Lorne Lanning

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Lorne Lanning is an American game designer, writer, voice actor and animated film director. He is also co-founder and president of the video game developer, Oddworld Inhabitants. He is best known for creating the Oddworld series including the games Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.

Lanning is also known for his voice talent and has voiced many of the characters in the Oddworld games including Oddworld's signature character, Abe

His creative vision in game design and property development at Oddworld Inhabitants has gained him worldwide recognition, including several documentaries and his character creations featured on the cover of Wired Magazine.

[edit] Career

Lanning studied photo-realism and commercial illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. While attending the School of Visual Arts, he worked as studio manager and assistant painter to Jack Goldstein. Working with Goldstein inspired Lanning to attend the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.

In 1988 Lanning worked as a Technical Director at the TRW Engineering Visualization Lab in Redondo Beach, California. He moved on to Rhythm & Hues Studios in Hollywood, California in 1989, where he started as a Technical Director before becoming an Art Director. His final role at the company was as a Visual Effects Supervisor.

In 1994, Lanning and Sherry McKenna co-founded video game development company, Oddworld Inhabitants. Oddworld was dedicated to mixing storytelling, animation and interactivity. Oddworld has sold over 5 million games and won more than 100 industry awards.

In 2001 Lanning and McKenna were named to Wired magazine's list of "gamemaking gods".

In 2005 Lanning shuttered his game development studio and relocated to the San Francisco Bay area to focus on other forms of entertainment media such as television and film.

Lanning serves on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the Advisory Board to the President of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, the Advisory Board for the CGSociety, and the Advisory Board for the Gnomon School of Visual Effects. Is also an annual Jury member for Ballistic Publishings annual "EXPOSÉ" Digital art book and also an ongoing Jury member for Into the Pixel "Best in Video Game Art" sponsored by the AIAS and LACMA.

In 2006 Lanning and McKenna sign a development deal with Vanguard Animation to release Lanning's latest universe, Citizen Siege, as a sci-fi action thriller fully animated CG motion picture. Lanning set to direct and Sherry McKenna to Executive Produce with John Williams (Shrek producer : Top grossing animated film to date) producing.

Lanning also engages in public speaking for the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and their ongoing Digital Frontier efforts to help bridge the gap between video games and public education.

In 2007, Lanning provided the voice for the character of himself on the G4TV show Code Monkeys, where he proposed Oddworld as a game and was shot down.

Lanning is set to appear in a panel discussion at VideoGame Expo on November 3, 2007 following a public screening of Spencer Halpin's Moral Kombat, a documentary about the violence in videogames issue, to debate Jack Thompson, both of whom are featured prominently in the film.