Matt Peake

Who are you and what do you do at IllFonic?

I'm Matt Peake and I am the Senior Marketing Asset Manager at IllFonic.

What does the Marketing Asset Manager handle at IllFonic?

Well, marketing assets are the source element, so to speak. Those can take shape in many different forms, but one kind of easy to understand item is a press package. So for example, Ghostbuster updates that have come out over the past year or so, there's a trailer or a teaser for each - that's the biggest and most complex item - then there's usually unedited B-roll and screenshots or beauty shots of some kind that show all or most of the things in the update. Then just putting all that together into a press or media package that will then go to press outlets, so they can check it out ahead of time.

Similarly, in preparation for a show such as Gamescom or PAX, Shannon Gerritzen, our Head of Publishing, will introduce me to the third parties running the show and I'll take care of their asset needs. The booth/wall art is always interesting. Another big one is working with Matt Landi, our Senior Release Manager, and getting him the digital storefront assets he needs when setting up IllFonic's games on PlayStation, Xbox, etc.

Given that your role involves capturing creative moments like a movie director would, what steps do you take when planning to capture that ‘perfect shot’?

I try to test things out ahead of time, and the game elements we may need to work with to capture a moment or scene. Are they all working? It's good to know that ahead of time, I've learned that the hard way. Sometimes they're working and then by the time you actually go and record they're not, but it's just kind of a "roll with the punches" situation.

On that note, I keep an eye and ear out for internal resources that help me know if things are working. This is a must. People on the development and IT side, among others, have organized a lot of information related to all these things. So, I try to make small in-roads of communication with those folks when I can. To sum up: prepare as much as possible.

And then sometimes, I've learned when you have a good amount of people helping you record, just record some unplanned stuff; I’ll just record a match or the general setup and then let everyone just go. There's many unintentional or accidentally cool shots that come out of that, that you weren't planning for at all. And just sort of the serendipitous moments can create some really, really neat stuff.

Since IllFonic works with many different existing IPs, how do you approach creating assets that align with an IPs unique branding and tone?

I absorb all the source material I can. It's definitely a big part of it. I try to soak it up and understand it and get the creative juices flowing. “What can I make that is in line with this and is also going to be interesting?”

What did you do prior to joining IllFonic?

I worked in the YouTube world for some years. I was at Rooster Teeth before joining IllFonic and while I was there was video editing and managing a team of editors.

What do you enjoy about working at IllFonic?

There's a lot of things. The people here are really cool all around. Everyone's been so helpful and has given inspirational ideas. I'm blown away by all the different things all the people do here. I should say, from the earlier question, it is not just me making every marketing asset. A lot of assets are me working with people to help to get it made. For example, a lot of what we call ‘beauty shots’ from Spirits Unleashed are from Cole Gray, our Art Director, or someone else on the art team. I’d ask, “We need this, this and this. Do you have bandwidth for this and can you schedule it in?”

And then of course, he was gracious enough to go and get some of the best shots you see of the Ghost types, maps and gear shells. Also our publishing team over here specifically, they help me out a lot with game capture. It's been really cool getting to know and work with everyone in our team and we all seem to get along pretty well, which is such a fundamental thing for making any job enjoyable.

Can you tell us about one of your favorite projects that you have been involved in?

I guess I would say the second update for Ghostbusters and getting all that stuff ready for the press. It's not that it was bigger than the first one, but there was a bit more traction and collaboration. That's when Cole and I really started to communicate about what these assets should be. That's also a project where one of our lighting artists, Chris Sweetwood, helped out with beauty shots of the Courthouse map. So I felt a lot of those key assets are just better because I have these other guys and their expertise helping and everything just came together I thought really well. It was, in my eyes, a big improvement in terms of marketing assets and what we were able to put out there.

What are some of your favorite video games?

How do you pick? There's so many. Whenever we onboard someone new in publishing that's one of the questions in our meet and greet, "What's your favorite game?" I just picked Earthworm Jim. I don't know if that's my favorite game ever but it's one of them that I always just loved. It's so bizarre and zany. Another early one would be Ecco the Dolphin, it has always stuck with me and that was a unique game in a lot of ways. More of a modern favorite would be the Dishonored series. There's something special about those games and I hope more comes from that world in the future.

Do you have any advice for anyone looking to break into the world of Marketing or Asset creation?

Not really, I don't know how I got here. I will suggest trying not to hyper focus on, "I want to do this specific thing." In my experience, I think that narrows your possibilities. It's surprising what other opportunities you might get that relate to the thing you originally wanted. There are a lot of neat and interesting places you could end up working at.