ABOUT ME

I am an Oscar long-listed narrative designer with 17 years experience writing professionally across games, films, TV, commercials, prose, poetry and comics. I am passionate about games, have 6 years narrative design experience, completed Unreal Engine 5, 4, Cinematics and Unity game design courses, and have worked on 2 published games and 2 x AAA-level projects, so far.

My narrative design methodology centres around achieving consonance with level and systems design to enhance player experience.

NARRATIVE DESIGN

I have experience working on non-linear, interactive games and have experienced the entire game production cycle from page to polish. Pre-pandemic, I worked full-time for Spil Games, Netherlands as a Senior Narrative Designer directly under the Narrative Director, on creating a branching narrative mobile game app called Story Beats. I was the creator of a game called ‘Queen of Hearts’ and wrote eight one-hour game scripts, and co-wrote with a writing partner and writer’s room, another eight––complete with branching/conditional story options with multiple consequences.

I worked closely with the game design and tools team with Articy, to integrate game & narrative into a proprietary system. I also collaborated with the game director, producers and the marketing team to identify a powerful theme and raise awareness of the property to an existing audience whilst attracting new players. An additional skill I bring to the game industry is my extensive cinematography experience, which I drew on when briefing artists. One of the features of my role was to create clear and succinct game documentation, best practice templates, and to borrow a space industry term—“leave behinds”—for current and future team members.

Unreal Engine & UNITY CERTIFICATION

Recently, I made a AAA-level cinematic trailer for a cyberpunk detective game using sequencer, blueprints and post-production software which you can view here

I am also solodev on an open-world survival game called “The Last Son”, and handled level design, game design and narrative design for a playable opening level. You can view the project showcase here

I frequently level-up my game design skills: I completed four online courses on Game Design: Unreal Engine 5, Creating Cinematics in Unreal Engine, Narrative Design Masterclass and a comprehensive beginners course in Unity. I am well-versed with visual scripting for narrative design, and wrote and designed my own visual-novel game: Spacewalker.

Inspired by SF nostalgia such as Space Quest, Flashback, Battlestar Galactica and the novels of H. G. Wells, the game was released mid-2022 and has received a generally positive response from industry peers and the itch community.

WRITING

I’m an Oscar long-listed, award-winning writer with 17 years professional experience.

I began my career after completing a MA in Scriptwriting from Goldsmiths University. I’ve won the Best Screenplay award 3 times at notable festivals, won Cinequest Festival for Best TV Screenplay, and finalled in the global Final Draft contest. My script for the short film Lost Bullets won best screenplay in Mexico IFF.

I am a published poet with Hedgehog Press, have written feature-length comic books and have been commissioned to write full length screenplays, TV series and non-fiction books. Creative England/BFI recently awarded me a development grant to write a British indie thriller which is currently under option, together with a TV series, with a senior film producer of a current hit Netflix show. (more about my writing and travel stories here)

In my spare time I am currently developing a serialised action- fantasy novel and write articles on narrative design on Medium and my blog and also keep a Substack where I write about sports, books and culture (click here)

DIRECTING

I have 17 years experience directing films and actors, making over 150 commissioned productions to date.

I was Oscar long listed for my short film Lost Bullets, which won 10 official selections (including Foyle), and sold the project to iTunes where it has received 5-star reviews and has now been developed into a feature. A recent narrative boxing documentary Corner Kings, was acquired by ITV and heaped with praise by senior development execs at HBO, BBC and Channel 4. I regularly direct commercials for household brands such as Clarks, O2 and Unilever. I have extensive experience directing dramatic actors, animators, voice actors, leading celebrities, child actors, and have choreographed and/or designed fight sequences (see here)

MAVERICKS

I am the founder and owner of Mavericks Storm Entertainment a film production company I founded in 2006, creating narrative-led videos and commercials for brands and agencies. I’ve worked with global brands such as Virgin, Unilever, Boots, Selfridges, O2, VCCP Agency and Timberland, as well as many small to mid-sized companies and agencies. I have invested in camera, editing and sound technology and my equipment is an asset I am happy to bring to any game project.

PUBLIC Speaking

I am the co-creator, host and audio editor of sports & books podcast Reading the Game (releasing Spring 2023). I speak to leading athletes such as surfers, mountaineers and soccer players amongst others, about their inspirational life-changing stories, unique mindsets and extract actionable insights and life hacks for our listeners.

I was recently commissioned by one of London’s most creative universities, Central St. Martins, to give a talk and question-and-answer session to their Masters in Scriptwriting students, focusing on Narrative Design and my first-hand experience in the industry.

I have created programmes and documentation to mentor junior narrative designers and new writers on story structure, plotting and scene composition. I have given a number of presentations to senior stakeholders on films, development and sales pitching, at leading festivals such as Cannes, Sundance and London.

NERD PRODUCTIONS

In June 2022, leading commercials production house Nerd Productions signed me to their roster, as a freelance live-action Commercials Director. You can see the news and learn about my filmmaking process and influences here

And my commercials portfolio page here

RELEVANT Skills

Fluent in Spanish / advanced guitar player / professional photographer and owner of Sony A7iii with prime lenses / boat captain licence (PL2) / advanced snowboarder, swimmer, boxer / remote work experience in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Iceland, India and Central & South America / deep knowledge of Science Fiction, AI, astrophysics, film history, cinematography, scriptwriting & story structure / English & world literature / Podcast writing, producing and sound design

GALLERY

EXCERPTS

Get in touch

mono@mavericks-storm.com