Business Plans Out-Of-The-Box

Building studio.jory.org was finally an opportunity for Jory to develop organizational skills that he found useful and worked for him.  Since the studio was built by a multitude of friends and volunteers, who all showed up the first day to help, he immediately had to develop sign-up sheets to control the crowds, as well as devise a work schedule that delineated both times and needed skills.  It was the beginning of Jory’s out-of-the-box planning that emerged suddenly following unforeseen need.

Of course, he had to buy an extensive collection of tools for construction.  As they multiplied and scattered throughout the workspace, he purchased a large rolling toolbox in which to store them.  Then, he bought a label maker and designated specific spaces for categories of tools so that volunteers could find what they needed and return them for the next day’s workers.  We had always heard that “Necessity is the mother of invention,” but this was an unexpected opportunity for us to witness it in action.  It was unbelievable, especially for Sam, who historically at home, was always searching for his missing tools. Usually, he found them on the floor of Jory’s bedroom, hidden under several piles of miscellaneous stuff.

Techie Jory designed his recording studio, with the help of his friend Tony, to be highly professional, with cutting edge equipment, surround sound capabilities, and perfect acoustics.  Two sound proof rooms were each built as a floating rooms within a room.  The space between the exterior walls and the live room walls, was built to be wide enough to serve as storage.  Plastic storage crates were stacked from floor to ceiling in this buffer space.  Creatively, he not only enhanced the sound isolation, but also resulted in a built-in solution for storing his off-season clothing, always growing collection of stuffed animals, and seldom used equipment.   Closets, also tucked into the studio walls, contained labeled bins and hooks for often used headsets, Velcro ties, and various cables and wires.  We couldn’t believe our eyes.  It was as if some industrious elf had suddenly snuck in to organize Jory’s life.  At the same time, the 1950’s jukebox and diner booth in the studio lounge, reflected Jory’s relaxed, playful and casual personality, allowing clients to feel at home and do their best work.

 

As studio.jory.org came alive in 2004, it gained a reputation as the best sound studio in the Bay Area.  Unfortunately, the economy severely dropped in 2008.  Foley work for movies became scarce and local musicians who wanted to record, couldn’t find the funds.  Jory evaluated the industry and decided that video games were on the rise and would be a lucrative direction for him to explore.  

He ordered a few dozen purple T-shirts with his studio’s lime green microphone logo on the front and set off to launch his first innovative marketing plan at the International Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.  Each day, he arrived at GDC with a bundle of shirts that he gave away to prospective customers.  In his open and enthusiastic networking manner, he attracted game developers from around the world, not only as clients, but also as friends.  

Original iPhone in 2007

Always a computer guru, Jory had one of the first Apple iPhones, which he enthusiastically touted to anyone who was interested.  He showed it to the small contingent of Norwegian game developers, who were immediately captivated.  The next morning, when Jory arrived at GDC with  his stack of logo shirts, the Norwegians were awaiting him with brand new iPhones.  On the floor of the Norwegian booth, Jory sat, surrounded by prospective, new clients for studio.jory.org.  Systematically, he proceeded to “jailbreak” each iPhone, by removing software restrictions imposed by Apple, so it could be used in Norway.  His generosity opened the doorway to continued success for his studio and career.

 Friends and Game developers in Oslo, Norway

It really wasn’t until we went to Norway, after his death, that we got a true picture of Jory’s ingenious business plan.  Around tables of shared meals, we met with Jory’s clients, colleagues, friends, and students.  They came from all over Norway to regale us with stories of how they met Jory and how he helped them learn about the game industry, introduced them to sound techniques to improve their games, and created pathways to enter the world market of their industry through introductions to his personal connections.  

 Game developers in Bergin, Norway

Over and over again, we heard young game developers say, “He came to my university as a guest lecturer.  I Googled his name and I was afraid to talk to him because he was a celebrity.”

“Why did you think he was a celebrity?” I’d ask.  “He didn’t tell you he was one, did he?”

Jory's early games were framed and hung on the studio wall.

“Oh, no, he looked and talked like just a regular guy.  He was just like us, but his name was on all of the video games that we all played growing up.”

Lecturing to university video game students

Others around the table chimed in, “After his lecture, which was always interesting and funny, he’d come to our classrooms and help us individually with our projects.  He’d sit by our sides, watch our games, and give us cool suggestions of how to make them better.”

Game developers in Hamar, Norway

“He gave us his email address and told us to keep in touch with him,” others added.  “When we emailed him with a question, he always responded immediately with several solutions.  He was a celebrity, a mentor, a partner, and a friend, all at the same time.”

Jory and the Hurtigruten mail ship

Game developers at the Game Jam

“We met him at Game Jams on the Hurtigruten.  We all worked long hours to plan, design, and create new games on the weekend cruises, while the Hurtigruten ships traveled along the coast of Norway delivering mail and passengers.  He worked hard and long hours along side of us as we made some great new games.” 

Jory was always eager to help others improve their games

“He gave us sounds for our games from his personal library and said we could keep and reuse them as long as we used them correctly.”

Little by little, we began to see Jory’s ingenious business plan fall into place like the final pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.  Networking was one of his fundamental tools; his underlying component and secret ingredient was reaching out to others with genuine generosity.  He freely offered to share his knowledge, skills, and resources.  He followed up those offers by jumping in to spend whatever time was needed to help others, both professionally or emotionally.  He was honest, hard working, reliable, approachable, and always available.  He became a partner and a mentor.

