Game Gallery Amusements

By John Gaudiosi

John Woo is renowned for his mastery of action, directing scenes with a choreographer's artistry that has influenced the likes of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. He also has earned the admiration of many video game makers, some of whom have paid him the compliment of trying their own hand at Woo's techniques.He now is directing his own video game project, a next-generation action game titled "Stranglehold" set to be confirmed Wednesday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005. But more than that, Woo is intent on blazing a path for Hollywood filmmakers to control their own creative destiny in the fast-growing video game realm. And in fact it was Woo's experience checking out the scene at the annual E3 confab a few years ago that convinced him it was time to become more proactive in the game space."I went to E3 several years ago and saw my action style imitated in a lot of other games, and they were not even well done," Woo said. "I thought I should protect my trademark and produce my own video games."That reasoning led Woo to form Tiger Hill Entertainment with his producing partner Terence Chang and entertainment executive Brad Foxhoven. As a hybrid between Hollywood and video game studio, the company's mission is to bring Woo's original story ideas to the video game realm and serving as a bridge between Hollywood talent and the game publishers and developers.