Today Stomped chats with Jeff Brunner, co-founder and partner in R.E.D. - Representing Entertainers & Developers. Representing Entertainers & Developers is a company founded to assist independent game development companies in securing video game development agreements. In this interview Jeff Brunner talks about the company, securing licensing agreements, how they will work to help find 4D Rulers a publisher for Gore, and much more

Stomped: For our readers who are unfamiliar with "Representing Entertainers & Developers", can you tell us a bit about the background and history of the company?

Jeff Brunner: R.E.D. originally started life as the team representation division of Interact, which itself evolved from long-term relationships that we, as recruiters, had built up since starting the company in 1993. Relationships with project leads, lead programmers, talented designers, artists and producers - the key people working on game projects. We found that intact teams -- core groups of talented people who enjoyed working with each other on a project - were contacting us increasingly when they decided to strike out on their own. This made sense, since as recruiters, we had placed many of the producers and executive producers at publishers that were making the key decisions on which developers would be getting what projects. They knew from working with us that we had a great access to key decision-makers who could award them projects. We made some introductions that led to development deals, which caused us to believe there was a market for an interactive talent company to leverage existing relationships to match developers to project opportunities, and more access to the best talent for publishers. That was the basis for forming Interact's Team Representation Division. We began introducing both experienced developers and start-up development teams to publishers, matching a team's particular expertise with a publisher's genre, platform and technology requirements. We were essentially functioning as a business development arm for the independent developers we were working with. Rapidly expanding opportunities in the industry and the growing success of the team representation division led us to spin it out into a separate company called R.E.D., which stands for Representing Entertainers & Developers. A spin out also made sense in terms of keeping the strong Interact brand name associated with recruiting "individual" developers.

Stomped: Presently, how many development teams are you representing?

Jeff Brunner: We have about 20 teams that we are currently doing work for, and another 50 teams that we keep on our radar.

Stomped: The website mentions that R.E.D. owns and has the right to market the license to a number of properties. Can you tell us more about what this includes?

Jeff Brunner: We have in the past, and are currently, shopping licenses from television, film, comic books and toys. This is a part of our business that we see as a value add to our clients. If we have a strong license that a publisher wants, we are able to use that leverage by packaging one of our teams with the license.

Stomped: How difficult is the typical process of securing an existing property license? Is it hard to get rights to use these existing product/name licenses?

Jeff Brunner: For the most part, we are working with licensors who need an avenue to take their properties into the interactive space. Thus, we are generally not securing the license itself, but rather the right to shop that license.

Stomped: Let's say that myself and four others have spent twelve months holed up in a basement and when we came out we had an excellent working demo of a game, a full view of what the entire game would be and all the rest. As a developer without a name, would R.E.D. be able to help us?

Jeff Brunner: With an "excellent working demo," absolutely. Producing an impressive demo is the single most important factor in grabbing a publisher's interest. That gives your team a big advantage right out of the box. Some game budgets are starting to rival those of films, thus publishers have to take bigger and bigger financial risks in developing titles. Because of this, if your team has not developed similar titles in the past, publishers almost always need to see a demo to prove to them that your team can do what you say it can do.

Stomped: Do you also provide services to individual developers looking for job placement, so to speak?

Jeff Brunner: No. R.E.D. represents teams, independent studios and licensed properties. Interact, R.E.D.'s sister company, specializes in placing individual developers - programmers, animators, artists, designers, and producers.

Stomped: Obviously you are a business. As such, how do you guys make money? Is it through a royalty system?

Jeff Brunner: Our revenues are contingent on us finding our clients work. When we do, or fees are normally a function of the development budget.

Stomped: One of the most recent press releases to come from R.E.D. stated that you will be representing 4D Rulers to help secure a publisher for their FPS title, Gore. Using 4DRulers as an example, what are some of the things R.E.D. will do to assist them?

Jeff Brunner: 4D Rulers is a unique example, because for them, we are shopping a nearly completed title, Gore. Nevertheless, we started our relationship with 4D Rulers by evaluating their game, making suggestions and preparing them to answer the questions that publishers would ask. We reviewed their design documents and attempted to make constructive recommendations where possible. Currently, we are showing the demo to a handful of publishers in an effort to gain interest for the title. When a publisher has agreed to publish the title, we will then negotiate the best terms possible for 4D Rulers.

Stomped: Can you tell us details about a R.E.D. success story?

Jeff Brunner: A good one to share is Studio Gigante. Studio Gigante was founded by several extremely talented and accomplished developers including John Tobias, who was a co-creator of Mortal Kombat, one of the most successful franchises in the video game industry. We kept in touch with these guys after they left Midway and following their formation of Studio Gigante, R.E.D. (then still the Team Representation Division of Interact) reached a representation agreement with them. At a later date, we came into contact with a major game publisher that was looking for a team to develop a new fighting game for Microsoft's Xbox console. We knew Studio Gigante was available, and their track record and capabilities made them an excellent match for this project. We put together some meetings to discuss a deal, and ultimately Studio Gigante was awarded a multi-million dollar contract to develop this Xbox fighting game.

Stomped: Getting into the gaming biz for new developer start-ups can be quite a daunting task. Do you have any advice to offer to aspiring developers?

Jeff Brunner: Probably most important is having a demo that showcases the team's technology and capabilities. It's really critical. A great track record of creating and shipping successful games at past employers is very helpful as evidence of talent, as is assembling a team chocked-full of talented and experienced developers. But the demo is even more important, because publishers want to see what the team can do now. It's also very important that developers understand that they are running a business now, which is a difficult task in any line of work. Hiring a senior executive to take care of business operations and keep the production schedule on track will immediately pay dividends, because it will allow for the development team to focus on creating an awesome game. This also inspires confidence in publishers who are considering awarding a project because it reassures them that the team won't miss milestones because key members are spending valuable time processing payroll and paying bills. New developers should also consider professional representation, for reasons I mentioned above. If your new studio is to prosper and grow, you need to know which publishers have projects that need development teams. Such information is critical to ensuring a steady flow of work and revenue. This is the information that R.E.D. is able to provide. Additionally, an agent is going to be more experienced at negotiating development deals. Most independent studios may lack negotiating experience, as they are likely only negotiating one or two deals per year. R.E.D., for example, works on several deals each year, and thus we likely have a much better idea of what the market will bear. Because of this, we are able to get a developer the budget that they deserve.