Keynote speaker at a Video Game Conference in Oslo, Norway

Speaking voluntarily at professional conferences for audio engineers and video game developers was his test market.  Then, as a guest lecturer at universities across Scandinavia and Europe, Jory put into place his marketing plan.  He educated, personally interacted with, impacted, and impressed students who were becoming the next generation of game developers.  Easily verified by his Wikipedia page, Jory was an internationally known expert in video game audio, whom the students now knew and trusted for their game needs.  In the future, those graduated students would become the professional game developers who would turn to studio.jory.org to record all their sound effects and dialogue.

At the same time, Jory enthusiastically worked with all of the emerging game developers and sound designers in Norway.  He traveled from city to city, usually staying with a friend or colleague, helping them design and refine their games into pieces of art that could compete in the international marketplace.  With the help of his trusted sound engineers at studio.jory.org, he could be anywhere in the world and remotely operate his business by simply opening up his laptop and putting on earphones.

Voice Actors

Jory handpicked American voice actors for the Norwegian games, directed them in the delivery of their dialogue, selected outstanding editors to stitch the recordings together, and praised the fledgling Norwegian game developers for their achievements.  

Award winning game Pode memorializes Jory as a benevolent Viking

 




At least 16 successful video games debuted in the worldwide game market, making Norway a notable contender for awards and followers.  Several of his Norwegian sound designer mentees have won international recognition for best and outstanding audio.  In addition, after his death, many Norwegian games and musical compositions were dedicated in memory of Jory.

Money and fame were never Jory’s primary goals.  He volunteered his expertise to help others fulfill their dreams, rarely asking for payment but often bartering services.  When his friends and colleagues needed professional recording services, they automatically turned to studio.jory.org.    It was a win/win situation:  Jory helped others achieve their dreams and they reciprocated by contracting Jory’s studio to make those dreams come true.  In that way, Jory’s own dream, studio.jory.org, continued to turn out high quality sound, while providing him with the means to travel and help others.  His single, free spirit, bohemian lifestyle required much less financial support than his stationary business with its lease payments, utility bills, and engineering costs.  His ultimate goal was to professionally improve video game sound and have fun exploring the world along the way.  He made just enough money to make it all happen.

At the same time, Jory recognized there were a lot of inefficiencies in the recording and editing of video game dialogue.  This was because the existing tools used were actually developed for film.  Film is an inherently linear process, with one beginning and one end.  While a video game is more like a tree or a choose your own adventure book, where there can be many endings as a result of the hundreds of branches or choices that the player takes along the way.  Thus, the film industry tools in use were too primitive and inefficient when used in video games.

Actors read their lines from an iPad instead of a paper script

To improve the process, Jory started by taking advantage of tablets, mobile devices, and modern, high powered computers.  He streamlined the way tens of thousands of script lines in thousands of video game files were recorded and organized.  Next, he focused his attention on the biggest problem, which was the editing, integration, and testing of these files to form a complete game.   

Jory designed a new innovative system that seamlessly integrated a Mac recording system with a script tool and iPads.  It evolved and simplified the recording process, which was managed by software that reduced production costs.  He field tested his system at studio.jory.org, and found his method and software could reduce the hours and hours of traditional script dialogue management by 80%.  It also significantly improved workflow and team communications.  The result was a simplified, more efficient system that even a rookie engineer could easily manage.  He called his new system Lollipop Audio.

Jory’s enthusiasm was contagious.  He openly spoke with his friends and colleagues about his new system and how he intended it to become an additional business venture, offering the licensing services of Lollipop Audio as yearly or monthly subscription software to video game recording studios.  He knew that this could save studios significant time and production costs.  

"Grab a Lollipop and taste sweet success." Jory Prum

Two of his friends immediately joined the project. Darrell, whom Jory met when they both worked for LucasArts, was looking for a new project after taking a hiatus from working at Adobe, and immediately began the challenge of developing the software.   Michael, with whom Jory co-authored an interactive textbook on ecology, became the chief marketing officer.  Jory petitioned the Norwegian government and was granted funds to field test his project using Norwegian university students.  The project was well under way when Jory tragically died.  Darrell expressed his continued commitment to Lollipop Audio and we gratefully encouraged him to make Jory’s final dream come true.

COMMENTS:  

Click on Jorysmother@gmail.com to send comments.

Jory Prum 2003

I am passionate about my dreams and do whatever it takes to achieve them.

I am a business owner. I have spent most of my professional life self-employed and don't expect to work a full-time job for someone else ever again. I thoroughly enjoy working for myself.

I am a recording engineer.  I am passionate about good recording.  I am a game developer.

I am a tech-savvy person who finds ways to use the tools around me to make life better. 

I am an Apple evangelist, but not a fanboy. I will use any computer available to me, but prefer to avoid Windows. I use Macs for my work and run Linux servers.

I love helping people. I help nearly anyone who asks, sometimes to my own detriment. 

I am interested in finding ways to travel abroad more.  

Linda Birtler
 I don't think I get all the techie stuff, but I can see that Jory made a huge contribution to the game industry.   What  a glorious tribute to his life and work and efforts to help make the world a better place!  It just seemed to be built into him.

Carol Murray

Jory sounds like a really great guy combining  the best attributes, I.e., intelligence, empathy, concern for people, willingness to do the right thing and passion.  I enjoy reading your  blog.

 

John Ansel
We did spend a day with Jory in Norway a few years ago when our Cruise ship stopped at his area and he met us there and took us all day on a great tour.  We do miss him and I really wanted to see him again.

 




 

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