EPISODE 32: Aj Grand-Scrutton YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY

Haha! (imagine this being said in a Micky Mouse voice) This episode I am joined by AJ, who is the founder and CEO of Dlala Studios. We discuss their upcoming title called Disney Illusion Island and what it is like to run a 35 people studio. Furthermore, we get into the design decisions behind making great coop games, what keeps AJ up at night and with AJ being a Disney expert I had to ask about Goofy wearing pants while Pluto isn't.
 
Time – Topic Discussed:
0:00 - Intro
03:08 - Guest topic: Being blessed by a pug
06:10 - Guest topic: Bringing the band back together
08:30 - Revealing Disney Illusion Island on D23
12:22  - Interacting with Disney on the game
20:25  - Hard lessons learned during Battletoads
24:31 - Learning how to run a studio
29:30 - Dealing with responsibility 
32:00 - Winning UK’s Best Boss and Best Places to Work in 2022 from gamesindustry.biz
36:08 - How problems can arise in running a studio
44:50  - Feeding the beast
50:03 - Point and Click Adventures
52:30 - Disney Goes Classical
54:12 - Surviving the loss of a 3 million dollar deal
01:01:28 - The golden rules of great co-op
01:05:04 - Looking at reviews
01:07:30 - Lessons learned
01:19:29 - Outro
 
Things mentioned on the show:
Parsec
Disney Illusion Island - World Premiere Trailer
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull
That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph
The Double Fine Documentary
Noclip - Video Game Documentaries
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner
Immerse by Lifeformed (Music of the Double Fine Documentary)
Disney Goes Classical
How Dlala survived the loss of a $3m Disney deal by James Batchelor
 
Social Media:
Dlala Studios
Dlala Studios on Twitter (@dlalastudios)
Homepage of Dlala Studios
 
AJ Grand-Scrutton
AJ Grand-Scrutton on Twitter (@dnost) 
 
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Twitter (@youmeindustry)
Dorian on Twitter (@DorianChou)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Instagram (@youmeindustry)
Dorian on Instagram (@dorian.chou)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Facebook (youmeindustry)
Intro/Outro by FreshMcZone
Artwork by Thomas Martin (Instagram: @thomas.martin.martin)