game-of-thrones

According to an interview with the New York Times, George R.R. Martin’s former personal assistant, Ty Franck, has partnered with Telltale Games as a story consultant for the developer’s upcoming adaptation of Game of Thrones. Also notable is that, in addition to his direct work with Martin’s series, Franck is also one-half of the Hugo Award-nominated “James S.A. Corey”, a pseudonym shared by him and Daniel Abraham, under which they write The Expanse, a popular science fiction series.

“Telltale has a story consultant assigned by HBO,” The New York Times reported, “the science-fiction author Ty Corey Franck, who is the personal assistant to George R. R. Martin, the author of the books that inspired the TV series and an executive producer on the show.” Franck has experience with adaptations from both sides of the table, having recently published, as James S.A. Corey, a Star Wars Legends novel, Honor Among Thieves.

Franck has joined with Telltale during the pre-production stage, presumably to help with story and character development, which are key to the success of the company’s adaptations. There have been adaptations of Martin’s work in the past, most of which are considered failures or only minor footnotes by A Song of Ice and Fire fans, but Franck’s involvement is another in a long line of decisions that suggests that Telltale is on a road to success.

Prior to Game of Thrones, Telltale has produced critically and commercially successful adaptations of many beloved franchises, including The Walking Dead, Monkey Island, and Fables. Dan Connors, a founder of Telltale, explains how the company has been successful in their adaptations of beloved franchies, where so many other companies fail. “We’re solving problems on a story level that other game companies don’t even realize are problems,” he told the New York Times. “We’re approaching this like it was a film or television series.”

HBO’s Josh Goodstadt is confident in Telltale ability to handle one of television’s largest IPs. “We were struck by the sophisticated level of work and high-quality approach to storytelling in all of their games,” he told the New York Times. “We quickly recognized that this same level of quality and dedication could be a great complement to the richness of Game of Thrones.”

Discussion
  • Mike May 2, 2014 at 8:41 am

    (Walking Dead, not Talking Dead)

  • Aidan Moher May 2, 2014 at 8:54 am

    That’s why you shouldn’t write/edit posts before you’ve finished your first coffee of the day! Thanks, Mike.

  • peterbound May 2, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    That’s great. Ty’s an awesome dude.