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Axis Studios has produced many incredible game trailers – including that famous 2011 Dead Island trailer, as well as content for Halo, League of Legends and more. We talk to CEO Richard Scott (pictured) about what’s next for the company.
Tell us about Axis for those unfamiliar with your work.
Axis Studios is an animation and visual effects studio working across all areas of the entertainment industry. With our sister studio Flaunt, we have long track records working with the game industry, creating trailers, commercials and cutscenes for titles such as Destiny, Halo 4 and 5, Horizon Zero Dawn, Age of Empires, League of Legends, Dead Island 1 and 2, and Alien Isolation.
When and how did you start Axis?
Axis was started in 2000 and since then has grown and evolved to become Axis Studios, which is made up of the Axis Animation, Flaunt and axisVFX studios. The four original founders worked together in a previous studio and we felt the time was right to go out on our own and prove we could do it ourselves.
To date, what are the biggest projects that Axis has been involved in?
I can’t answer that question without mentioning the Dead Island trailer we created in 2011 for Deep Silver. This was a game changer for us, and it not only catapulted the game into mass audience consciousness, but it also did the same for Axis. Suddenly we were getting calls from Hollywood agents and being asked to ‘do a Dead Island’ to loads of other game titles.
In addition to Dead Island we’ve also worked with 343 Industries creating the episodic series Halo: Spartan Ops, and most recently created cutscenes for critically acclaimed titles Alien Isolation and Horizon Zero Dawn.
What are you currently working on?
We are working on a number of exciting video game trailers, as well as a television show where we are creating an alternate virtual world that fits into a live action show. It’s a real parallel to our work for the games industry and very exciting.
Do you see changes on the horizon for Axis in general?
One of the areas we have been focusing further on are real-time engines. We created a dedicated real-time unit in 2016 and they have been instrumental in allowing us to integrate closely with development teams, work with engine development companies and explore VR opportunities for games and theme parks. In addition, all three of our studios will be increasing headcount and physical space.
What successes have you seen recently?
Our work for League of Legends continues to reach big audiences, which is fantastic. We love it when our trailers get fans hyped. There is nothing better than reading the comments section on a YouTube video.
In addition, our trailer for Dawn of War III has won a number of industry awards, including the A-List Hollywood Awards and Royal Television Society Awards.
No doubt you have plans for 2017 and beyond, so what do you hope to accomplish?
Creative is what really drives us and always has. The company was founded by four artists and it’s really important for us to be telling exciting stories with great characters in exciting worlds and not just making great CGI. We want to do more amazing creative work that really resonates with audiences.
Website: www.axisanimation.com
Contact: 0141 572 2802
