Archive for the ‘Tie-in projects’ Category

Great Scott! The Back to the Future Little Golden Book Is Out NOW!

1/3/23

Hey, everybody! Happy New Year, aka Happy two days after Public Domain Day, aka Happy December 34th! (It would be December 34th, if it wasn’t for stupid January. Thanks for nothing, January!) Guess what? I have some news! 

Over the past several years, I’ve written quite a few Little Golden Books for Penguin Random House. Some of them are adaptations of famous movies. Most recently, I wrote The Back to the Future Little Golden Book, which came out today from PRH.

As you may have guessed based on the title, it’s an adaptation of the classic 1985 film Back to the Future, written as a Little Golden Book for very young readers.

Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies and I saw it SO many times when I was a kid (ask me some time about my childhood theory that the movie is a loose adaptation of The Hobbit). So it was a real thrill to write this book.

The Back to the Future Little Golden Book was illustrated by the brilliant Meg Dunn.

And much like The E.T. Little Golden Book (which I also wrote), The BTTF LGB is not just a Little Golden Book, but a Funko Pop Little Golden Book! That means that Meg Dunn drew all of the characters in the iconic, super-adorable Funko Pop style.

Also…

Check out the book’s page on the Penguin Random House site.

Check out the Amazon page for the book.

And you can buy it via the official Back to the Future site.

Find out more about some of the other books I’ve written for Penguin Random House.

 

“Dame Time: Ogden” Livestream Walkthrough

10/30/22

Check out this livestream walkthrough of Dame Time: Ogden! I wrote the story bible, plot outline, and character dialogue for the game. The walkthrough starts at the 7:40 mark! 

The Legend of Dominic Hatch

10/27/22

Dominic Hatch was a man with a dream. But what was that dream? And who on Earth was Dominic Hatch?

In order to answer those questions, you have to play a video game called Dame Time: Ogden.

I wrote the story bible, plot outline, and character dialogue for Dame Time: Ogden. And Dominic Hatch figures quite prominently in the story bible, as he plays a huge role in the backstory and lore of the game.

Once you begin playing the game, you’ll see that many of the people you meet have a very strong opinion about Dominic. They’ll explain who he was, why he was so important, what his legacy is, and how he shaped the world of Dame Time: Ogden.

When you explore a certain area in the game, you’ll see a framed portrait of Dominic Hatch. I can’t say where you’ll find it; that would be telling. Besides, I think it’s more fun if you look for it as you play the game, and find it on your own. But it looks like this:

And that portrait is (loosely) based on a rough sketch I drew which looks like this:

Now, I wasn’t part of the art team for Dame Time: Ogden. My responsibilities were strictly limited to the game’s narrative, lore, worldbuilding materials, dialogue, plot, and other story-driven components.

However, in the early days of my writing career, I supplemented my income by drawing one-panel gag cartoons for magazines (e.g. Nickelodeon Magazine, Fortean Times, etc). And I do have formal training as an artist. So occasionally, when I’m working on a project and I’m trying to describe a character I’ve created to the rest of the team I’m working with, it’s just easiest to hand them a drawing and say, “And the character looks like this.” Then they look at the drawing and say, “Ohhhh, okay. Now I get it.” Because sometimes a simple pencil sketch can communicate more about someone than a thousand eloquently written words. (And yes, I realize I’ve basically just said “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” Which is a very clichéd expression. But sometimes, clichés are true.) 

Anyway, that’s the rough sketch I gave to the art team, who then used it as the basis for the framed portrait of Dominic which they created. A portrait that you’ll find…somewhere in the game. Think you can find it? 

Dame Time: Ogden was developed by MetaVenture Studios, the gaming division of Grow Your Base. The game launched last month, as part of The Sandbox Alpha Season 3! And you can play Dame Time: Ogden by clicking HERE.

You can also visit the official Dame Time: Ogden website by clicking HERE.

Oh! And you can find out about the other video game projects I’ve worked on by clicking HERE

 

Sequential Crush Podcast Interview!

10/18/22

Recently, I was a guest on the Sequential Crush podcast, hosted by author and comics historian Jacque Nodell. We talked about my writing career, my creative influences, and more. I had a fantastic time talking to Jacque, and I hope you enjoy listening to the episode! 

Here’s Jacque’s description of the episode, from the Sequential Crush site:

“Join me for the first Sequential Crush podcast interview with writer Arie Kaplan. Arie has written for it all — TV, comics, magazines, and books, and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Arie shares how he broke into pop culture writing, how he made a move from intern to professional, and he divulges his inspirations, faves, and dream projects.”

You can check out the interview HERE.

 

Please contact me if you want to use this for any reason. arie@ariekaplan.com