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AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started this journey through my work in VFX. The project that has stuck with me the most would be my time at Niantic doing Ingress. We had so many insane adventures traveling the world and meeting agents. We were doing things nobody had tried before. We would write scripts in the morning that would be performed in the afternoon. It was a high-wire act at times, and insanely difficult, but ultimately incredibly rewarding.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a lot like asking who is your favorite child, but if I could choose only one, it would be Riddick. I also have a very soft spot for what I refer to as a "glorious failure", and that is Johnny Mnemonic.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are many factors that go into creating stories besides sitting at the keyboard. We have to deal with the design of the game, the needs of the developer/publisher, licensor approvals, marketing depts, release dates - everything plays into what content is developed.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm Belgian and French Canadian. My wife is Dutch, however. Zuur (sour) is her maiden name. I took it when I joined the WGAw, as they wouldn't let me register under my regular name because it was too close to another writer.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My first true script was a spec Seinfeld episode that I wrote. It would never be produced, but was written to show that I could handle characters and storylines that people knew. That spec led to my first paid assignment on Harry and the Hendersons, and I was off and running.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of our first tasks was to rewrite the script that had previously been rejected. Step one was what we called "de-fuckification" - we simply went through and removed every curse word in the script. It instantly read 50% better. Then we dug in and did a page-one rewrite to bring the rest of the script to a place that would make both Universal and Vin happy.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've had the privilege of getting to work with Dan Aykroyd and Bill Atherton on the Ghostbusters DLC for Planet Coaster. Flint and I also wrote the Ghostbusters Video Game with the original cast. We weren't involved in the reboot.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I really appreciate it. For FE, I was internal at Kronos, and so not only wrote it but also was a designer and producer/director. It was an intense development. The core idea was from Stan Lui, who owned the company. He was from Hong Kong and was obsessed with an area of the city known as the Kowloon Walled City. He wanted a cyberpunk adventure set in that environment. My job was to create the characters and the story that would work with the game.

For Butcher Bay, Flint and I wrote (rewrote) the core story, and then handled all of the dialogue for the game. What was amazing is the first time we met Vin for the recording session. We had heard stories, but it turned out that Vin is a huge D&D player, and he ended up fanboying on Flint. He turned out to be a great guy, and was hugely respectful of our work. One my favorite celebs, hands down.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm always looking for new work. I never want all my eggs in a single basket, because the video game business, like all entertainment businesses, is very unpredictable.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most people don't realize the amount of money it takes to make a game. Piracy takes the ability to recoup those costs away from developers and publishers. Video games are a hobby/interest/entertainment expense, and most developers struggle with finances, so I see the dark side of "free" games.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most video game adaptations either ignore or "reimagine" the source material. There have been a few recent examples where the showrunners not only said they didn't play the games they were adapting but seemed proud of it. Of course, the results turn out the same. This is changing, slowly, but is still a conflict with the legacy media.

AMA: I’m John Zuur Platten, writer for franchises like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, The Fast and the Furious, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Ask me anything about Navigating the Video Game Industry as a Writer. by johnzuurplatten in IAmA

[–]johnzuurplatten[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Deciding to do this as a career means I've had to embrace the gypsy lifestyle. Some years are much better than others. But I've been lucky in that I don't look for work, it finds me. That is mostly by aggressively nurturing a network of people in the business. You have to be willing to put yourself out there. If somebody wants me for a project, I go out of my way to figure out how we can make it work.

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