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Navid Khonsari

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Navid Khonsari
Khonsari in 2014
Born1970 (age 54–55)[1]
Imperial State of Iran
NationalityIranian Canadian[2]
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia
Vancouver Film School
Occupation(s)CEO, Creator of 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, writer, director, producer
OrganizationiNK Stories
SpouseVassiliki Bessie Khonsari
WebsiteCompany Website

Navid Khonsari (Persian: نوید خونساری) (born 1970) is an Iranian-Canadian video game, virtual/mixed reality, film and graphic novel creator, writer, director and producer.[2]

Khonsari worked on several games at Rockstar Games, including Grand Theft Auto III and Max Payne. He is the co-founder of iNK Stories, a video game development studio responsible for 1979 Revolution: Black Friday. He is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.[3]

Early life

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Khonsari was raised in his homeland Iran until 10.[2] He fled Iran as a political refugee to Canada after the 1979 Revolution with his family.[2] He graduated from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Film School.[citation needed]

Career

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His first short film was titled Arcade Angels, which focused on video game burnouts who robbed a video rental store in an attempt to open an arcade. He wrote and produced The Contract, his first film with Billy Dee Williams.[citation needed]

Khonsari's first video game work was Grand Theft Auto III and Max Payne, after joining Rockstar Games in 2000.[2] During his five years at Rockstar, Khonsari was the cinematic director and built the production pipeline on Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City,[4] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Midnight Club II, Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, The Warriors, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.[citation needed]

In 2006, he left Rockstar and has since worked on a number of games including Alan Wake and Homefront.[2] He met his wife, Vassiliki, while directing the documentary Pindemonium, where she acted as the cinematographer and producer. Together, Navid and Vassiliki co-founded iNK Stories and produced another documentary, Pulling John, which premiered at South by Southwest and streamed on Netflix. In 2016, iNK Stories released 1979 Revolution: Black Friday.[5]

The game received several awards and was recognized by UNESCO as a digital solution for peaceful conflict resolution; Khonsari was politically exiled by the government of Iran, deemed a US spy. Khonsari's subsequent projects include: HERO, a site-specific multi-sensory VR experience of civilian warfare in Syria, which premiered at Sundance and Tribeca Film Festival and won the Storyscape Award for Best Immersive; Blindfold, which premiered at Sheffield; and Fire Escape, premiering at Tribeca. Khonsari worked with Capcom on Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.[citation needed]

Khonsari is a juror and a member of the Peabody Interactive Board for the Peabody Awards.[6]

Works

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References

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  1. ^ CNN Archived 13 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d e f مصاحبه با هنرمندان: نوید خونساری [Interview with artists: Navid Khonsari] (in Persian). cgart.ir. October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Navid Khonsari".
  4. ^ Wired
  5. ^ Smith, Adam (5 April 2016). "Tales Of Tehran: 1979 Revolution – Black Friday Out Now". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Peabody to Honor Interactive Winners March 24". 2 March 2022.
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