Troll & Amor Evolved

Interview (transcript from magazine article)

Cornel Hillmann
Managing Director, Emerging Entertainment

Fun and games
Cornel Hillmann, managing director of Emerging Entertainment, is proof that with the right skills and ambitions, life can be all fun and games. Reflecting his playful spirit, his office is an eclectic mix of a teenager’s bedroom and corporate workplace – adorned with colourful posters and a collection of toys and figurines lining the shelves. Originally from Germany, Cornel came to Singapore in 2006 to set up a game development company as the country’s nascent digital media sector was beginning to bloom.

Throughout his career, Cornel has had the privilege to work in a number of exciting industries. He started out in Los Angeles as an art director in the music industry, where his responsibilities included designing album covers. From there, he made his way into computer graphics (CG) at a time when the animation and CG industry was still in its infancy, followed by a few years later with a shift into game development.

“A pivotal point for the gaming industry was the shift from 2D to 3D games – this was when things really started to take off. For me, game development became a business opportunity around 2002-2003, when the necessary software started to become available for licensing. That was a major step that allowed smaller players to start creating high-quality games.

The Singapore Software
Prior to moving to Singapore, Cornel was running CNT Media, an animation company based in Hamburg, Germany. The original plan was to set up a studio in Singapore to which production work could be outsourced from CNT Media in Germany, but after assessing the relative advantages of operating in Singapore, Cornel made the decision to run the whole business here. There were several reasons behind the decision, Cornel relates: “There are a number of factors that make Singapore a more attractive place to operate than Hamburg, such as Singapore’s English language environment and its warm climate. Singapore is also more metropolitan, and there is less bureaucracy involved for things like obtaining employment passes for our foreign staff. In making our decision, we also spoke to a number of small companies here to gain their insights into what it is like to operate here. Their feedback helped encourage us to locate in Singapore.”

Cornel’s team at Emerging Entertainment is now hard at work developing Troll & Armor, an exciting fantasy adventure game. While a lot of his time is spent dealing with partners, investors and other managerial responsibilities, he also gets involved in the creative work, such as providing input and making decisions on character development and design issues. “This is a major production, and it is constantly evolving,” explains Cornel. “We are putting everything into making this the best game possible.”

A 3D Future
With work on Troll & Armor expected to wrap up sometime next year, Cornel is already setting his sights on the future: “My goal is certainly to grow the company. Singapore’s game development industry is still young, but there is a lot of potential. It will take time for the talent pool here to expand – there’s plenty of artistic skill here and around the region, but there is a shortage of people with the necessary technical expertise. However, agencies such as the Media Development Authority and Ministry of Manpower are very supportive and are putting their efforts into developing the industry, which bodes well for the future.”

While much of his time is taken up by work, Cornel also enjoys all that Singapore has to offer outside of the office. Be it a weekend trip to nearby Bali or an evening of drinks at Clarke Quay, Cornel’s secret to success is to always make sure there is some fun in his life.