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10 Game Industry Questions - Jeff Outlaw

AUSTRALIAN GAME INDUSTRY Q and A - 10 Questions with Jeff Outlaw - Senior Associate Producer at Pandemic Studios, Brisbane

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Fullname: Jeff Outlaw

Gender: Male

Age: 39

Current Company: Pandemic Studios, Brisbane

Current Project: Unannounced Title

Gaming Systems Owned: Atari 2600, Playstation 1&2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, Gameboy, Nintendo DS

1. What is your job role where you work and can you explain what it entails?

My current title is Senior Associate Producer, and I handle the Animation and Design teams. On our project, an Associate Producer's role it to facilitate communication among different teams within the project. We help to coordinate schedules, assign task priorities, find out what dependencies exist, and help organize the teams to work together in the best possible way.

In my role, I help both the Lead Animator and the Lead Designer figure out which team member should handle what task. While the leads are busy helping to define the gameplay or helping to increase the quality of the work, I organize the cross-discipline conversations, set up and monitor meeting, stuff like that. I don't get the glory of designing anything or animating anything. I get the satisfaction of watching all of that get done to a high degree of polish because I got all of the obstacles out of the way.

2. What games have you been directly involved with previously?

I have 2 shipped titles under me. In 2006 I shipped Geist for the Gamecube, as the Character and Animation Lead. And in 2004 I shipped Mary Kate and Ashley: License to Drive for the PS2 and Gamecube, where I was an World Builder.

I have worked on several other titles that did not go to ship, such as Austin Powers, a Duke Nukem PS2 title, and a Dexter's Lab title.

3. How did you get your start in the gaming industry?

After five years in the US Navy, I used my tuition assistance to go to art school to study computer animation. At that school, I made sure I befriended as many talented people as possible. After graduation, I landed a job with a military contractor company that was taking tech manuals and creating CD-ROMs of them. I help to get one of my friends from art school hired, and for that year, he hated me. Well, he hated the job, not so much me, but that spurred him on to concentrate on his demo reel. Eventually, he got a job as an animator at a gaming company, and then helped me land a position there as well as an environment artist. From there I worked my way through world building, into concept art, and finally on to the Character and Animation team before joining Pandemic.

4. What has been the most positive experience of working in the games industry so far?

That's tough to answer. It does feel great to see your game on the shelf at some store. I had a cousin that I've seen maybe 5 times in my life come up to me at a family reunion and talk me up on Geist. He had seen my name in the end credits. That was pretty cool. I think I'm pretty rewarded whenever I see a really great animation in the game that one of my team members has created, something that really reads well and has a great impact. Some of the cut scenes in Geist were particularly cool. But overall, I think the most positive thing so far has been some of the milestone meetings with this team at Pandemic, when we are showing all that we've accomplished in the previous push. It's pretty cool to see how things on this project are coming together.

5. What has been the most negative experience of working in the games industry so far?

I had a boss who made really, really bad personnel decisions, and would force me to enforce his bad policies before. That really sucked. I had to eventually go over his head to the owners to make them recognize this guy had no business being a supervisor.

But worse than that, the most negative thing for me has been a mindset that innovation is too risky and expensive to chase. I don't get that feeling at Pandemic, especially when I look at some of the games that are 'behind the curtain'. But in conversations with other companies and other Production managers or company owners, there's a real fear that trying something new will cost them their entire company. So instead they find out what is selling well, re-package it with a new lead character, and then try to sell it to gamers again.

6. What advice can you give to other people looking to get into a position such as yours?

Be sure you like working with and talking to people. The most challenging part of production is facilitating communication. If you are not a good communicator, you will struggle as an AP. And that's a skill that is difficult to grow, because it does force you to recognize what your weaknesses are and confront them. For example, you could have a natural tendency to not like certain terms, like 'lazy'. And then someone could use that word to describe one of your team members. You natural reaction is to get defensive and argue that point. But as an AP, you have to know that that is a trigger term for you, not get into an argument, and find out why that person feels that way about your guy. And then solve that problem. It sounds sappy, but a good producer is very self-aware. There's a whole 'being in-touch with yourself' kinda joke there, but I'll pass on making it.

7. How do you see Australia as a market when compared to the rest of the world?

My time here has been limited, so I don't know that I have a great view of the entire scene. From what I have seen, there are a great many talented and dedicated gamers and artists here who are really applying themselves. It feels like there is a cohesiveness among Australians in the industry, where they stick together. That's a good thing. I expect that this industry will only grow and strengthen more in the coming years here in Australia.

8. Got any good stories you want to share?

Game related....? Once I brought in my pet rat to a meeting with some Nintendo executives that were visiting our office in Florida. We were told that Miyamoto loves rats, and were just working them into our game, so our company owner thought it would be way to endear ourselves to them. But no one told my rat. So when I put him on the conference room table, he decided it was a good time to relieve himself. There were a lot of apologies after that, followed by some cleaning agents.

9. What are your favourite games and why?

Katamari Damacy � That was a game with pure innovation and fun that was hours of easy play. There was no learning curve, and the art style and music was off the charts cool.
Portal � Again, innovation led that game, as well as the comedic elements.
Fight Night � I waited soooo long for a great boxing game. This one delivered with the fighting controls and the ragdoll knockouts.
Resident Evil 2 � It was my first survival-horror game, and I played it late at night with the lights off and in full stereo. When those dogs came through the window, I dropped the controller.

10. If you could meet any gaming character in real life, who would it be and why?

Agent Bryson, from Geist. I'd like to know why he was so damned indestructible, and how did he survive the helicopter crash to make it to the final cinematic in that game. I was on that team, and I couldn't tell you how he survived.

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