Minecraft: The Story of Mojang (2012)
When Minecraft was released in 2009, it was just a video game with a loyal following. Today, Minecraft is the best selling video game of all time (with an estimated 238 million copies), has a collaborative toy line with Lego, a film adaptation being released through Warner Brothers, a clothing line at Target, multiple annual fan conventions, and so much more. It’s a cultural institution that your younger sibling or kid has no doubt heard about. Mojang, the company that created Minecraft, was purchased by Microsoft in 2014 for $2.5 billion.
In 2011, 2 Player Productions reached out to me to see if I’d like to work on a feature-length documentary they were working on alongside Mojang, entitled Minecraft: The Story of Mojang. They had just completed their Kickstarter campaign for the project, raising over $200,000 to produce the documentary. I jumped at the opportunity to work with the documentary filmmakers, knowing them from their previous work in the music world, documenting some of my favorite experimental electronic musicians in Reformat the Planet. The partnership resulted in months of audio production (mixing, mastering, sound design) for the feature-length film, marketing materials, and bonus features that would appear on the beautifully crafted DVD set, produced and distributed by Fangamer. It was a ton of work that involved huge file sizes, massive clients, and the occasional flattering accolade.
This project required audio production for
Feature Film (104 minutes)
Family-friendly audio track (alternative to the standard audio track, which contains some strong language)
Kickstarter Proof-of-Concept Short
"The Making of Scrolls" 3-part series
4J Studios: Porting the Game
Deleted Scenes
Notch, The Final Interview
Trailers
The documentary went on to find distribution on national television, as well as the in-flight entertainment streaming on Virgin Airlines. It was also featured as the debut release on Microsoft’s live film-streaming service on their XBOX360 console in 2012.