Mikey Neumann

Mikey Neumann
Personal information
Nationality American
Residence Plano, Texas
YouTube information
Channel
Years active 2013–present
Subscribers 170,297
Total views 7,634,251
100,000 subscribers
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 28 July 2018.

Mikey Neumann is an American YouTuber known for the channel FilmJoy on which he posts the film criticism series Movies with Mikey. The series was nominated for an Emmy in 2017.

Neumann previously worked in the video games industry as a creative director and writer on games including Brothers in Arms, Borderlands and Borderlands 2. He worked at Gearbox Software for 16 years, ultimately earning the title 'chief creative champion', before departing the company as a result of health issues.

Career

Video games

Neumann began working in video games at the age of 19. He left college after one year to do quality assurance on Gearbox Software's port of Half-Life, becoming full-time staff a year later, in 2001, as a texture artist.[1][2] He went on to write, provide voice acting, and was creative director or associate creative director, for games including the Brothers in Arms series and Borderlands.[3][4] For Borderlands Neumann additionally voiced the character Scooter, and provided motion capture for the introduction of the Lilith character.[5][6] He also wrote comics including the prequel Borderlands: Origins.[7]

When pre-orders for Borderlands became available, Neumann tweeted "Twitter me a screen of you buying the game and I'll play BLs with you and give you loot." When the tweet was picked up by gaming news website Kotaku,[8] the popularity of the tweet exploded, with more than 200 players tweeting their game receipts. As a result, Neumann spent more than 3 days playing the game, grouping up with each player and giving them in-game weapons.[9]

Alongside developers from other game studios, Neumann created a card for Magic 2015, titled Chasm Skulker.[10]

When development of Borderlands 3 was confirmed in 2016, it was announced that Neumann, then in the position of 'chief creative champion', would be leading the game's writing.[11] In June 2017, however, Neumann left Gearbox Software as a result of his ongoing health issues, stating that "Everything is 1,000,000% amicable with Gearbox. I physically just can't do the work anymore", and opened a Patreon to crowdfund his YouTube videos.[12]

YouTube

Neumann's Movies with Mikey series started in 2014 on the Chainsawsuit Original YouTube channel (now titled FilmJoy), created by Kris Straub.[13] The videos focus on the positive elements of movies, celebrating and highlighting aspects of those movies he enjoyed. Neumann described the impetus for the series as a desire for people "to feel good about the things they like, as opposed to feeling attacked all the time" and aims to bring something new to viewers' opinion of the film, such as framing John Wick in a mythological context.[14] The series has covered movies including 10 Cloverfield Lane,[15] Princess Mononoke,[16] and The World's End.[2] Movies with Mikey was nominated for an Emmy in 2017, in the Outstanding Informational Series or Special category.[17]

Neumann funds the series via Patreon, which he set up following the move from his video game writing position to being a full time YouTuber.[18] 5 days after his Patreon opened, over 1,300 fans were pledging money each month to fund his videos.[13]

Personal life

In October 2011, while playing games at the Gearbox Software office, Neumann suffered a stroke, resulting in him being hospitalised for nine days. Doctors initially diagnosed Neumann with multiple sclerosis, later deciding that the stroke was in fact a result of a patent foramen ovale.[1] Neumann later found out, however, that he does have multiple sclerosis.[12] Following auto-immune failure as a result of his condition, Neumann was hospitalised again in 2017.[13][19]

References

  1. 1 2 Good, Owen (26 October 2011). "At Age 29, a Game Developer Must Battle Back from a Stroke". Kotaku. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 Wilbur, Brock (11 January 2018). "Mikey Neumann Is the Future of YouTube Film Critics". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (21 August 2014). "Borderlands Writer Mikey Neumann Giving Keynote at PAX Prime". Gamespot. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Pitcher, Jenna (25 June 2014). "Borderlands writer to open PAX Prime, band lineup live". Polygon. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  5. ↑ Devore, Jordan (3 December 2009). "Mikey Neumann provided mo-cap for Lilith in Borderlands". Destructoid. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Neumann, Mikey (3 December 2017). "Mikey Neumann on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  7. ↑ Workman, Robert (20 September 2012). "Gearbox's Mikey Neumann Talks "Borderlands: Origins" Comics". CBR. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Good, Owen (27 September 2009). "Borderlands' Unique, and Semiofficial, Preorder Bonus [Updated]". Kotaku. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  9. ↑ Good, Owen (22 October 2009). "Borderlands' Creative Boss Lives Up to His Loot Promises". Kotaku. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  10. ↑ Dyer, Mitch (23 June 2014). "Magic 2015: Meet the Monster Designed by Borderlands' Writer". IGN. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  11. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (22 April 2016). "Gearbox confirms that Borderlands 3 will be its next game". Eurogamer. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  12. 1 2 Frank, Allegra (5 June 2017). "Gearbox writer Mikey Neumann, facing health issues, leaves studio". Polygon. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 Carter, Chase (26 September 2017). "Illness Motivated Plano YouTuber Mikey Neumann to Ask: Could This Be a Full-Time Job?". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  14. ↑ Gartenberg, Chaim (9 December 2016). "Movies with Mikey is a video celebration of what makes movies great". The Verge. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Johnston, Rae (24 November 2017). "How '10 Cloverfield Lane' Was A Gamble That Paid Off, Big Time". Gizmodo Australia. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  16. ↑ Alexander, Julia (6 March 2017). "Princess Mononoke gets the Movies with Mikey treatment in latest episode". Polygon. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  17. ↑ Plaugic, Lizzie (13 June 2017). "Movies with Mikey gets its first Emmy nomination". The Verge. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Ohlheiser, Abby (13 December 2017). "Facing a rebellion of furious creators, Patreon backs away from a new fee". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Handrahan, Matthew (6 June 2017). "Gearbox chief creative Mikey Neumann departs due to ill health". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
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