Inception actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt believes that video games, not films, are the future of storytelling. While being interviewed on First We Feast's Hot Ones on YouTube, where guests eat incredibly spicy wings while answering questions, the 39-year-old said that “(video games) feel like kind of the most groundbreaking storytelling".
The actor considers that games manage to convey stories in a "whole different realm than anything we've seen before". Gordon-Levitt, considered a pioneer in online content creation, founded internet production company HitRecord in 2004. He also hosts his own TV series, HitRecord on TV, since January 2014, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media – Social TV Experience.
A fan of games like Beyond Good and Evil, he has lent his voice to games like 2002's Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon and 2009's G.I.: Rise of Cobra. In 2018, Gordon-Levitt and HitRecord partnered with Ubisoft to allows artists and musicians to contribute their own pieces to Beyond Good & Evil 2.
At the time the actor was criticized since the compensation details behind the initiative were vague. Yet he clarified the issue by releasing a statement that read: “HITRECORD has set aside the community payment sum of $50,000 as an item in our budget. That amount will be spread across all the finished songs and visual assets that we deliver to Ubisoft Montpellier for inclusion in the game.”
After their initial collaboration, Ubisoft worked with HitRecord again to call on fans to submit original songs that would be featured in Watch Dogs Legion. To further clear up any confusion regarding compensation, the actor tweeted: "It’s hugely important to me that HitRecord pays artists fairly. Since 2010 we’ve paid community almost $3 million."
Although he has been self-isolating in recent months, in September 2019, it was announced Gordon-Levitt would write, direct, star, and executive produce Mr. Corman a comedy-drama series produced by A24 for AppleTV+. He also stars in Project Power, directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, opposite Jamie Foxx and Dominique Fishback, which was released on August 14, 2020, by Netflix. He will star next in The Trial of the Chicago 7 directed by Aaron Sorkin, set for release on September 25, 2020.
Source: IGN