EXCLUSIVE: British director Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull is adapting the primary recreation from his new transmedia firm right into a TV sequence, and dealing on a second season of his YouTube chat present.
Dulull, who can be a screenwriter and video games developer, informed Deadline that he’s in talks with companions about an animated TV adaptation of Astro Burn, which was introduced earlier this 12 months as the primary venture from his Past the Pixels label.
“From an business perspective, when you have a look at the latest information about Amazon MGM growing a sequence primarily based on the sport Break up Fiction, and the superb work my associates at [Tomb Raider TV series producer] Story Kitchen are doing, transmedia is now a part of the IP creation course of in movie and TV,” he stated. “My subsequent venture, Astro Burn, is a first-rate instance. Whereas it’s my debut indie recreation, we’re already growing it in parallel as a TV present idea and speaking to producing companions about it this early on.”
He added he was “constructing strategic alliances with shopper manufacturers akin to Bitmap Books, Hyperkin, Razer, MyArcade and others that match the Past the Pixels content material model.”
The sequence is deliberate to have a definite pixel artwork aesthetic – much like the video games of earlier period consoles.
In an YouTube announcement video, Dulull has described Astro Burn has a “side-scrolling bullet hell shoot ’em up” that may launch on PCs by way of the Steam engine later this 12 months, with cell variations following “shortly after.”
It follows a sassy, wisecracking astronaut who’s returning dwelling after an interstellar mission, solely to seek out Earth surrounded by a mysterious construction and the one technique to the floor being by it. “This recreation is a love letter to the basic console shooters” Dullul “grew up obsessing over,” he added.
As TV and movie producers search new methods of growing and funding content material, online game IP has taken on an more and more vital position, with the likes of Fallout, Tomb Raider and Twisted Metallic simply three examples. “We’re already seeing a shift,” stated Dulull. “Hollywood producers are paying shut consideration to rising recreation IPs with sturdy group engagement or excessive Steam wishlist rankings, getting concerned earlier than the sport even ships. This accelerates the pipeline for TV improvement.”
Dulull argued that the video video games sector, which can bag estimated collective revenues of over $522B in 2025, has been higher at connecting with audiences and fanbases, and that this might inform Past the Pixel going forwards.
“What video games have continually achieved higher than movie and TV is construct group,” he stated. “At Past The Pixels, that’s a core pillar: partaking audiences early within the inventive course of using platforms like Discord, Reddit, etcetera, so that they turn out to be a part of the journey. That sort of natural involvement results in stronger, extra significant connections with the IP.
“This convergence isn’t simply inventive – it’s additionally structural. We’re constructing initiatives with aligned inventive, technical and possession fashions throughout movie, TV, video games, and even comics.”
For Past the Pixels, Dulull stated this might even impression casting. “Even casting methods might lean into the influencer house – as a result of if we’re creating content material for in the present day’s audiences, we have to meet them the place they’re: YouTube, Twitch, Roblox, and past,” he stated.
New Chapter
Dulull exited his earlier firm, HaZimation, earlier this 12 months. HaZimation co-founder Paula Crickard went on to rebrand the corporate as Atelier 11 with a concentrate on changing into “boutique transmedia studio dedicated to shaping the way forward for storytelling throughout movie, animation, gaming and TV sequence” – very like Past the Pixels in some methods, however now with a shifted focus.
“I’m genuinely enthusiastic about this new chapter,” stated Dulull. To make clear, the break up was amicable, as we each needed various things as producers, while the business modified and shifted through the years, so did our pursuits as producers. I’ve an enormous quantity of respect for Paula and can at all times have, so if a venture crosses our paths then certain we may collaborate, however proper now we’re each on two totally different trajectories in our careers and firms.”
Past the Pixels is being bootstrapped by Dulull himself, with funds raised from his debut characteristic movie, The Past from 2018, nonetheless producing income. “I even have a number of strategic companions serving to to finance particular initiatives, however total, I’m intentionally taking a non-traditional route,” he added. “The outdated methods of financing content material are damaged – we want new, versatile fashions that align with how audiences uncover and assist content material in the present day.”
One other venture within the works is a second season of the Past the Pixels chat present, whose first season featured the likes of The Strolling Useless actress Sarah Wayne Callies. Dulull stated “the fantastic thing about platforms like YouTube” was the info they supply informs producers on tips on how to make format tweaks and form technique. He added “a number of transmedia initiatives are in energetic improvement,” past the introduced slate.
