Video Games & Films
Here are few game and film projects in which I've been involved.
Visit Zoo Break Productions to keep up with our on-going productions.
Little Potato - 2017 - Short Film
Directed by Wes Hurley and Nathan M. Miller
Executive Producer and Soundtrack – Robyn Miller
Producers - Mischa Jakupcak, Mel Eslyn
Elena and her young gay son escape Soviet-era oppression into a world of pirated American movies. But when life becomes dangerous, Elena decides to become a mail-order-bride to save her son.
SXSW - Grand Jury Award for Best Short Doc - 2017
The response to Wes and Nate's unique vision has been overwhelming. It keeps getting accolades and keeps getting awards. It deserves it!
A Zoo Break Productions film.
Obduction - Video Game - 2017
Original Soundtrack - Robyn Miller
Kill Cash Cow Kill - Short Film - 2015
Written and Directed by Mischa Jakupcak
Edited by Robyn Miller
When Clyde dives into his rollicking diatribe, we don't know if he's an a salesman, a businessman, or a washed up conman, as he offers unasked for advice to a mysterious friend.
Seattle International Film Festival - Official Selection - 2016
A Zoo Break Productions film.
The Hero Pose - 2013
Executive Producer and Editor - Robyn Miller
Written and Directed by Mischa Jakupcak
Cast: Chaske Spencer and Nikki Hahn
In this short film, Mia, a precocious eight year, tries to connect with her father. The film was selected for a number of festivals and honored with a number of awards, including:
Special Jury Award - The Providence Children's Film Festival - 2014
Best Short - The Daring Independent Film Festival - 2013
Grand Prize Award - The Sioux Land Film Festival - 2014
A Zoo Break Productions film.
The Immortal Augustus Gladstone - Feature Film - 2013
Written, directed, edited, soundtrack by Robyn Miller
Producer: Mischa Jakupcak
Director of Photography: Matt Daniels.
Cast: Robyn Miller (as Augustus), Jimmy Chen, Tom Olson, Nicole Hiegh, Mischa Jakupcak
Official Trailer
Robyn blurs the lines between reality and myth in this feature film about Augustus Gladstone, a (fictionalized) vagrant who attempts to find meaning from an immortal existence. But as Augustus unravels, Robyn turns the cameras back toward the film crew, who react. The result: a film within a film – and a commentary about the sometimes dangerous "reality-tv" nature of documentary film.
A Zoo Break Productions film.
Official Selection - London Int. Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film - 2014
Film Quest - Nominated - Best Feature Film - 2014
Establish Zoo Break Productions LLC with Mischa Jakupcak – 2010
Riven, the Sequel to Myst - 1997
Co-designer and co-director: Robyn Miller
Soundtrack by Robyn Miller
"... The design of Riven's gameplay has a graceful elegance that reminds me of a masterfully constructed novel. But mostly, Riven is a thing of singular beauty -- a beauty that has eluded every other adventure game (with the possible exception of Myst) simply because game makers have never asked so much of their creations before. Riven pushes the envelope of what an adventure game can be, not with technical bells and whistles, but with aesthetic ambition."
Myst - 1993
Co-designer and co-director: Robyn Miller
Soundtrack by Robyn Miller
This groundbreaking game remained the best-selling game for almost a decade. It continues to sell on many platforms.
Myst introduced a new and sophisticated sense of space and movement to computer games, using highly advanced graphics and 3D animation to create seamless changes of scenery and an atmospheric progression that led some players to call the gaming experience mystical, even religious. Its immersive quality was a breakthrough in interaction design and video game history. In the 1990s, whole communities grew up around Myst’s puzzles.
Inducted into MoMA Department of Architecture and Design - 2013
Inducted into Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame - 2017
Myst Proposal / Document - 1991
After designing Myst, we tried to explain the game as best we could in this short document in order to make the pitch to potential investors.
Click images to enlarge
Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Suedo - 1991
Robyn - Design and Original Art
Spelunx was a children's world designed to be a component-based, expandable experience. Years later, the internet made me realize I hate that kind of thing. We never got around to making extensions to the world, the most important of which... we began working on Myst.
Our initial release of Spelunx was black and white. After the release of Myst, Joshua Staub converted the game to color.
Cosmic Osmo and the World's Beyond the Mackerel - 1989
Robyn - Design, Art and Animation
In this award-winning children's-game, the player wanders though a seemingly endless universe, hosted by Osmo, a whimsical alien who seems to show up everywhere.
The product was released in two iterations: "Cosmic Osmo", was our first floppy disk release, containing a truncated portion of the universe with limited sound and music.
With the advent of CD-ROMs we went back to work, extending the universe to a greater size.
Among other awards and recognition on Osmo, Rand and Robyn were honored with the Derek van Alstyne Rising Star Award by MacUser magazine
The Manhole - 1988
Robyn - Design and Art
Rand Miller - Coding and voices
The Manhole was Robyn's near-accidental foray into computer games. It emerged out of his experiments with the art and scripting tools of HyperCard (an early hypermedia application program). With The Manhole's point-and-click interface and first person POV, this foundational children's world set the stage for a number of future products.