Naysayers may have balked at the proposition of Activision Blizzard founding a production studio to engineer film and TV adaptations of its intellectual properties, but the mega-company has laid out a statement of intent by recruiting renown movie producer Stacey Sher to spearhead the burgeoning new division.
Presiding over an enviable roster of IP – namely Call of Duty, Diablo, StarCraft and the Skylanders franchise – Sher’s first port of call will be overseeing different adaptations of these established franchises across film and television.
Fresh off her stint as a producer on Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, Sher’s career in the industry spans two decades where she’s been nominated for an Academy award twice thanks to her involvement in marquee films. Now, that’s about to transition to video game adaptations.
Here’s the official word from Activision Blizzard:
“Stacey’s immense talent is a great fit for Activision Blizzard Studios, and together we’ll bring Activision Blizzard’s hugely popular intellectual property to both existing fans and new audiences. Our model is unique: we have a rich library of franchises created over three decades with tens of millions of fans, direct relationships with our audiences and Activision Blizzard’s business capabilities, which enable us to operate with incredible efficiency in content creation, marketing and distribution as compared to the traditional studios.”
Stacey Sher joins Activision Blizzard as Co-President alongside Nick van Dyk, a former Disney executive who made the jump to Activision late last year. Indeed, today’s news of Sher’s recruitment is only more evidence that the company’s division is beginning to gain momentum.
After licensing its prestigious Warcraft IP to Legendary Pictures and director Duncan Jones, this new creative venture will allow Activision Blizzard to developer and nurture its proprieties in house. Skylander Academy is the first production of the new studio, and it’ll premiere later this year.
