Blindlight

Blindlight, LLC

Type	Private
Industry	Interactive entertainment
Founded	2000
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Website	Blindlight

Blindlight is a Los Angeles-based company providing Hollywood production services to the videogame industry.

Background

Formed in 2000 by four managers from Icebox.com (Lev Chapelsky, Dawn Hershey, Matt Case and Rich Dickerson), Blindlight’s goal was to apply the talents and expertise from Hollywood’s film and television industries to the videogame industry.^[1] The company’s initial service disciplines included casting and voice production, celebrity acquisition, story and scriptwriting, music production, motion capture and sound design.

With the technological advances brought about by the advent of the PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox, capabilities for delivering richer multimedia experiences through videogames took a leap forward in 2001, instigating the need for contributions from traditional Hollywood resources (actors, writers, composers, etc.). Up until this point most games were still being written and voiced by computer artists and software “programmers around the office."^[2] Blindlight sought to elevate the filmic aspects of videogames by developing ways for game producers to take advantage of the distributed freelance specialists that comprise the modern-day Hollywood production model.^[3]

In December 2003, the company moved its headquarters to its current location on the Sunset Strip. In 2004, Blindlight opened an office in Tokyo, Japan. Blindlight’s filmography on IMDb lists more game credits for voice production than any other company^[4] and according to a GDC profile on the company, “its client list has grown to include 19 of the top 20 game publishers.”^[5] Blindlight’s voicework has earned industry awards including Best Dialog of the Year^[6] and Best Performance by a Human Male.^[7] The company is known for producing the voicework on such prominent games as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which won an AIAS award for Outstanding Achievement in Story and Game of the Year,^[8] and Dishonored, which was recognized by BAFTA as the Best Game of 2012.^[9]

In July 2013, videogame developer Bungie leaked that Blindlight is now collaborating on its cornerstone franchise Destiny and has brought Paul McCartney on board to work on the music for the game.^[10]

Blindlight’s operational model is primarily virtual and distributed. While its contractors are sourced mostly from traditional Hollywood industries, Blindlight operates exclusively as a service provider to videogame companies.

Industry Contributions

• Blindlight was an early company to advocate using professional Hollywood actors in games. This started a shift in videogame voice-over production that effectively moved the discipline to Los Angeles, CA.^[11][12]
• Blindlight has drafted and brokered over 500 deals for the use of celebrity voices in games.^[13][14][15] In 2006, Blindlight signed all Star Trek captains to one game, marking the only time all five have participated together on a single project.^[16] In 2009, the blogosphere buzzed when word got out that Blindlight had made an offer to former President Bill Clinton to play the President role in Fallout 3.^[17][18]
• Blindlight has participated in negotiations with the SAG and AFTRA actors unions over the Interactive Media Agreement.^[19][20] In 2005, Blindlight assisted in averting a strike and preserving the game industry’s access to professional actors.^[21][22]
• In gamewriting, Blindlight borrowed best practices from the television industry to create an outsourced team-based model for improving the narrative elements in games. This opened new doors for game producers to tap underutilized Hollywood writing talent at affordable costs, and a new source of work for Hollywood writers.^[23]

References

External links

• Blindlight Official Website
• Blindlight at the Internet Movie Database