EPISODE 32: Aj Grand-Scrutton

Oct 15, 2022

Haha! (imagine this being said in a Micky Mouse voice) This episode I am joined by AJ, who is the founder and CEO of Dlala Studios. We discuss their upcoming title called Disney Illusion Island and what it is like to run a 35 people studio. Furthermore, we get into the design decisions behind making great coop games, what keeps AJ up at night and with AJ being a Disney expert I had to ask about Goofy wearing pants while Pluto isn't.

 

Time – Topic Discussed:

0:00 - Intro

03:08 - Guest topic: Being blessed by a pug

06:10 - Guest topic: Bringing the band back together

08:30 - Revealing Disney Illusion Island on D23

12:22  - Interacting with Disney on the game

20:25  - Hard lessons learned during Battletoads

24:31 - Learning how to run a studio

29:30 - Dealing with responsibility 

32:00 - Winning UK’s Best Boss and Best Places to Work in 2022 from gamesindustry.biz

36:08 - How problems can arise in running a studio

44:50  - Feeding the beast

50:03 - Point and Click Adventures

52:30 - Disney Goes Classical

54:12 - Surviving the loss of a 3 million dollar deal

01:01:28 - The golden rules of great co-op

01:05:04 - Looking at reviews

01:07:30 - Lessons learned

01:19:29 - Outro

 

Things mentioned on the show:

Parsec

Disney Illusion Island - World Premiere Trailer

The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph

The Double Fine Documentary

Noclip - Video Game Documentaries

Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner

Immerse by Lifeformed (Music of the Double Fine Documentary)

Disney Goes Classical

How Dlala survived the loss of a $3m Disney deal by James Batchelor

 

Social Media:

Dlala Studios

Dlala Studios on Twitter (@dlalastudios)

Homepage of Dlala Studios

 

AJ Grand-Scrutton

AJ Grand-Scrutton on Twitter (@dnost) 

 

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Twitter (@youmeindustry)

Dorian on Twitter (@DorianChou)

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Instagram (@youmeindustry)

Dorian on Instagram (@dorian.chou)

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Facebook (youmeindustry)

Intro/Outro by FreshMcZone

Artwork by Thomas Martin (Instagram: @thomas.martin.martin)