Ex-Marvel Studios head becomes 'special advisor' at Angry Birds studio

by Ben Gilbert on Jun 28th 2011 1:30PM

The man responsible for the sale of Marvel Entertainment to Disney, as well as for producing a string of Hollywood blockbusters based on Marvel properties, is now a "special advisor" for Angry Birds creator Rovio. David Maisel left his successful position as the chairman of Marvel Studios after just two years on the job to work with Rovio on building "the company's entertainment strategy." He'll be helping the Finnish studio expand into "new areas in the entertainment business," and will also head up any future Angry Birds films as executive producer, in part reprising his role at Marvel Studios.

"I'm very honored and excited to join Rovio ... and the franchise potential of Angry Birds give Rovio the most exciting prospects I have seen in the entertainment business since Marvel in 2003," Maisel overextends in the press release announcing his job appointment. "We welcome his experience and vision as we continue broadening our entertainment production scope at Rovio," CEO Mikael Hed adds, returning the back scratching.

Corporate steam blowing aside, we can't help but wonder how Maisel can compare Rovio's one (admittedly very, very popular) property -- Angry Birds -- with Marvel's decades old stable of properties, but then we're also not special advisors to Rovio.

Source: Rovio

Tags: angry-birds, david-maisel, finland, marvel, marvel-entertainment, mikael-hed, rovio

Reader Comments (40)

Enough of this overrated, unoriginal, cashcow game!

Angry Birds movie?!

-___-

@chocobox
Don't nuke Hollywood just yet... I'm still trying to push a VANQUISH movie upon them, starring Jean Claude Van Damme! In 3-D, of course! Let's keep this diarrhea of the silver screen flowing strong!

this seems like a a very odd career change choice imo....

Thats like being the head of a blockbuster film company and then going to some indy game company....

oh wait?

"Mr. McGee, don't make these birds angry. You wouldn't like them when they're angry."

My gut tells me Angry Birds has had its time and is ready to decline now.. I don't think they can milk it much more

@chocobox
Just wanted to let everyone know that you should plus this guy.

@chocobox

I think the appropriate avian analogy is "regurgitation".

@chocobox If that's the case I think you should go to the doctor pretty soon for a check, she's been around the block if you know what I mean.

@HedonisticKai I think you have just been "pwned" so to speak.

I propose we never refer to them as "Rovio" and only as the "Angry Birds Studio" if only because that's the only thing noteworthy we ever have or will see from them.

@Roto13 I'm kinda wondering what will happen when their next IP, despite being marketed as "from the Angry Birds guys", fails spectacularly. It's like people think Rovio is PopCap.

@radioactivez0r Oh, the only people who think Rovio is Popcap is Rovio.

I don't see what kind of advice they would need: "What should we do now?" "Hmm, let's look at the calendar to see what holiday is coming up next and make a version of that"

@343 Guilty Fart
I'm still waiting for the "Talk Like a Pirate Day" version.

@343 Guilty Fart he specializes in aquisitions. He is going to help them buy other game properties because they are flush with cash and realize they cant live forever on Angry Birds.

@343 Guilty Fart

He's got the background and connections to have angry birds toys and merch flying out the door and probably a movie or tv show too.

If they carefully control the image of their little bird characters and do the right deals Rovio could become quite the household name.

Imagine them making a Dreamworks (or dare I say it PIXAR) film? 250 million customers is a hard number for any studio to ignore.

So in a nutshell that is why they need advice from dudes like this guy with expertise in these matters.

Angry Birds "studio"

please.......

Tried this game the other day for free on Chrome... waste of time. I guess it's easier for people to cope with playing this over Worms which is 100% a better game because this was labeled "casual" and that made it socially acceptable. Seriously anyone who likes this game go play worms... I'd love to see Worms develop an touch screen game because it would be a better version of angry birds. But whatever end rant.

@Grimbear13 It's not that bad well it passes some times I guess but why it is so is that one guy plays it tells he friends and it just takes off or some thing like that.

I can't wait to move to Angry Birdatopia.

Will they have sovereignty over their politic system? I'd like to be in a bird loving nation that respects human rights but with a social focus to care for all. If this is marxist, so be it. It's a nation of f@#king birds.

Wasn't the angry birds movie RIO http://www.rovio.com/index.php?mact=Blogs,cntnt01,showentry,0&cntnt01entryid=55&cntnt01returnid=58

@byaboy
No, Rio was made by Dreamworks. Rovio partnered with Dreamworks to make Angry Birds Rio.

@The Only Girl

Wrong.
Rio was made by Blue Sky Studios, the same company that made Ice Age and the CG version of Horton Hears a Who (they are owned by 20th Century Fox).

