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Neil Druckmann

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Neil Druckmann
File:Neil Druckmann SDCC 2015.jpg
Druckmann at the 2015 Comic-Con International
Born (1978-12-05) December 5, 1978 (age 45)
Israel
Residence Los Angeles, California
Alma mater Carnegie Mellon University
Occupation Creative director, writer, programmer
Employer Naughty Dog
Notable work Uncharted 2: Among Thieves,
The Last of Us,
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Spouse(s) Maya Druckmann
Children 1

Neil Druckmann (born December 5, 1978) is an Israeli-American writer, creative director and programmer for the video game developer Naughty Dog, known for his work in the video games The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. He was born and raised until the age of 10 in Israel, where his experiences with entertainment would later influence his storytelling techniques. He studied computer science at the Carnegie Mellon University, before searching for work in the video game industry. He is also a political activist for liberal causes.

Druckmann's first video game work was as an intern at Naughty Dog. In 2004, he became a programmer on Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing, before becoming game designer for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. He was later chosen to lead development on The Last of Us as creative director, a role he continued during the development of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. In addition, Druckmann has also written comic books. He worked on the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra, prior to the creation of his own graphic novel A Second Chance at Sarah. He later co-wrote The Last of Us: American Dreams with artist Faith Erin Hicks.

Druckmann has received high praise for his work on The Last of Us, and later received several awards and nominations for his contributions, including two BAFTA Awards, a DICE Award, and two Writers Guild of America Awards.

Early life

Druckmann was born in Israel on December 5, 1978,[1][2][3] to Judy and Jerry Druckmann.[4] At a young age, Druckmann's older brother Emanuel showed him comic books, video games and movies.[3] These forms of entertainment, particularly video games by Sierra Entertainment and LucasArts,[1] helped Druckmann to learn English.[2] Druckmann became particularly interested in story-telling, and wrote his own comic books.[3] He moved to the United States with his family in 1989.[1] He attended middle school and high school in Miami, Florida, then studied criminology at the University of Florida.[3]

Druckmann soon became a research assistant at Florida State University, while living in Tallahassee, Florida.[1] He spent a year at the university working at the Visualization Lab[5] within the School of Computational Science and Information Technology, beginning in July 2002. During this time, he began developing the game Pink-Bullet, for Linux and Microsoft Windows, with some friends.[6] At one point, he wanted to be an animator, which required enlisting in art classes, but his parents forbade him from doing so.[7] After taking a programming class, Druckmann realized that it was his preference,[3] and began a Bachelor of Computer Science in December 2002, which he completed the following year.[6] Druckmann moved to Pittsburgh, where he attended Carnegie Mellon University;[3] in August 2003, he began his Master's degree in Entertainment Technology,[6] which he earned in 2005[3] from the Entertainment Technology Center.[8] In April 2004, Druckmann developed the game Dikki Painguin in: TKO for the Third Reich for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a student at Carnegie Mellon, in collaboration with fellow student Allan Blomquist.[9][10]

Career

At the Game Developers Conference, Druckmann met Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin. After Druckmann "bugged" Rubin, the latter gave him his business card.[3] In 2004, Druckmann joined Naughty Dog as a programming intern, before being promoted to a full-time position as a gameplay programmer a few months later.[3] During the development of Jak 3 (2004) and Jak X: Combat Racing (2005), Druckmann continued to ask co-president Evan Wells about joining the design team. Wells restrained from moving him to the design team, as he was originally employed as a programmer, but agreed to review Druckmann's design work if he completed them after working hours. Following the development of Jak X, Wells concluded that Druckmann was skilled in the field of design, and gave him the role of game designer for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007).[11] In this position, he worked closely with Amy Hennig to construct the story of Uncharted, before working on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009) as a lead game designer, becoming more involved with the core writing of the game.[3][8] Druckmann also worked on the original design and story of Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier (2009), prior to Naughty Dog's abandonment of the game; High Impact Games completed development.[12]

In 2009, Druckmann worked on the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra, as writer and director. A prequel to Drake's Fortune, Eye of Indra tells the story of Nathan Drake prior to the events of the first game.[13] Druckmann's first graphic novel, A Second Chance at Sarah, was published by Ape Entertainment in February 2010.[14] With illustrations by artist Joysuke Wong, the novel relates Druckmann's interest in traveling back in time to meet his wife at a younger age. "There's something cute and poetic about that idea," Druckmann explained.[15] He felt that he shares many similarities with the novel's protagonist Johnny, and that "a lot of Johnny's flaws and fears are based on [his] own shortcomings".[15]

Following the development of Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog split into two teams to work on projects concurrently. With one team working on Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011), co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra chose Druckmann and Bruce Straley to lead development on a new game; Druckmann was chosen for his determination and talent for design.[11] Though they were originally set to develop a new game in the Jak and Daxter series, the team felt that they "weren't doing service to the fans of [the] franchise", and decided to create a new game, titled The Last of Us.[16]

File:Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann, PAX Prime 2014.jpg
Druckmann (right) with game director Bruce Straley (left) at PAX Prime 2014. The two worked closely throughout the development of The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

