Official Press Release
Valiant Entertainment, the character-based entertainment company with more than 1,500 characters in its library, including X-O Manowar, Harbinger, Bloodshot and Shadowman, today announced the appointment of franchise producer and transmedia visionary Jeff Gomez as Transmedia Producer & Creative Consultant. Gomez has consulted extensively on such blockbuster properties as Avatar, Transformers, Halo and Pirates of the Caribbean. The addition of one of transmedia's originators and leaders confirms Valiant's commitment to align with itself with quality creative forces in the industry. Gomez's announcement follows recently announced Valiant Chairman Peter Cuneo, the former Marvel Entertainment CEO and Vice Chairman, Publisher Fred Pierce, the former Wizard Entertainment President, and Vice President - Executive Editor Warren Simons, a former critically acclaimed Marvel Entertainment Editor whose work has been nominated for 21 major industry awards. The appointment of Gomez will also help Valiant to re-introduce one of the world's most renowned and popular comic book superhero universes across multiple media platforms-films, television, video games and other digital formats- and beyond comics.
Originally founded in 1989, Valiant became one of the most successful comic book companies in history by creating a unique and compelling sophisticated superhero universe and focusing on high quality character-driven stories. The Valiant characters have sold 80 million comic books and grossed $200 million in comic book sales. Valiant characters have been written and illustrated by many legendary creators, such as Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, Barry Windsor-Smith, Joe Quesada, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch, Steve Ditko, Mike Mignola, among many others. The Valiant Universe will be reintroduced in comic books beginning in 2012, and Valiant will begin announcing developments on its slate of major motion picture projects soon.
With an eye toward leveraging the properties across an array of media touchpoints, Gomez will participate in the innovation and revitalization of the Valiant Universe mythology with the Valiant Entertainment creative team and notable comic book writers and artists. Gomez is co-founder and current CEO of the groundbreaking production company Starlight Runner Entertainment, credited with the development of many highly successful franchises, and Starlight Runner will also produce the "bible" that current and future creatives, movie studios, video game and mobile app developers, book publishers and other licensees will use to ensure clarity and consistency for all Valiant content and products in all media forms.
"Jeff's intimate association with the Valiant Universe and his expertise in transmedia, producing a number of the world's leading entertainment franchises, will ensure Valiant fans are given the powerful and compelling multi-media experience they want and deserve," said Jason Kothari, CEO of Valiant Entertainment. "I'm looking forward to introducing the Valiant characters further into the mainstream and with stars like Jeff, we are well-poised to activate the Valiant characters in all media forms."
The move marks the first time that a fictional universe that has had a profound impact on entertainment is being relaunched using the transmedia techniques created by Gomez and Starlight Runner. These same techniques have been used to extend some of the world's most successful movie and video game franchises. Gomez and his team will also be advising Valiant on best practices to maximize the impact of the Valiant Universe characters in film, television, interactive- and social media.
"The Valiant universe is one that I love dearly, and with its many characters and interwoven storylines it offers limitless possibilities across a variety of media platforms," said Gomez. "The iconic heroes and powerful themes of Valiant have the potential to resonate with a new generation of fans, a global and interconnected audience that wants to be reached through the technology of their choice. I feel privileged to help recast a story I know so well in a new and exciting light - the Valiant story."
"Jeff has been such as important part of Valiant's history, I'm excited to have him continue into its future," said Co-Founder Dinesh Shamdasani.
Gomez helped create the first Valiant Universe as a writer and editor and continued on when Acclaim purchased the company. He has a strong affinity with the brand and with the company. In the years following his work with the first Valiant, Gomez helped to pioneer the growing field of transmedia production - a discipline that has become so integral to modern storytelling that the Producer's Guild of America recently added "Transmedia Producer" to its list of film credits. Transmedia allows storytellers to expand beyond former creative limits, now weaving tales that flow across multiple media channels.
In 2009, Gomez and his team were tasked by 20th Century Fox to work directly on James Cameron's Academy Award-winning science fiction 3D motion picture, Avatar. Gomez's work with Starlight Runner has also helped develop and extend the story worlds of and drive fan engagement for franchises like Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron Legacy, Hasbro's Transformers, Microsoft's Halo and Happiness Factory for the Coca-Cola Company.
As he has done with these other successful properties, Gomez will help define the core values behind the Valiant characters and redefine the parameters of their universe, allowing for stories to best leverage the various media in which they are to appear. He joins a management team of experienced industry stalwarts with the intention of ensuring that these new stories adhere to the same high level of quality storytelling for which the Valiant brand is well known.
"I'm excited to be a part of the world-class team that has been put together to deliver the distinct essence of Valiant to an audience interested in exploring the nature of heroism in today's and tomorrow's world," added Gomez. "Like so many loyal and patient Valiant fans, this is something I've been looking forward to for a long time."
About Valiant Entertainment
Valiant Entertainment is a character-based entertainment company that owns and controls some of the most cherished comic characters ever created across all media, including films, television, video games, new media, publishing, and consumer products. Since their creation in 1989, Valiant characters have sold 80 million comic books and have been the basis of a number of successful video game franchises. Valiant's extensive library includes over 1,500 characters, such as X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, and Ninjak. Visit www.ValiantEntertainment.com.