New label MWM Interactive takes a modern approach to the indie publishing scene

Earlier this year, Tinybuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik made an assertion: “Indie publishing is dead.” Currently, the Hello Neighbor franchise co-founder pointed out, the videogame market is saturated with mid-size publishers. Those who do find success manage to trade in not just games, but their very identities - think the punk posturing of Devolver Digital, or the arthouse stylings of Annapurna Interactive. “Instead of focusing on one-off publishing deals,” Nichiporchik suggested, “it’s better to build strong and entertaining brands.”

Executive VP of content Ethan Stearns

Enter MWM Interactive, a new arm of entertainment company Madison Wells Media, that’s looking to make a name for itself by doing just that. MWM’s film division is notable for producing pictures such as Nicholas Winding Refn’s neon-spiked noir Drive, as well as 21 Bridges, which stars the late Chadwick Boseman. Not so long ago, it began exploring the possibilities of virtual reality for interactive entertainment, which is how MWMi’s executive VP of content Ethan Stearns - who had experience with this in his previous role at Legendary Pictures - came to join the company. “They’d started doing some projects based on Sony Pictures IP - they were producing them and financing them, but they didn’t really know what else to do,” Stearns tells us. “Like, they weren’t sure what their role was in it. So I came in at first mostly as a producer, but then looking forward down the road. ‘Okay, well, what are we building? Why are we doing this long term - other than these projects, which are super cool, what are we? What are we trying to be?’ The company, philosophically, is interested in storytelling, but I think more than just storytelling - finding unique voices, and bringing artistically unique content into the mainstream entertainment world.”