Corey May

Corey May was raised near Hollywood. May's interest in films, comics, games and anime came from a young age. However, his family wanted him to initially attend Harvard University to become a doctor. May failed in Chem 5 and realized that medicine wasn't his future. May then decided to take BA and several English courses, including literature courses and creative writing courses. He took a class on Eastern European science fiction and read many books, but still intended to be an investment banker or a trader. In the summers, May took jobs at a variety of banks in New York City, but was rejected several times due to his appearance. However, he did receive a job to copy edit reports and journal articles.[2]

After college in early 2000s, May decided to apply to the Peter Stark Producing program at USC. At USC, May met his business partner, Dooma Wendschuh, and after graduation they made their production company official. They printed business cards and letterhead. Thanks to some contacts made during a Disney internship, the duo sold its first project to Disney: a re-envisioned live-action The Wind in the Willows. Many writers and directors including Guillermo del Toro have been attached.[2]

Off the success of the first project, the duo signed with a film agency. The agency received many requests for writing on video games. Having loved the medium since childhood, May decided they should at least take the meetings, where he first met Ubisoft. May and Wendschuh pitched Ubisoft an animated television show based on Rayman. Despite rejecting the pitch, the executives did like May, and invited him to visit Montreal. After the critical success of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil, the publisher wanted May to help with the next Prince of Persia game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.[2]

May then started working on Assassin's Creed for four years. "It was this big crazy weird super ambitious monstrosity. How are we going to go from what's in the creative director's head to what's on a disc? [...] As time went on I was more and more involved with the franchise, charting some of the aspects of its future. Not just writing on the games but overseeing the narrative elements of the brand as a whole," said May.[2]

Alice was originally formed in 2011 by Yves Jacquier, Ubisoft's director of production services. Alice's main goal was to improve stories in Ubisoft games. "It is a resource composed of talent scouts, motion capture masters, research and development engineers, sound mixers and narrative guides," reads a report from Alice.[2]

The first game to see significant support from Alice was Watch Dogs. Michael Mando, who played Vaas in Far Cry 3, was also motion captured in Alice.[2]