It was upsetting, so much so that I took the time to write about it here on Moby’s. I even made my own lightboxed copy that hangs on the wall above my drafting table at home.
So…did I mention that I really liked the piece?
Anyway, imagine my surprise when I see that it was up for auction 7 weeks ago…ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! Moby has indeed missed another shot at it. Why? Why??Continue reading »
I was very lucky recently and was able to interview Carey DeVuono (aka HMdesigner), the creator of Hollywood Mogul, about how the game series has developed and his thoughts on the Kickstarter campaign.
For those unfamiliar, Hollywood Mogul (now Hollywood Movie Studio) is a text-based Business Simulation game that puts you in charge of a major Hollywood movie studio. You choose which projects to develop, who will star in and produce your new movie, and everything else…right down to the budget and how many screens to release the final cut on.
Moby’s – How did you get into making a game about Hollywood and movie making?
Carey DeVuono – In 1991 I had written a screenplay and my agent took it into the system at Fox. They told me it was “too broad of a comedy.” To this day I really don’t know what that means. I think they just didn’t like it. The next year a director friend of mine wanted to do it, so we did a quick polish and took it back into Fox where he had a relationship. They passed again. The next year a producer with a housekeeping deal at Fox, who was also a friend of my director friend, said he wanted to get involved. So we went back to Fox. And they passed again. And I said to myself, (insanely, I realize now): If I just had a computer program where I could run the numbers I would show them this would make money.
And then I thought: That sounds like fun anyway. So I bought a book and taught myself how to program a computer, and the next year I released the original DOS version of Hollywood Mogul.
A while back I had a commission piece done by Roman (which was posted here on Moby’s) and I have been meaning to interview him about his time working for Greater Mercury Comics, but never got around to it until recently.
Roman Morales III was published in Assassin Force #2 and in the Grips Special #1 by GMC, as well as the portfolio artwork for the for the character Edge. He has also worked on several other titles over the years for various publishers, including titles like The Lynch Mob, The 10th Muse, and even an issue of the X-men.
He was a police officer for about a decade and a half, and is currently a starring member on Mun2′s spanish-language bounty hunter reality show Fugitivos De La Ley Los Angeles (Fugitives Of the Law).
Moby’s – How did you come to work for Silverwolf/Greater Mercury?
Roman – I met Chris Silver at my first comic con in I believe 1989-90, I showed my portfolio to over 30 companies and got shot down big time, Chris took a look at my work and said he had some work I could do for him if interested, I jumped at it.Continue reading »
Mystery author Lawrence Block has made an announcement recently that is sure to make a lot of his long time fans very happy: Bernie Rhodenbarr is returning in an all new book!
This one will be the 11th in the series, and it definitely comes as a big surpise. I remember Block mentioning once in his newsletter something like ‘If I had a nickel for every time someone asked if there will be another Burglar book….’, and now there is one. No news on the nickels, though I am guessing after this one is released he’ll have a couple more to rub together.
…a handwritten manuscript, a collection of American Colonial silver, steamer trunks overflowing with buttons, a girl with a gecko tattoo, and a whole lot of breaking and entering.“
For those unfamiliar with the series, the books star Bernie Rhodenbarr, New York City bookstore owner by day, cat burglar extraordinaire by night. His best friend, Carolyn Kaiser, is a lesbian dog groomer who owns a shop named The Poodle Factory and his contact on the other side of the law is Ray Kirschmann, an honest cop.
Meaning of course, that if he gets bought, he stays bought…and that is about as honest as can be, no?Continue reading »
Moby has been keeping up with Facebook a lot more lately. I think it is addictive, TBH. But one thing I have learned from checking in so often is that there are a few more of these Original Series Star Trek fan films being proposed or produced. And for whatever reason, it seems like a lot of them are fundraising about this same time.
