DWS15 - Game Summit - Behind the curtain - Frederic Markus - Féérik Games

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Inside Big Entertainment Companies

HistoryFREDERIC MARKUS

www.FRED@FEERIK.COM

UBISOFT

ANGEL STUDIOS (ROCKSTAR SAN DIEGO)

DISNEY

LUCASARTS

EPIC GAMES

FEERIK GAMES

From The Outside

• Big Companies• Politics• Big Money• All About Money• Money Money Money• Money against creativity

Always Two Sides

• It’s more fun to talk about what is wrong.

• The good parts are always remembered as time goes by...

• The here and the now are critical to create, innovate and enjoy what you do.

So What Is Behind The Curtain?

• Core Values.

• Sorry No pictures.

• Yes it is a secret.

Diplomas Do Not Count

• Hire on past experiences.

• References.

• And insane interview processes (ie: 12 hours, 12 interviews, gates all the way up).

• Your speciality didn’t matter, you could participate in anything.

• SPEAK ENGLISH!

Make

• Makers.

• People do things, with their hands, at work, outside of work.

• “I can’t” not accepted. Find a way.

• Model shop with ILM.

Learn

• Courses.

• Constant education.

• Inside and Outside.

• Walt Disney used to drive his employees to courses himself.

Champions

• Not only are they all incredibly talented.

• But they all are kind and great listeners.

• And they are very, very hard working people.

• Screaming is a very strange behavior, never accepted, never won a debate.

Horizontal Management

• Can speak to anyone anytime.

• No notion of a boss (Pas de ‘Patron’).

• Never mentioned, never felt.

• Best example: I was asked to fire my own boss if I wanted to and I did it.

Money?

• Money was never the goal.

• Great experiences always was.

• Money is a side product.

• Industrial Light & Magic.

Fast

• Decisions are immediately applied.

• Including hiring AND firing people.

• People are used to this and everyone is always fully aware of the possibility.

Legacy

• Celebration of the past.

• But not to the detriment of moving forward.

• Amazing museums.

• Utmost respect to what has been done, even failures.

Confidentiality

• Absolute secrecy.

• No one would talk about what they were doing, not even in front of a beer, or a few beers.

• It is a natural behavior, not just reglementation.

Core DNA

• Incredible diversity.

• Many, many countries represented. No preferences whatsoever.

• No French touch, no American touch, no Chinese touch, no German touch...

• I believe this is one of the keys to global success.

• Human values are common all around the world.

Self Organize

• Decide your own team structure.

• Set up your offices the way you want to.

• Dynamic environments, from open spaces to ‘war rooms’.

• The Giant Curtains Office of Disney Imagineering.

Innovation?

• Yes there is creativity.

• Yes there are strokes of genius.

• BUT there is PROBLEM SOLVING!

• Incredible limitations from nature itself.

• Hyper sensitivity to commonly accepted issues.

• Compassion.

• Many innovations are invisible. You know when you MAKE.

• How can you find solutions if you are unable to see problems?

SO?

• Yes, criticizing big companies about politics and money is easy.

• Keeping your eyes and ears open is harder.

• I believe we are here to entertain. And yes, we do need to be entertained. Life is NOT easy...

• Our mission is to bring MAGIC to people, to be open, to be generous.

• Bullet points are only bullet points.

• Find your own way.

www.FEERIKGAMES.COM

www.FEERIKGAMES.COM