Game Rant recently caught up with Stephen Ford, the founder and lead creative of Ascender Productions. Ford is an entertainment industry veteran with a wide range of experience in both traditional televised shows and online content. Now, Ford has brought Ascender to Kickstarter with hopes of funding a new generation of video game serial and short film adaptations.
We spoke with Ford about his history with filmmaking, his aspirations for Ascender, and the key to successfully capturing what makes games great on film. The following interview transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
GR: Can you tell us a little bit about your journey in entertainment and content creation? You have an extremely varied background having worked as an actor, writer, producer, editor, host… how did you break into these industries?
SF: Honestly, it’s kind of all over the place. The short story is that I got into acting as a kid, working on commercials in Florida for Disneyworld and Universal. Fun little side bar, I was that kid who was in the pre-boarding videos in the line of Jurassic Park: The Ride… which they had running for like 20 years, haha.
But all that lead to me coming to LA, doing the whole kid actor thing but it was never really fulfilling because your fate is completely out of your hands.
So I basically started making shorts and sketches with my friends, but because I didn’t have a budget or crew I had to learn how to do everything from scratch; from learning to DP to creating costumes to production management all while usually acting, directing and doing all of the post work. If I hadn’t educated myself on all of those things, nothing would have been made so really it was just out of necessity.
Which has it’s perks because if something goes wrong or something isn’t great, I can learn from it; but the downside to wearing so many hats is that you often feel like Frodo at the end of The Lord of The Rings.
After Teen Wolf I got involved heavily in directing and producing, in which I’m just using every little project I do as a chance to become a better storyteller, all while in the frying pan.
GR: You have acted in shows on the CW and ABC and also produced online content for Machinima and Funny or Die. Can you share some favorite stories from the sets?
SF: Dude, I have way way too many weird stories from over the years both good and bad.
When filming Private Practice, we were shooting on the same lot as Castle. So being the massive Firefly fan that I am, I walked right over in the middle of our lunch break and had the chance to meet my lord and savior, Nathan Fillion, who offered me donuts and was probably like, ‘Why is this kid on my set?’
While filming Teen Wolf in Atlanta for like 6 months, I took my PS3 back and forth between LA and Atlanta almost every week and trying to hook up a console to a hotel TV is the worst experience to relive every week. But it kept me company. Filming on location can be super lonely.
But probably my favorite moment in Hollywood was when I snuck into the premiere of Iron Man. Bratz had just come out and the producer of that film also produced Iron Man, he saw me on the carpet and what commenced was the coolest night of my life. I hung out with RDJ and the cast of Tropic Thunder for like a hot second and I was just known as “the Disney kid” which was ironic because I hadn’t really been on any Disney shows, haha. But yeah, that was weird.
GR: What do you think the biggest distinction is between traditional Hollywood production formats and television acting versus generating online content?
SF: It depends.
Sure, you could say big sets, crew, budgets, casting, blah blah blah. But in terms of creativity and effort? There’s virtually no difference. And as someone who’s been one foot in both worlds for a while I think you’re only limited by your creativity. At the end of the day you’re just trying to create stories that people can relate to and for me creating a little escape from the world.
Channels like Corridor, Anna Akana, Viva La Dirt League are all creating content that is top tier “Hollywood-level” quality but just on a smaller scale. Ultimately it comes down to your limitations on budget, because with enough perseverance to learn abilities, you can create nearly everything.
I’m not the most talented person out there but I care, just like all these other content creators, and I think that forces me to gain new abilities or makes up for any lack of resources that might be the biggest difference between digital content and Hollywood content.
GR: Tell us about yourself as a gamer. What are your favorite titles, franchises, and genres? Ascender has done Hitman and Call of Duty series, and you expressed interest in Halo: ODST, Ghost of Tsushima, and Death Stranding, but what other games are you currently enjoying?
SF: My two babysitters growing up were video games and movies, so they molded me into the very odd person I am today.
My first game was Metal Gear Solid on the PS1, which I was way too young to play, but that series (as well as Kojima’s style) has stuck with me ever since. They need to remake that game but we probably won’t get that lucky.
And while it might be basic, I’m a big Uncharted fanboy. Like, I had his Sic Parvis Magna ring forged in silver and I’ve worn it around my neck for almost ten years, it’s definitely my good luck charm. I’m really interested to see what they’ll do with the Tom Holland movie.
Right now, I’m playing through Skyrim for like the fifth time as I impatiently wait for the next Elder Scrolls. C’mon, Todd. We’re waiting.
GR: What do you think makes a good video game narrative, both in the context of gameplay, and in terms of adaptations for different media? How do they differ?
SF: I think it comes down to three things: plot, power and pacing. Plot: An engaging world, interesting characters, art design, etc. Power: The agency a player is given in the plot and how it grows over time in gameplay. Pacing: The marriage of the two in which they compliment, or hinder, each other. They’re like the three pillars that hold up a game’s narrative. For instance, games like Half-Life, Doom, or Halo, you have “silent” protagonists. However, your connection to the game stays consistent because the three pillars are complimenting each other to give you an immersive experience.
This is something I feel is lost on a lot of AAA games now, especially live-service games, beyond any anti-consumer tactics, there is a disconnect between the player and the experience found in older iconic games supported by those three pillars.
Which is why I think there’s been such a shift of adoration from AAA tentpole games towards indie titles and why single player experiences with rich narratives will continue to do well in the industry.
GR: Do you think there is a root cause as to why most video game adaptations fall flat?
