I represent a (U.S.) celebrity actor who has a very distinct persona. We have a number of ideas for iPhone apps that could be developed using their character. Are there established companies that develop iPhone games who would be interested in a celebrity partnership or tie in? Is there a market for such things. This would be a new venture for them and they are concerned about putting themselves into this arena. I am somewhat technical so I could probably provide a functional design spec based on some of our ideas. The question is would a distinct celebrity add value to a development company? If so, what companies should I approach and what's the best way to do it? Thanks so much in advance for your help. Diane
I think a celebrity tie-in could definitely work for the right app and the right celeb. Some celebrity apps that I can find: I Am T-Pain: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-am-t-pain/id314652382?mt=8 Jamie Oliver: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/20-minute-meals-jamie-oliver/id318926433?mt=8 Chuck Norris: Bring on the Pain!: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chuck-norris-bring-on-the-pain/id334688738?mt=8 Selena Gomez Quizzle: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/selena-gomez-quizzle/id362906225?mt=8 Lady Gaga Revenge: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lady-gaga-revenge/id318472766?mt=8 Taylor Swift: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/taylor-swift/id356664887?mt=8 (Madonna & Linkin Park have similar apps)
Just as long as it's not Pauly Shore. Or Andy Dick. But seriously... most celebrities have an agent. Doesn't his or her agent know who to call about this?
Ofcourse it would pay off! There are thousands of teens out there who would love to have a celeb based app. Justin bieber has one, Stephen fry, inbetweeners, fonejacker etc all have one.
Exactly. I know an entertainment lawyer who works in the game industry (largely making connections between various business entities), and a young animator who worked on huge hits at three major studios (The Sims, The Force Unleashed, and Halo:Reach) before writing a very well-known iPhone game. These guys are serious industry pros, and neither one of them would go looking for this kind of information on TouchArcade... because they already know who to call.
Seems to me like the celebrity has nothing to do with gaming (beyond knowing that he wants to use his likeness in a game). Considering how many crap tie-games we've seen on this platform (The Expendables being just the latest one) it seems to me more likely that an talent agent would not know who to call to make a decent iPhone app. In answer to the OP's question, the best way to approach this is probably to get a clear idea of the type of app your client wants to make, find the best examples of that type of app in the App Store, then contact the developer -- if they can't do it, they will likely be able to recommend someone who can.
Believe me, they know who to call. And if they don't, they know a guy who does. They don't need to go online. Cripes, man, you can spit in any restaurant in Hollywood and hit a web/iPhone dev. Movie tie-in games aren't lame because the developers were... they're lame because of the process you have to go through to get a thing like that done.
I disagree: compare the iPhone game for Kick-Ass to the one for Predators. Both were films produces by "cool" indie folk. On Kick-Ass, the producers worked with a developer with zero track record on the platform and ended up delivering a steaming pile of a game. In contrast, Troublemaker Studios hired Angry Mob (of Guerilla Bob) fame and delivered a competent (maybe even good) game. I happen to have some knowledge about Hollywood agent/producer types (my best friend has had 4 of his books optioned) and I can tell you with confidence that, in general, they're a pretty clueless bunch. The only thing that surprises me about the OP (if he's for real) is that he's bothering to do any research at all.
