect of a project. I’m incredibly excited to bring this very special combination of capabilities to partners in the games industry.”
A long-time game industry executive, ten Cate has produced and designed AAA games for PC, console and mobile and negotiated business and technology partnerships for the industry’s largest publishers as well as startups. He spent a decade at EA, as an executive producer creating award-winning games and later as sr. director of business development for EA Partners. Ten Cate contributed to such game franchises as The Sims, The Simpsons, and Dante’s Inferno. At EA Partners, he built relationships with hundreds of game development studios and partners. Ten Cate later co-founded MaxPlay, a games technology company, where he was VP of business development and was instrumental in building and growing the company’s partnerships and developer relations organization. He is an executive board member of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and is based in San Francisco.
“Hans has been on both the business and creative sides of the games industry,” said Andrew Bell, Method Studios MD, integrated advertising and immersive experiences, Los Angeles. “He’s done everything from leading creative teams to negotiating partnerships at the highest level. He brings deep knowledge and relationships that really complement our team and open new doors for our talent.”
Method Studios’ games trailer work includes standout pieces for Fallout 76, Evony, Game of War and other top titles. The company completed visual effects work on recent features including Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald, Christmas Chronicles and Welcome to Marwen.
Method Studios, a Deluxe company, maintains a network of facilities in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Atlanta, Melbourne, and Pune, India.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More