Upon hearing the news that Oz animation studio Animal Logic had opened a gaming studio, Animal Logic Interactive, in Los Angeles, I couldn’t help but be sad. To me it seemed the government’s lack of support for developers had finally manifested itself in a way we could all appreciate.
Jason Hill of Screenplay managed to get in contact with AL’s CEO Zareh Nalbandian to find out exactly what motivated the company to go with LA over Melbourne or Brisbane:
“We felt that there was a rich pool of talent … that we have more options in Los Angeles at this point of time than we have elsewhere.”
Options and talent? Sure, those are important factors, but I find it hard to believe that tax breaks had nothing to do with it.Nalbandian also clarified how ALI will function as a business:
“We’re actually pursuing the games business from the point of view of being a creative production company in the same way that we work in film. We aim to start with a core of around five to 10 people and within that paradigm of being key creatives, key technical leadership and key production heads so that we can drive the creative and technical production enterprise, but not necessarily try to do everything else ourselves.”
The article goes on to quiz GDAA president Tom Crago about the development, and the general state of the industry. Well worth a read.
The Logic behind tax breaks [Screenplay, via Sumea]
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