MakeMake is proud to announce the studio’s newest division—Narrative Design & World Building. Leading this department as is Alex McDowell, RDI, a prolific designer widely recognized as the originator of world-building as a narrative design system. Joining him is Kate Berry who now serves as Managing Director and Head of Narrative Design.
The Narrative Design & World Building department will address the complexity of Reenchantment as a core philosophical driver of storytelling, with narrative design serving as the connective tissue across disciplines, platforms, and technologies.
Alex McDowell, RDI, has been working in narrative design since 1975, with his practice spanning music videos, blockbuster feature films, commercials, opera, and education. His music video work also includes iconic projects for Depeche Mode, Queen, Neil Young, Michael Jackson, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, and Sade, as well as the indelible sets of Madonna’s “Express Yourself” and “Vogue.”
A defining artistic presence at pivotal cultural moments in film, McDowell’s first feature, The Lawnmower Man (directed by Brett Leonard), became the first film to use virtual reality, developed in consultation with NASA researcher Scott Fisher. His subsequent production design work spans landmark films for directors including Steven Spielberg (Minority Report, The Terminal), Terry Gilliam (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Anthony Minghella (Breaking and Entering), Zack Snyder (Man of Steel, Watchmen), Tim Burton (Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), David Fincher (Fight Club), Wes Anderson, the Wachowskis, and Jon Favreau.
“At this stage in my career, I don’t see anyone better prepared to adapt, provoke, and redesign storytelling than Angus [Wall] and MakeMake,” remarks McDowell on joining the studio. “I see no greater opportunity to collaborate on reshaping the human narrative in all its forms. In MakeMake, I recognize the opportunity to return to a production, entertainment, and media studio that is genuinely pushing the possibilities of a constantly evolving media environment.”
Kate Berry is an Emmy Award-winning EP with a rich background in motion design and visual effects across many high-profile productions. Continually testing the boundaries of creativity and innovation in the design world, she has helped MakeMake’s creative teams bring stunning and conceptually rich projects to life since joining the studio in 2017.
Berry says of her promotion, “Being able to shape this department from its earliest stages is an honor. MakeMake has been home to so much of my growth as a producer, and working alongside my inspiring colleagues has shaped my artistic purview. I am thankful for this opportunity, and I look forward to building culturally defining films with Alex.”
Angus Wall, Founder and CEO of MakeMake, adds, “This is a new era for MakeMake, and we’re stepping into it with tenacity. Alex is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. He is behind some of the most enduring worlds in modern storytelling. We have remarkably aligned ideas about the future of media. His punk spirit lights up everything he does. Kate embodies a true spirit of Reenchantment. I knew that we needed her sparkle and drive to power up what would become our Narrative Design & World Building department. This is a dream team, and it’s a dream realized.”
We didn’t just add new capabilities; we multiplied them. By uniting the industry-leading power of Rock Paper Scissors, a52, Elastic, and Primary as MakeMake, we’ve evolved into a unified creative Studio. The addition of Story and Strategy allows us to offer a seamless workflow where one great idea unlocks the next, so that creativity isn’t just shared — it’s accelerated. Join us for any discipline, or partner with us from concept to final pixel.