There are 3 main players in the CG movie industry:

Pixar (owned by Disney)
Dreamworks
Blue Sky (owned by 20th Century Fox)

I'm a huge animation enthusiast. I know this stuff. Yes, I'm a nerd. :D

@The Only Girl no but it had some thing to do with angry birds look at this joystiq post http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/28/angry-birds-rio-movie-tie-in-game-revealed-coming-in-march/ BTW why did I get down voted for my last post on this article

Here is an advice, Rovio...MAKE A DIFFERENT GAME.

Gezz, I think I should be an advisor too.

I love how these people think that iOS/Android/casual indie games are the future of gaming.

If this is indeed where the industry is heading, then the past 20 years of improving graphics, hardware power, etc. was a waste?

The console manufacturers can just stop making systems, cause clearly the cell phone companies and Apple know where the money is at.

The entire 20 years of progression this industry has made will come to a stop now that casual cell phone games are the next big thing.

So I guess the movie industry should go back to black and white.

These cell phone games are not progressing the industry, they are holding it back. I guess graphics really don't matter. There's no point in trying to improve graphics if the only thing that sells is Angry Birds and other flash-based games.

Yes I'm overreacting, but I'm sick of everyone claiming this cell phone gaming movement is going to push the industry to new heights. What happened to the progression of graphics? The push for newer, better hardware capabilities? These indie games are doing none of that.

@tendoboy1984
No please, go on. I agree with you.

@The Only Girl

I'm also pissed that Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc. can get away with the completely closed operating systems they created for smart phones and tablets. You can only download company-approved programs that you can only get on their app stores.

I'm so glad the PC and Mac are open platforms. You can download whatever you want, from wherever you want. Why are these companies enforcing restrictions on their mobile OS, but the PC OS remains open and uninhibited?

@tendoboy1984 You sound just like the cable companies and studios releasing on blu-ray, amazed that anyone would rather stream low quality video.

This guy's going to kick himself next year when Angry Birds has gone the way of pogs and Furbies while Marvel and all the execs there are making a killing off The Avengers movie and merch. What a dumbass.

I don't see how the concept of bringing a game that literally only involves using a slingshot to shoot birds at fortified, egg-stealing, pigs is as exciting as the opportunities involved with Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Avengers, the X-Men, Hulk, the Fantastic Four, ect. Now I see why Marvel is out of this guys hands and into the caring arms of Disney.

This guy must be stupid. Angry birds and the development company will become obsolete in like 3 years or less anyway. I see more talent and imagination being used in indie games than this game. Angry Birds a franchise? Why the hell is it a franchise how many times will people buy the same game.

@BlueTights

"I see more talent and imagination being used in indie games"

Um... most App Store games are made by indie developers. Rovio is an indie developer. The guys who made Cut the Rope are indie developers. The term "indie" just means "independent", as in not a large corporate studio.

While I am not as against Rovio being called a development "studio", I do think that if they are going to continue hiring such "executive talent" then they might want to do something different now. I played plenty of flash games like Angry Birds on Newgrounds years before it was released.

Unless the executives they've hired recently are all aware that this is just a bubble and they are gonna get all the money they can out of it before it pops.

OH, my God... just... he's so stupid! That's... why so stupid?

If anything it seems the guys who made Angry Birds should be advising the rest of us how they pulled off that cash cow.

@Duke

It's simple.

1. Develop a simple and accessible game.
2. Have it downloadable on a mobile phone app store (meaning everyone can access it, since everyone has a mobile phone these days)
3. Make it either free or just $1 (an immediate impulse buy)
4. ....
5. Profit!

Apple revolutionized the entire handheld gaming industry with the App Store. Whether we like it or not, the App store set the standard (as far as pricing and accessibility goes). It's so easy just to browse the store, download a cheap flash game, and there ya go.

Maybe he can advise them to do something other than porting Angry Birds to various platforms and talking shit about everyone.

Angry Birds

Ex-Marvel Studios head becomes 'special advisor' at Angry Birds studio

Reader Comments (40)

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:40PM Osmium said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:40PM PSN StaticShock said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:56PM foxhound said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:43PM HedonisticKai said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:43PM onan said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:47PM jhpiv4 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:59PM Typhonic said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 2:01PM TheOtherJames said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 3:07PM SynthOno said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 3:11PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:53PM Roto13 said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:12AM radioactivez0r said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:57AM Roto13 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:56PM 343 Guilty Fart said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 1:57PM foxhound said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 3:12PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 3:40PM yomachaser said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 2:17PM Timjoy said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 2:30PM Grimbear13 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 3:07PM byaboy said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 2:37PM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 3:04PM byaboy said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 4:53PM The Only Girl said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 6:45PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 2:58PM byaboy said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 3:11PM SewerShark said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 4:07PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 4:55PM The Only Girl said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 5:05PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:52PM CJ9X said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:53PM CJ9X said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 4:10PM SMan2099 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 4:10PM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 5:07PM BlueTights said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 6:42PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 5:16PM Lerkero said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 5:57PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 5:58PM Duke said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 6:38PM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Jun 28th 2011 7:38PM Jovrick said

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