Ever since the publication of HUNTER in 2011, I have believed that the story and its hero are tailor-made for multimedia development — as a film franchise, TV series, and/or videogames.
But when my entertainment attorney explored film possibilities a few years ago, nibbles didn’t turn into bites. And frankly, I’ve been of mixed minds about entrusting my stories to Hollywood anyway, knowing how the film industry mangles so many book adaptations — and also knowing that the Politically Incorrect themes of my novels might be twisted by philosophically unsympathetic producers, screenwriters, and directors.
Which is why I was intrigued when I was contacted recently by Matt Cook, co-founder and CEO of Braveship Entertainment.
Matt is an author himself. He’s also a fan of HUNTER and a long-time reader of my nonfiction. His young, innovative company specializes in bringing stories to multimedia platforms simultaneously, as books, films, television series, videogames, even virtual reality. Staffed with talented veterans and experts in all these areas — and focusing on the thriller, adventure, and sci-fi/fantasy genres — Braveship is raising capital for the development of films and videogames.
Future projects often will be spinoffs from titles in its Braveship Books publishing division, which has been enlisting a stable of bestselling and award-winning authors and their works. The book division is run by Jeff Edwards, himself a bestselling thriller author who also is a big fan of HUNTER.
Matt and Jeff invited me to affiliate with Braveship, in order to explore film and videogame possibilities for my debut thriller. That would mean reissuing HUNTER under the Braveship Books imprint. After much discussion in recent weeks and agreement on terms, I’ve decided to pursue this exciting opportunity.
Over the next several months, HUNTER will bear the new logo, imprint, and publisher information of Braveship Books. Let me assure you that this arrangement can have only upside potential for me and for the Hunter series.
It is rare for an author to partner with highly capable professionals who — by virtue of their own writing careers — understand, respect, and aim to protect the author’s rights and interests. It is rarer still for an author to work with people in the entertainment industry who are true, sympathetic fans of his fiction and its point of view. I’ve found both in Matt Cook, Jeff Edwards, and their team at Braveship Entertainment.
We all hope that this affiliation eventually will lead to a multimedia franchise that can vastly expand the public audience for my Dylan Hunter thrillers. I’ll let you know, as developments warrant.
Photo (c) by Debbie Scott
