Employee Spotlights Feed

Employee Spotlight: Jenna Hume, Werewolves, and Sharks—Oh, My!

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Jenna and her husband, Kyle, on their wedding day.

This Employee Spotlight is all about the bright and talented team member Jenna Hume. Read on for her thoughts on work, play, and Discovery Channel's Shark Week.

What's your favorite thing about working for Brunette Games?

The team! Not to sound sappy, but your coworkers can make or break your experience at a job, and my coworkers at BG have made this job an amazing experience. We all collaborate on projects well, cheer each other on, and respect everyone's creative voice—I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with.

What's your favorite thing about being a game writer?

Coming up with fresh concepts! I love thinking outside the box and giving our clients new ideas players will hopefully love.

What do you like to see in games as a player?

Main characters with personality—there aren't enough of them out there. I get that we as writers and designers want our games to be relatable, but you can do that while still having interesting characters. A great example is our work on M&M'S Adventure, where the characters have plenty of personality.

What's your favorite movie or TV show? Why?

MTV's Teen Wolf will always hold a special place in my heart. Is every season good? No—Season 4 was horrible. But the good seasons are amazing, and the show is overlooked as a whole due to the MTV label and a mediocre first season. The best season by far is Season 3b (don't ask me to explain how the seasons work—no one knows, especially Jeff Davis), and Dylan O'Brien deserves way more credit for his acting this season than he received.

What's a surprising/interesting fact about you?

I'm absolutely obsessed with Discovery Channel's Shark Week. It's a problem. I've watched annually since 2005, and my family knows not to text or call me while new specials are airing. My favorite shark is the bull shark, because they're problematic and can swim in both fresh and saltwater. Don't ask me my opinion on the celebrities featured in Shark Week; I could and will rant for hours.

How do you like to spend your personal time?

Currently most of my personal time is spent trying to get caught up on Critical Role, which seems like an impossible task and one I almost regret. The internet is scary and full of spoilers.

Tags: Critical Role, Shark Week, Teen Wolf

Employee Spotlight: Dexter Woltman's Duck-Sized Horses!

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Dexter and his beloved pup, Rover.

For our first-ever Employee Spotlight, Brunette Games employee No. 3 Dexter Woltman has agreed to treat us to a look inside his brilliant mind. Read on to see how the Writer | Designer III approaches work, as well as and his thoughts on horses vs. ducks.

What's something about your position you can apply to daily life (or vice versa)?

Flexibility! When it comes to game writing, expectations can change in a moment. Your story has to work to the demands of the game. I take this aspect to heart, and I try to remain flexible in my day-to-day life. I'm an avid planner (seriously, I'm obsessed with scheduling my social life), but I've accepted that it's OK when things don't go according to plan. Sometimes the best things come out of diverging from the straight-and-narrow.

What's your favorite thing about working for Brunette Games?

For my birthday, the team gifted me a Porg lamp. Porgs are puffin-like creatures from Star Wars. I collect them—I have plushies, keychains, mugs, shirts, LEGOs, and custom artwork (I'm not crazy; you're crazy). But it's not just that I liked the gift—it showed how the Brunette Games team took special interest in my hobbies. That's how it always is between us. We're not just an exceptionally productive team, but we understand each other inside and outside of the (metaphorical) office.

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What's your favorite thing about being a game writer?

I love seeing my stories come to life! It's immensely satisfying to play my own content once it's released, and the benefit of Brunette Games is working on a wide variety of titles. I remember the first time a development team created artwork for a character I pitched, and everything felt real. Even if a game's story has already been established before I'm brought on, I embrace the opportunity to put my own stamp on it.

What kind of game character would you be?

I want to be the comedic fool who approaches the player for a totally random, abrupt side quest that hardly relates to the main story. About to defeat a great evil? Maybe you can help find my missing pet rock first—it looks like every other rock, and I will insist each rock you bring me is not the right one. I strive to be this kind of random quester in real life, too. I don't want to be cliche and say I love spontaneous adventures, but I am the spontaneous adventure.

Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or 25 duck-sized horses?

A horse-sized duck. I'm allergic to horses, so the 25 duck-sized horses would quickly overwhelm me and make me sneeze to death. But I'm pretty sure I could distract a horse-sized duck with some bread... I used to own pet ducks, so I know what makes them tick. I also used to own horses and, as you would imagine, the facial tissue budget was very high.

What's your favorite movie or TV show? Why?

NBC's Hannibal! I could go on forever about this show. It's thrilling, bloody, and a little bit gay. It keeps you on the edge of your seat with an evolution of storytelling across its three seasons. It also has a fitting finale, and I always prefer shorter shows with satisfying conclusions than ones that drag one forever—I'm looking at you, AMC's The Walking Dead. I'm still watching 11 seasons and various spinoffs later, but it's a toxic, love-hate relationship. I do not learn from my mistakes.

Tags: employee spotlight

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