In Part I of our multi-part Q&A with videogame director Cory Barlog, he explained how he met and clicked with Australian writer-director George Miller (of "Mad Max," "Babe" and "Happy Feet" fame), told us why he felt he had to leave Sony Computer Entertainment, and ducked our questions about his first videogame project with Miller. In Part II, he takes us deeper inside his decision to part ways with his previous employer and why he feels that the dominant employer-employee model under which most videogame directors labor is in dire need of change. Read on.

I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it sounded like what you were saying is that you were having a hard time seeing yourself scaling the same mountain that you had scaled twice before--with God of War and God of War II--under the same conditions. Is that a fair description?

Yeah, yeah, The concept of actually doing the game was definitely not anything that I would feel all that leery about. I wasn't nervous about doing it all, but it was about whether to do it under the sort of same conditions. You know, it's not something that was ever really about money. I know there's been some speculation about that, but it's not necessarily about money. The reality that we live in is that when you look at the idea that you are a pretty large influence on something that has turned out to be a several hundred million dollar franchise for a company, but at the same time you're still not feeling like anything more than just a cog in the machine. And that you're still just, "All right, whatever, they're telling you to do; there's nothing different that can be done; go do that, go do that." You're really feeling like you're not [financially] invested fully in it whereas creatively and mentally and physically you're totally invested in it. Definitely for me, it was not something I wanted to see happen to the rest of my career especially me, getting with all these directors on the film side and seeing the way that they sort of run their careers.

Like I said before I know that the industry can't change overnight; videogame directors are never going to be of that same stature of film directors. That's not even the point. The point is just from a creative standpoint, you've got to be in charge of your own direction and really feel comfortable and happy with each of the things you're doing. And I think that also comes from diversity.

The reason I'm asking this is that David Jaffe said exactly the same thing when I was talking to him about leaving Sony and putting together Eat Sleep Play.

Right.

The larger point is obviously the situation that you've described and your search for freedom, but is there something specific to directing a God of War game that takes people and turns them into these ambassadors for change? Is it like the drummer in "Spinal Tap" or something? What is it about the process of directing a God of War game that makes people finish it and say, "I've got to leave. I've got to control my destiny. I've got to start my own thing. I've got to do my own thing."

 Videogame director Cory Barlog

We first met Cory Barlog in 2005, just before the original God of War was set to arrive in stores back in 2005. Over a soul food dinner at The Shark Bar in Manhattan, we discussed how his role as lead animator on the original game had grown to the point where he'd been tapped to fill David Jaffe's shoes by serving as the director of the inevitable sequel. It was clear from our conversation that he was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to work on a truly great franchise rather than some of the games he'd worked on in the past. And after he knocked God of War II out of the park, we were eager to see what he would do with a potential God of War III on the Playstation 3.

So it came as something of a shock last November when we got a call from a source informing us not only that Barlog would soon announce his departure from Sony Computer Entertainment, but that he would be working with veteran film writer-director-producer George Miller--best known for the "Mad Max" series of movies that starred Mel Gibson--on some videogame projects. We immediately began negotiating with Barlog's representatives to secure on-the-record interviews with Barlog and Miller about their collaboration. This resulted in three interviews that we'll be publishing all week on Level Up. First is our Q&A with Barlog, in which he remains tight-lipped about precisely what he and his new partner's first game would be, but goes into great detail about why he felt he had to leave Sony Computer Entertainment. Next up is our conversation with Miller, who gave up the goods and explained why he's become fascinated with videogames. And finally, we'll publish our follow-up with Barlog, who, freed of the burden of secrecy, provided some terrific insights into how he plans to approach his first post-Sony project. Strap in, sit tight and enjoy.

So Cory, how did you get approached by George Miller? Give me the back story on how you ended up working with him.

Wow, it was a while ago that I got connected with CAA, through other people at [Sony Santa Monica]. I think it was just a random emailing from people that somehow got me connected with Seamus [Blackley, head of Creative Artists Agency's videogame division] and Ophir [Lupu, an agent in the same group]. They just wanted to have a meeting, to talk and hang out, and from that it was kind of like, "Well all right, it would be interesting to get you connected with different people." There was never any specific person that we were talking about connecting with; it was just like, "Let's try talking to some people."

So I met with a bunch of different people and one of them was George, when he was in town. It was funny because when I first met him the first thing I said was, "You know, you really messed me up as a kid, flying, because of that 'Twilight Zone' thing that you did." I don't know if you ever saw that, but the whole thing was very, very, very freaky for me and from that point on I hated flying,because of the whole Jon Lithgow, crazy guy, monster on the plane wing.

You mean the "Twilight Zone" movie?

 

When news broke last November that God of War II director Cory Barlog was leaving Sony Computer Entertainment with God of War III, everyone wanted to know what he planned to do next. Thanks to a well-placed source, we knew half of the story, which we can reveal to you exclusively today: he'll be working with the noted Australian film writer-director-producer George Miller--the man behind such features as "The Witches of Eastwick," "Babe," "Happy Feet," and most notably of all, the "Mad Max" series of movies that starred Mel Gibson--on one or more videogame projects.

What we didn't know, even after an hour-long, previously unpublished interview with Barlog that we conducted last December, is what the two men would be collaborating on. That's because Barlog was being coy, so we held off on publishing anything until we could get more details. A January phone interview with Miller took care of that--as did a subsequent follow-up conversation with Barlog--but we're going to take a page from Barlog's handbook and be coy with you, Dear Reader. Why? To let you experience this epic series of wide-ranging chats as we did, in chronological order, and absorb the implications of this partnership and the potential for others like it as more top videogame creators consider throwing off the shackles of the employer-employee relationship for the promise and peril of the independent contractor.

So tomorrow, we'll publish our world exclusive details of the first collaboration between Barlog and Miller, alongside a Q&A with Miller himself. (Trust us--you won't want to miss it.) But today, we're going focus on our initial December interview with Barlog, which centered around his decision to break away from Sony after the success of God of War and God of War II. Some excerpts:

1. KYO...to, Wii have a problem: Super Smash Bros reveals Nintendo hardware issues
2. JAM...ming with thatgamecompany's Gravediggers, created in 24 hours on PS3
3. ALL...your next-gen game revenues are belong to Microsoft--well, 42 percent, anyway
4. DIE...or skate? Can the "Tony Hawk Innovation Plan" save the fading franchise?
   
5. RND...This rough magic/I here abjure: High Score's bittersweet farewell to HBO's "The Wire"