When conceiving ideas for The Last of Us, Druckmann used a concept that he created as a student at Carnegie Mellon University. His idea was to merge the gameplay of Ico (2001) in a story set during a zombie apocalypse, like that of Night of the Living Dead (1968), with a lead character similar to John Hartigan from Sin City (1991–2000). The lead character, a police officer, would be tasked with protecting a young girl; however, due to the lead character's heart condition, players would often assume control of the young girl, reversing the roles. He based The Last of Us on this concept, replacing the police officer with Joel, and naming the young girl Ellie.[17] Prior to directing the game, Druckmann took acting classes in order to "talk to [the actors] in the same language".[8] The game was released on June 14, 2013 to critical acclaim, with particular praise directed towards Druckmann's work on the story.[18] He earned numerous awards for his work on the game, including a BAFTA,[19] a DICE Award,[20] a Game Developers Choice Award,[21] a Golden Joystick Award[22] and a Writers Guild of America Award.[23]

Druckmann later worked on the downloadable expansion pack The Last of Us: Left Behind, a prequel focusing on Ellie's relationship with her friend Riley,[24] which received critical acclaim.[25] He earned additional accolades for his work on Left Behind, including a second BAFTA[26] and Writers Guild of America Award.[27] In particular, he was praised for writing a scene involving a kiss between two female characters, which was named a "breakthrough moment" for video games.[28] He also co-wrote the four-issue comic book miniseries The Last of Us: American Dreams, with writer and artist Faith Erin Hicks. It was published by Dark Horse Comics, with the first issue released in April 2013.[29]

Following Hennig's departure from Naughty Dog in March 2014, it was announced that Druckmann and Straley were working on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016) as creative director and game director, respectively.[30] Initial reports claimed that Hennig was "forced out" of Naughty Dog by Druckmann and Straley, though co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra later denied this.[31]

Personal life

Druckmann currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife Maya[32] and daughter.[33] He became a father during the development of The Last of Us;[17] his daughter was a "huge inspiration" to him when writing the game.[34] Druckmann's favorite video games include Ico (2001), Resident Evil 4 (2005), and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991).[35]

Works

Video games

Year Game title Role
2004 Dikki Painguin in: TKO for the Third Reich Gameplay programmer[9]
2004 Jak 3 Gameplay programmer[3]
2005 Jak X: Combat Racing Gameplay programmer[3]
2007 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Game designer, co-writer[11]
2009 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Co-lead game designer, co-writer[8]
2009 Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier Original design and story[12]
2013 The Last of Us Creative director, writer[11]
2014 The Last of Us: Left Behind Creative director, writer[24]
2016 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Creative director, lead co-writer[30]

Literature

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Uncharted: Eye of Indra Director, writer[13] Motion comic
2010 A Second Chance at Sarah Writer[15] Graphic novel
2013 The Last of Us: American Dreams Writer[29] Graphic novel
2013 The Art of The Last of Us Writer (introduction)[36] with Bruce Straley

Film and television

Year Title Notes
2013 Grounded: Making The Last of Us Documentary[37]
2013 Between the Lines with Barry Kibrick Season 13, Episode 25[38]
2013 How Videogames Changed the World Television movie[39]
2015 Conversations with Creators Web series; Episode 2[40]

Awards and nominations

Date Award Category Recipient(s) and Nominee(s) Result Ref.
October 26, 2013 31st Golden Joystick Awards Best Storytelling The Last of Us Won [22]
December 4, 2013 5th Annual Inside Gaming Awards Best Story The Last of Us Nominated [41]
December 21, 2013 Hardcore Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2013 Best Writing The Last of Us Won [42]
December 21, 2013 Hardcore Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2013 Best Story The Last of Us Nominated [43]
December 24, 2013 Destructoid's Best of 2013 Best Story The Last of Us Nominated [44]
December 24, 2013 Giant Bomb's 2013 Game of the Year Awards Best Story The Last of Us Won [45]
December 31, 2013 The Daily Telegraph Video Game Awards 2013 Best Script Neil Druckmann Won [46]
December 31, 2013 The Daily Telegraph Video Game Awards 2013 Best Director Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley Nominated [46]
January 7, 2014 GameTrailers Game of the Year Awards 2014 Best Story The Last of Us Won [47]
January 9, 2014 IGN's Best of 2013 Best PS3 Story The Last of Us Won [48]
January 10, 2014 IGN's Best of 2013 Best Overall Story The Last of Us Nominated [49]
February 1, 2014 66th Writers Guild of America Awards Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing The Last of Us Won [23]
February 7, 2014 17th Annual DICE Awards Outstanding Achievement in Story The Last of Us Won [20]
March 8, 2014 2014 SXSW Gaming Awards Excellence in Narrative The Last of Us Won [50]
March 12, 2014 10th British Academy Video Games Awards Story The Last of Us Won [19]
March 19, 2014 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Best Narrative The Last of Us Won [21]
February 14, 2015 67th Writers Guild of America Awards Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing The Last of Us: Left Behind Won [27]
February 20, 2015 IGN AU Black Beta Select Awards 2014 Best Storytelling The Last of Us: Left Behind Won [51]
March 12, 2015 11th British Academy Video Games Awards Story The Last of Us: Left Behind Won [26]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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