EXCLUSIVE: British director Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull is adapting the primary sport from his new transmedia firm right into a TV collection, and dealing on a second season of his YouTube chat present.
Dulull, who can be a screenwriter and video games developer, instructed 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 undertaking from his Past the Pixels label.
“From an trade standpoint, in the event you take a look at the newest information about Amazon MGM growing a collection based mostly 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 mentioned. “My subsequent undertaking, Astro Burn, is a major instance. Whereas it’s my debut indie sport, 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 reminiscent of Bitmap Books, Hyperkin, Razer, MyArcade and others that match the Past the Pixels content material model.”
The collection is deliberate to have a definite pixel artwork aesthetic – just 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 residence after an interstellar mission, solely to seek out Earth surrounded by a mysterious construction and the one approach to the floor being by it. “This sport 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 essential position, with the likes of Fallout, Tomb Raider and Twisted Metallic simply three examples. “We’re already seeing a shift,” mentioned Dulull. “Hollywood producers are paying shut consideration to rising sport IPs with sturdy neighborhood engagement or excessive Steam wishlist rankings, getting concerned earlier than the sport even ships. This accelerates the pipeline for TV growth.”
Dulull argued that the video video games sector, which is able to bag estimated collective revenues of over $522B in 2025, has been higher at connecting with audiences and fanbases, and that this is able to inform Past the Pixel going forwards.
“What video games have always performed higher than movie and TV is construct neighborhood,” he mentioned. “At Past The Pixels, that’s a core pillar: partaking audiences early within the artistic course of using platforms like Discord, Reddit, etcetera, in order that they turn into a part of the journey. That sort of natural involvement results in stronger, extra significant connections with the IP.
“This convergence isn’t simply artistic – it’s additionally structural. We’re constructing tasks with aligned artistic, technical and possession fashions throughout movie, TV, video games, and even comics.”
For Past the Pixels, Dulull mentioned this might even affect casting. “Even casting methods could lean into the influencer area – as a result of if we’re creating content material for at the moment’s audiences, we have to meet them the place they’re: YouTube, Twitch, Roblox, and past,” he mentioned.
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 deal with turning into “boutique transmedia studio dedicated to shaping the way forward for storytelling throughout movie, animation, gaming and TV collection” – very like Past the Pixels in some methods, however now with a shifted focus.
“I’m genuinely enthusiastic about this new chapter,” mentioned Dulull. To make clear, the cut up was amicable, as we each needed various things as producers, while the trade modified and shifted over time, so did our pursuits as producers. I’ve an enormous quantity of respect for Paula and can all the time have, so if a undertaking crosses our paths then certain we might 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 tasks, however total, I’m intentionally taking a non-traditional route,” he added. “The outdated methods of financing content material are damaged – we’d like new, versatile fashions that align with how audiences uncover and help content material at the moment.”
One other undertaking within the works is a second season of the Past the Pixels chat present, whose first season featured the likes of The Strolling Lifeless actress Sarah Wayne Callies. Dulull mentioned “the fantastic thing about platforms like YouTube” was the info they supply informs producers on how you can make format tweaks and form technique. He added “a number of transmedia tasks are in lively growth,” past the introduced slate.
