“You mean someone like Jess Brunelle.”
Yes yes, goddammit. Someone like Jess Brunelle.
It was 2007, and I was sitting in a conference room with several colleagues discussing our ongoing search for the perfect producer. Of course, the problem is how you define “perfect” when talking about a producer, because every studio has a different notion of what a producer is actually supposed to do.
At one end of the spectrum, the producer runs the show, not only establishing and driving the schedule but also setting the vision for the project and making the critical design, artistic, and technical decisions. It’s certainly an efficient model, but you aren’t going to get the best out of talented developers like James Phinney and Doug Williams when you remove them from the decision-making process.
At the other end of the spectrum, the producer is a mere lackey, responsible for documenting and communicating the decisions of the development team leads and picking up balls as they drop. This model ensures that the developers are able to drive key decisions about the game, but it can also result in a development process that lacks discipline, and in the worst case a game that is constantly delayed or never ships at all.
I’m not really thrilled with the notion of cutting our development leads off at the knees or watching the development process fall into chaos, so neither of those extremes are going to work for us.
In an ideal world, your producer should have the authority to lead the development process while also allowing the art, design, and programming leads to drive the key decisions about the game. The problem is that while a company can grant authority, it cannot grant respect; respect has to be earned. In order for this model to work, you need to find a producer who can earn the utmost respect from the development team. And that means you must find someone who has solid development experience on great games; who loves games; who listens, but is also decisive; who isn’t afraid to admit being wrong; who mixes common sense and methodology in equal measure; who gives credit rather than taking credit; and who has a track record of success in the game industry.
I mean someone like Jess Brunelle.
Jess certainly has the development background to command the respect of Team Zed, having been a designer on a little game called God of War during her four-year stint at SCEA. Most recently, Jess was the lead producer for Snowblind Studios’ upcoming The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.
I tried to hire Jess back in 2007, but at the time she was too wrapped up in a super secret new game under development at Snowblind. When Snowblind Studios was acquired by Warner Brothers in 2008 and WB decided to take the studio in a different direction, it left a Z-shaped hole in Jess’s heart.
A Z-shaped hole that was filled perfectly by a certain zombie-survival console game under development at Undead Labs…
We finally found our perfect producer. Lead us toward the light dark, Jess.
Jeff
PS: Also be sure to read Jess’s welcome message to her fellow survivors.
PPS: Emily asked me for a “head shot” to use with this post. I don’t think this is quite what she had in mind. Hope you like it.