Expert panel analyse the future of the interactive drama genre in BEYOND The Game: Live Forum
SYDNEY, 25th September 2013 – This week, in celebration of one of the most anticipated titles of 2013, the upcoming PlayStation®3 exclusive BEYOND: Two Souls™, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.) hosted BEYOND The Game: Live Forum. The event saw film and gaming industry experts from across the globe unite in Sydney, Australia, to discuss the rise of the ‘interactive drama’ genre across the entertainment industry in front of a live audience.
David Cage, Writer and Director at the critically acclaimed game development studio, Quantic Dream, travelled from Paris to join the panel. A true pioneer for the interactive drama genre with strong opinions on the blurring of lines between game and film, Cage spoke of his personal experiences through the development process of BEYOND: Two Souls, which stars Hollywood greats, Oscar nominee Ellen Page (Juno and Inception) and Willem Dafoe (Platoon and Spiderman) as the leading roles in the game.
Hollywood-based casting director, Suzanne Goddard-Smythe, responsible for selecting the main cast of BEYOND: Two Souls, spoke about the evolving requirements of actors and the skillset needed to remain competitive with the emergence of this new entertainment category.
Sydney natives Nicholas Clifford, 2013 Tropfest winner and film director, and Sydney University film lecturer, Dr Bruce Isaacs, rounded off the panel by bringing their own specialist insights into the conversation. The evening and a live audience Q&A was hosted by Logie Award winning Australian actor and writer, Robert Carlton.
Drawing from their varying specialist career disciplines and unique personal experiences, the panellists explored how consumers, actors, film crews, game developers and the entertainment industry as a whole are being influenced by the rise of this new take on the drama genre.
“BEYOND: Two Souls is by far the most ambitious title Quantic Dream has worked on to date. We wanted to create this emotional journey into the life of a character and tell her story through fifteen years. Blending the frontiers between video games and films was one of the challenges we had to face: we wanted to create an experience that would be fully interactive with a strong story that the player would tell through his actions rather than through cut scenes” said David Cage.
You can watch the highlights of BEYOND The Game: Live Forum here or watch the full discussion here.
BEYOND: Two Souls is due for release on 9th October 2013, only on PlayStation 3.