SF: If we’re being completely honest, it’s likely due to studios and producers meddling in a medium they don’t understand nor are they passionate about.
You know how movie video game tie-ins were really popular for a long time, but very few of them were actually decent? Most of them felt like off brand versions of pre-existing video games, for instance, Batman Begins was literally a Splinter Cell re-skin. Obviously this was to save on time and budget, however these games never felt like the movies they were emulating because they felt like other games.
That’s been the issue with video game movies, but it’s the opposite.
A studio will get the license to a video game from the publisher and go, “Okay, let’s make a movie based on this popular IP, but let’s play it as safe as possible to we maximize our potential profits.” So they hire a team of people who will execute a by-the-books film that feels like whatever is popular at the time, which is why the Resident Evil and Tomb Raider films of the early 2000’s feel like 2000’s films. It’s also why they are so incredibly far removed from the source material that they lose both the fans of the IP and a new audience because it was a passionless endeavor that felt like a copy of other films.
It absolutely stifles creativity, so you’re left with this disappointing hybrid of a film that no one enjoys. There is a certain lack of self-awareness with these adaptations and when they’re being handled by people who don’t even play video games or understand why people connect with gaming experiences, you’ll end up with half-baked “tie-ins” that are made solely to keep the license of a gaming IP and make money.
GR: Are there any gaming adaptations that you have enjoyed or thought were particularly well-done?
SF: It’s a shame, video game “adaptations” really haven’t had their version of The Dark Knight, which fundamentally shifts how people view video game adaptations like The Dark Knight did with comic book movies. You’ve had a few that have come close, like Need For Speed or the most recent Tomb Raider, but they feel like copies of other films that are popular.
Technically, The Witcher has probably been the best adoption so far, but only it’s tone and style seem to be lifted from the game while the books do a heavy lifting but even it too feels like other shows like Game of Thrones.
I really feel that video game films are the next “comic book” films; you’ve got Uncharted, Halo, Mortal Kombat, Borderlands, etc. So hopefully they’ve cracked the code and this discourse will be outdated very soon. Let’s hope.
GR: For those who are unfamiliar, can you give us a brief overview of Ascender and tell us about what kind of content you are looking to create there?
SF: Ascender is basically just me with a camera and a laptop dragging my friends around to make some fun digital content. My eventual goal is to turn it into a small version of Bad Robot where we’re creating TV shows, movies and some small video games; all while continuing to create original content for our YouTube channel.
It was all born as a Frankenstein’s monster of combing my own production company and the cinematic video game content that I was attempting to create at Machinima, that for a lot of reasons, never got off the ground. But as Machinima began to morph into what it is today, my boss at the time, Jason Dimberg, encouraged me to create.
GR: Ascender currently has a live Kickstarter campaign that has reached its goal. What is priority one for the funds you have raised?
SF: We’re just pumped to have any kind of budget to create these video game short films that we just would not be able to make without the Kickstarter. Right now I’m sitting with dyes on my hands and paint on my clothes as I attempt to create authentic looking samurai armor for our Ghost of Tsushima short all while spending hour researching locations, tracking down VFX artists and trying to find deals on some camera gear we need to create some shots.
Thankfully because I’ve been wearing so many hats for so long there are lot of production and post production roles I can fill myself so we can save on budget and pour every cent into what the audience sees on screen from the talent to the wardrobe.
GR: How do you see Ascender fitting into our current ecosystem of gaming entertainment? There’s only so many hours in the day, and there are games themselves, streamers, let’s plays, machinima, cosplayers, fan films/fiction/art, and a whole slate of big budget film and show adaptations coming our way… where do you see Ascender in that landscape, and where do you hope to take it in the future?
SF: This question has left me utterly sad, haha.
Eventually we want to create highly entertaining escapism with small budgets but high concept, like Blumhouse but for action, sci-fi and gaming adaptions.
But honestly for now, we just want to make some fun content while honing our skills as creators. It’s not about views or making a viral hit, it’s about creating high quality cinematic content for people who will enjoy it, if only to prove that we can be just as awesome as the big guys.
GR: What is your dream project? If you had creative carte blanche and a blank check to fund a specific film or series, which gaming property would you want to work with?
SF: It feels like all the awesome ones are taken, haha. But I made a promise to the Doom community that I will create a good film adaptation within the next five years, so that’s priority number one. Beyond that I think there is a lot of potential in games like Titanfall, Max Payne and even Among Us to create interesting adaptions. However, when it comes to just a blank check and can do anything, I have a really interesting concept for a Predator reboot that I will move heaven and earth to get on the screen.
GR: If you could hit a button, and immediately bring on any fellow creative to collaborate with you at Ascender, who would be first on the list? Are there any contemporary content creators who routinely inspire you?
SF: In the digital scene, I’m a big fan of Corridor Digital and Viva La Dirt League; but I long for the day when I can work with Weta, Amy Hennig and the team at Legendary.
GR: Do you have any advice for aspiring actors or young creatives who are just starting out?
SF: Don’t wait for other people to give you opportunities that you won’t work for yourself.
There a lot of actors and creatives who seem to wait for someone to hand them things on a silver platter. There is a sense of “I’m owed this” is a huge problem in this industry. You have to get up every single day and work harder than you worked the day before and even then there is no guarantee that you’ll find success, much less be able to keep a roof over your head while you’re trying to create something from nothing.
The beauty of being a creative in this time, with YouTube/Twitch and access to gear that can produce Hollywood-level images, is that you’re truly only limited by your own creativity and the work you’re willing to do.
[End.]
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