Games and Art Combine on New Arts Crowd-Funding site

21 March 2013

Games and Art Combine on New Arts Crowd-Funding site Boosted.org.nz

Help Give this Little Girl the Video Game She Deserves

Well-known Kiwi street artist Tanja Jade ‘Misery’ and game studio InGame have launched a crowd-funding campaign to bring Misery’s twisted creations to life in a video game.

They’re seeking $50,000 to create “Holly Melancholy The Game”, an indie platform game for PC and Mac featuring little goth witch Holly Melancholy. To support the project visit www.boosted.org.nz/projects/holly-melancholy-the-interractive-game or watch this short YouTube pitch. Boosted is a new crowd-funding platform created by The Arts Foundation to support local creative projects. Unlike other crowd-funding sites, contributions to Boosted projects are donations and are eligible for a tax rebate. The campaign runs until 20 May.

Supporters of the project will receive invites to exclusive events, an insider’s view on what goes into making a video game, and early access to test and play the game.

There is little government funding for New Zealand content in video games, so crowd funding directly from arts patrons and gamers is required to support interactive art projects.

Tanja Jade ‘Misery’ has long wanted to make Holly more than a painting on a wall. “I first began drawing Holly in 2002 and over time she has grown into a particularly smart, curious, brave young lady with a streak of madness. I have always felt that the ultimate way to bring my characters and illustrations to life would be through a video game. Not only would the characters move but my audience can interact and have control over what they do.”

Misery’s illustrations are known for their creative mix of crazy childhoods, fantastic animals and female empowerment – all which the interactive game aims to reflect.

In the game, Holly must rescue her sisters and the other children of BlackPudding Shire who have been kidnapped by witchdoctor Haggis Fromage for her cat factory. As well as exploring Misery’s unique artworks, players will help Holly collect ingredients to craft magic potions and turn a variety of innocent items into tools of destruction. There will be no princesses to rescue.

The game is being developed by Auckland game studio InGame. “Tanja has already started developing concepts with indie game developers and artists from the Auckland Game Developer Meetups who match her artistic sensibilities well,” says InGame’s Stephen Knightly.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun bringing the world of Misery to life, and donors of the project get to come along for that ride.”

The team supporting Misery have been responsible for previous indie games such as Let’s Make Idiot Babies, The Kiwi’s Tale, Noah More Heroes and Indie Music Manager.

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About Boosted
Boosted.org.nz is the only genuinely philanthropic crowdfunding website for creative projects in New Zealand. It is the only site where donations are eligible for a tax rebate and match donations can be viewed in real time.

The Arts Foundation is using its status as a nationally recognised charitable trust to give credibility to crowdfunding and to the projects that feature on the site. Donors are confident that they are donating to a legitimate project. Artists get the benefit of the Arts Foundation's brand and access to the Foundation's knowledge of philanthropy.

About Tanja Jade ‘Misery’
Renowned worldwide for her graffiti street art and fashion label, ‘Misery’ has gone on to mainstream success. This includes holding international exhibitions in Berlin, Taiwan, Melbourne, Paris and Los Angeles. Misery’s recognition has attracted endless media attention, including a half hour award winning documentary produced by Sticky Pictures.

Born Tanja Jade Thompson in Maryborough, Australia in 1982. Her formative years were spent taunting crocodiles, avoiding giant falling mangos and committing the characters that inhabited her daydreams and nightmares to paper.

At Auckland Metropolitan Collage her love of art was nurtured and she was gifted the name ‘Misery’ by fellow artist Askew. Soon her distinctive characters were gracing the streets of Auckland and gallery walls around the country, including representation with New Zealand’s premiere art auction house Webbs.

Some recent Misery collaborations include: Vitra, Anna Sui, Casio Baby-G, Telecom, Serato and Piaggio.

About InGame
Auckland studio InGame helps organisations apply gaming’s engaging and persuasive powers to transmedia, marketing, education and not-for-profit campaigns.

Director Stephen Knightly is chairperson of the New Zealand Game Developers Association, a board member of Creative Digital Content Auckland, and runs the monthly Auckland Game Developers Meetup. Stephen’s previous gaming clients include MTV Games, XBox, Path of Exile, BigLittleBang, Smallworlds, Indie Music Manager, 2ndCity and training games for several New Zealand government departments, universities and corporates.

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