Jess Lebow
Current Flying Lab Seattle, WA
Content Director
- Manage content team of writers and mission designers for Pirates of the Burning Seas, a Massive Multiplayer Online PC game.
- Provide creative direction for missions and ongoing storyline.
- Develop voice and tone of in-game text.
- Produce print and web-based creative materials for marketing and PR.
- Manage and produce all voiceover work.
- Oversee business development for licensed print media, including strategy guides and fiction publishing.
2005- Arena Net Bellevue, WA
02/2006 Producer
- Produced all in-game voiceover, including managing casting, budgets, voice direction, and recording sessions.
- Managed team of four writers
and cut-scene director.
- Wrote and produced all
high-resolution game trailers.
- Produced all printed
materials, including strategy guides, game manuals, marketing documentation,
art books, and manga.
- Pitched stories to all
major gaming magazines.
- Acted as spokesperson
for Guild Wars and Arena Net in interviews with major game media: CBS, G4 Tech TV, IGN, Gamespy, Play Magazine, Computer Games Magazine, Computer Gaming World.
- Gave interviews to international news media outlets in Korea, Taiwan, Germany, France, and Japan.
- Helped develop print media business: manga, novels, and printed games.
2003- Arena Net Bellevue, WA
2005 World Designer/Story Creator
- Led story creation and creative direction for Guild Wars, a AAA PC game with over 1.5 million sales in its first year.
- Authored story outlines for Guild Wars Core Campaign and Guild Wars Factions.
- Designed game and mission mechanics.
- Wrote all mission and cut-scene scripts, along with high-resolution marketing cinematics.
- Wrote and directed all in-game voiceover.
- Wrote monthly short fiction for Guildwars.com.
- Responsible for creation of large online fan fiction community.
1998- Wizards of the Coast Book Publishing Renton, WA
2002 Editor
- Wrote, edited, and created story for fantasy / Sci-Fi publishing house.
- Created and adjudicated Wizards Publishing style guide.
- Edited two book lines, three fantasy fiction anthologies, and over thirty novels.
- Created story for Magic: The Gathering novels, periodicals, web team, graphic novels, and card game.
- Developed story and content for Dungeons & Dragons
novel line.
- Edited licensed products, including Harry Potter and Pokémon card game guides.
- Discovered and groomed new authors for continuing fiction lines.
- Co-authored multiple movie treatments for Magic: The Gathering.
Published Works & Periodicals:
- Published December 2002: Wind of War, a Legend of the Five
Rings novel (Nominated for both the Endeavor and Origins awards).
- Published October 2003: Return of the Damned, a Dungeons & Dragons novel.
- Published January 2004: The
Darksteel Eye, a Magic: The Gathering novel (Localized into German, Italian, and French).
- Published September 2005: Master of Chains, a
Forgotten Realms novel. (Nominated for an Origins Award).
- To be published Winter 2006: Guild Wars manga, (graphic novel).
- To be published Winter 2008: Obsidian Citadel, a Forgotten Realms novel.
- Television pilot for World Chef, a travel/cooking show currently
in production.
- Game products: Hell in Freeport, a D20 adventure
(Nominated for an Origins award).
- Short stories in: Dragons of Magic, Neverwinter Nights, Realms of Shadow, Monsters of Magic, Realms of Dragons, Best of the Realms Volume 1.
- Game-related articles and fiction in: Duelist, TopDeck, Dragon, Inquest, Play, and CGW.
- Reporting, non-fiction articles, and fiction in: Gerrard's Quest (graphic novel), Prophecy (graphic novel), Long Neck Quarterly,
Caprice, Equinox, Benecia Bay Review, The AS Review, and Black Flag Quarterly.
- Over 200 game-related web articles for: Wizards.com, MTGnews.com, Phyrexia.com, IGN.com, Gamespot.com, Guildwars.com, and Gamespy.com.
- Guild Wars Lore (short fiction) for Guildwars.com.
- Content, names, and flavor text for fifteen Magic: The Gathering card sets.
- Restaurant review column, “Appetite,” in Premier Home
and Garden.
Awards:
- Short story, Assassin's Shadow, selected by readers for inclusion in the Best of the Realms Vol. 1.
- Novel, Master of Chains, reached number two on the Locus
Magazine Game-Related Fiction Bestseller List.
- Play Magazine: Best PC Game of 2005 and Best Action Role-Playing
Game (Guild Wars).
- IGN: Editor's and Reader's Choice, Best PC Persistent World Game and Best PC Role-Playing game (Guild Wars).
- Gamespy: PC MMORPG of the Year 2005 and Top 10 PC Games of 2005 (Guild Wars).
- Computer Gaming World: Editor's Choice Award (Guild Wars).
- Computer Games Magazine: Editor's Choice Award (Guild Wars).
- NPD: 4th highest selling PC game of 2005 (Guild Wars).
Western Washington University Bellingham, WA
BA, English
- Concentration in Creative Writing.
- Member Game Manufacturers' Association (GAMA)
- Member Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS)