Jon Jacobs

Last updated

Jon Jacobs
Jon Jacobs, Gamelab 2017 (35483130361).jpg
Jacobs in 2017
Born (1966-09-10) 10 September 1966 (age 57)
Derbyshire, England, UK
Occupation(s)Actor, entrepreneur, director, producer, writer
Known for Lucinda's Spell ,
Hey DJ
SpouseCheri London (m. 3 August 2006) [1]
Partner(s) Tina Wiseman [2] [3] [4]
( – 20 February 2005)
Children3
Website neverdie.com

Jon Jacobs (born 10 September 1966 in Derbyshire, England) is an English actor, entrepreneur, director, producer, writer, and creator of the avatar Neverdie from the virtual world Entropia Universe that Reuters described as "a legendary adventurer, celebrity, and fabulously wealthy entrepreneur in the online world of Entropia". [5] The Associated Press described Neverdie as an "Internet icon". [6] [7] [1]

Contents

As a film actor, director, and producer, Jacobs is best known for films such as The Girl with the Hungry Eyes , [8] Lucinda's Spell , [9] Charlotte Sometimes , Hey DJ , and RevoLOUtion . [10]

Biography

Jon Jacobs grew up in London. His mother, Jackie White, was Miss United Kingdom in 1962. His father, Adrian Jacobs, was an infamous 60s financier. Jacobs was expelled from the Famous British stage school Sylvia Young's in 1981. In 1986 he made his screen debut in the short film Salette. Jon followed up by directing and acting in Metropolis Apocalypse and Moonlight Resurrection 1987, Metropolis Apocalypse was an official selection in the Semaine de' la critique at the Cannes Film Festival 1988. Jacobs's first lead role in a feature was the critically acclaimed Welcome Says the Angel, co-starring Rutger Hauer's daughter Ayesha, he also Played the lead in Hungarian Film Week Winner Johnny Famous, and the audacious Festival hit Lucinda's Spell.

In 1992 Jacobs wrote and directed The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, which was executive produced by Cassian Elwes. In 1995 Jacobs wrote, directed, and starred in the micro-budget feature The Wooden Gun, a period black and white Western.

In 2002 Jacobs created the Iconic "Neverdie" avatar inside the Entropia Universe. [11] In 2005 he co-directed and starred as DJ Hound Dog in the electronic dance movie Hey DJ!, featuring a lineup of many of the world's top international DJ's.

In 2005, Jacobs mortgaged his home to buy a virtual asteroid for US$100,000, being the most valuable virtual item ever sold at that time. [12] Jacobs claims that he received an offer to sell the asteroid for US$200,000 the following day, but he refused. The asteroid space resort was named Club Neverdie after its owner's avatar name. [13] In 2010 Jon Jacobs sold the Asteroid Space Resort to various other Entropia Universe participants for a total of US$635,000. [14]

Jacobs's avatar subsequently appeared in The Discovery Channel documentaries Gamer Generation and I, Videogame, [15] it also appeared in the Canal+ documentary La Vraie vie des mondes virtuels. ABC News did a video interview with Jacobs entitled A Portrait of the Avatar. [16] The Los Angeles Times described Jacobs's avatar as "the world's first cyber-superstar". [3]

Neverdie was included in the 2008 Guinness Book of Records as well as the 2010 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition for owning "the most expensive virtual item", namely the Asteroid Space Resort called Club Neverdie. The club is also host to the Massive Multiplayer Online World Championships (MMOWC). Neverdie has appeared on 60 Minutes. [17]

The estate of his late father Adrian Jacobs attempted to sue J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Inc. for plagiarism of Adrian Jacobs's book Willy the Wizard in the Harry Potter series. However, the case was dismissed after the security of costs were not paid to the court. [18] [19]

In 2008, Jacobs founded NEVERDIE Studios to create entertainment-driven virtual worlds on the Entropia Platform. Planets produced by NEVERDIE Studios have included Rocktropia and Next Island. [20] [21]

In 2011, NEVERDIE Studios started working with Universal Pictures; the first title to launch was Hunt The Thing, a film-length MMO inspired by both John Carpenter's 1982 version of The Thing and the 2011 prequel. [22] [23]

In 2015 NEVERDIE Studios announced the launch of a new virtual King Kong trilogy in collaboration with Universal Licensing and Partnerships, set in the ROCKtropia virtual world and based on the 2005 film King Kong, directed by Peter Jackson. The first title in the trilogy, Zombie King, features the tagline "King Kong is Back! ...From the Dead!" [24] [25]

On 27 March 2016, Jon Jacobs became the "First President of Virtual Reality". [26] He proclaimed himself to be a democratic capitalist and pledged to create a billion jobs in virtual reality.

In April 2016 Jon Jacobs revealed his plan to create three million jobs in virtual reality [27] by 2030 through the privatization of teleportation, the primary public transport system in the MMO Entropia Universe. [27]

In 2019 Jacobs acted in the role of Walt Warshaw in the psychological thriller Lost Angelas . [28] Jacobs won the Outstanding Performance Award at Method Fest Independent Film Festival in Beverly Hills alongside Ethan Hawke who tied for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor winner Edward James Olmos. [28] [29]

In 2023 Jon Jacobs won the prestigious "Seymour Cassel Award for Best Actor" at the Oldenburg International Film Festival for his Portrayal of legendary indie film producer Cassian Elwes in Elwes' directorial debut Passenger C [30] [31]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cary Elwes</span> British actor (born 1962)

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes is an English actor. He is best known for his lead role as Westley in The Princess Bride (1987), as well as for roles in films such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and the Saw series.

A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.

A virtual economy is an emergent economy existing in a virtual world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an online game, particularly in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). People enter these virtual economies for recreation and entertainment rather than necessity, which means that virtual economies lack the aspects of a real economy that are not considered to be "fun". However, some people do interact with virtual economies for "real" economic benefit.

A massively multiplayer online game is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are games that differ. These games can be found for most network-capable platforms, including the personal computer, video game console, or smartphones and other mobile devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual world</span> Large-scale, interactive computer-simulated environment

A virtual world is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities and communicate with others. These avatars can be textual, graphical representations, or live video avatars with auditory and touch sensations. Virtual worlds are closely related to mirror worlds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avatar (computing)</span> Graphical representation of a user or a users alter ego or character

In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user, the user's character, or persona. Avatars can be two-dimensional icons in Internet forums and other online communities, where they are also known as profile pictures, userpics, or formerly picons. Alternatively, an avatar can take the form of a three-dimensional model, as used in online worlds and video games, or an imaginary character with no graphical appearance, as in text-based games or worlds such as MUDs.

Entropia Universe is a massively multiplayer online (MMORPG) virtual universe designed by the Swedish software company MindArk, based in Gothenburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassian Elwes</span> British film producer and talent agent

Cassian Cary Elwes is a British independent film producer and talent agent.

<i>Avatar</i> (2009 film) 2009 American film by James Cameron

Avatar is a 2009 epic science fiction film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. The cast includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. It is the first installment in the Avatar film series. It is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the valuable mineral unobtanium, the room-temperature superconductor mineral. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi, a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The title of the film refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body operated from the brain of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.

The Multiverse Network, Inc. was an American startup company creating a network and platform for massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) and 3D virtual worlds. Multiverse's stated aim was to lower the barrier of entry for development teams by providing a low-cost software platform for online game and virtual world development.

Kaneva, LLC is a privately owned American video game company based in Atlanta, Georgia and founded in 2004 by Christopher Klaus and Greg Frame. Kaneva was a 3D virtual world that supported 2D web browsing, social networking and shared media.

<i>Blue Mars</i> (video game) 2009 video game

Blue Mars, a 3D massively multiplayer virtual world platform developed by Hawaii-based Avatar Reality, allows 3rd parties to create virtual worlds, MMOG games, simulations, shops, businesses, entertainment venues, clothing, custom avatars, furniture, virtual homes, and other items. It consists of four main parts: the client software, the Sandbox Editor SDK suite, the website, and the host servers. It is often compared to Second Life, since both are virtual social worlds allowing user-created content. According to Jim Sink, CEO of Avatar Reality, "Blue Mars was inspired by a vision of the future when the power to terraform whole worlds is within our grasp. The name Blue Mars represents possibility and hope."

Virtual goods are non-physical objects and money purchased for use in online communities or online games. Digital goods, on the other hand, may be a broader category including digital books, music, and movies. Virtual goods are intangible by definition.

Planet Michael was a planned MMORPG inspired by the music, videos, and life of Michael Jackson. It was being developed by SEE Digital Studios AB and was to be published by SEE Virtual Worlds, LLC. The game was originally scheduled to be released in 2011 but nothing further has been released regarding this game other than some trailers that revealed little to no information regarding the game.

<i>Hey DJ</i> (film) 2003 film by Migel Delgado and Jon Jacobs

Hey DJ, also released as DJ Hound Dog, is a 2003 American film directed by Miguel Delgado and Jon Jacobs, produced by Agostino Carollo and Joe Chavez and starring Jon Jacobs, Charlotte Lewis, Tina Wiseman, Ivelin Giro and Terry Camilleri. It features the appearances of superstar DJs Carl Cox, Tiësto, Bob Sinclar, Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Pete Tong and many others. Original movie soundtrack by Agostino Carollo.

Tina Wiseman, also known as Tina Leiu, was an American actress.

<i>Ready Player One</i> 2011 science fiction novel by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of American author Ernest Cline. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game, the discovery of which would lead him to inherit the game creator's fortune and the game itself. Cline sold the rights to publish the novel in June 2010, in a bidding war to the Crown Publishing Group. The book was published on August 16, 2011. An audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton was released the same day.Ch. 20 In 2012, the book received an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association and won the 2011 Prometheus Award.

The Multiverse Software Foundation is a non-profit organization that was formed by volunteers in November 2011 to take over and manage the assets of the now-defunct Multiverse Network. The Foundation maintains the Multiverse MMO Development Platform, which is a collection of open-source software used to create online games. The platform and assets are made available under the MIT License.

Jon Snoddy is an American technology expert who is currently the Advanced Development Studio Executive SVP at Walt Disney Imagineering. He was the co-founder of Big Stage Entertainment and has served as director, CTO, CCO and CTO in various technology/media firms.

Sinespace is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online Unity 3D-based platform created and published by Sine Wave Entertainment. It enables users to create and sell 3D content and interact with others as 3D avatars. It was beta launched in November 2016 and teamed up with Unity to make its SDK available in the Unity Asset Store in March 2019. It supports Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, but is also accessible through PC, Mac, Linux, and Chrome web browsers.

References

  1. 1 2 Trevor Aaronson (3 August 2006). "Megabyte Millionaire". Miami New Times. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  2. ↑ Shavit, Vered (22 July 2012). "Digital Dust: An interview with the gamer Jon "NEVERDIE" Jacobs". digital-era-death-eng.blogspot.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  3. 1 2 Stephen Totilo (27 May 2011). "In The Virtual World, His Fiancée Never Died". Kotaku .
  4. ↑ "Memorial Island – Entropia Universe 2015". entropiadirectory.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  5. ↑ Hillis, Scott (21 June 2007). "Real economy thrives in virtual world". Reuters . Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Virtual World Serious Money". Asap.ap.org. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "About Realityport". Realityport.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "Interview: Jon Jacobs: The Boy with the Hungry Eyes". digitallyOBSESSED!. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "'Lucinda's Spell': Wild Time in New Orleans, and It Sure Isn't Mardi Gras". The New York Times. 10 September 1999. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  10. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (19 May 2006). "RevoLOUtion (2003)". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  11. ↑ Chiang, Oliver. "Meet The Man Who Just Made A Half Million From The Sale Of Virtual Property". Forbes. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Gamer buys virtual space station". BBC News. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  13. ↑ Domokos, John (11 January 2008). "Making Money. Jon Jacobs Neverdie". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "And the Asteroid Goes To". entropiaplanets.com.
  15. ↑ "Discovery Channel". Yourdiscovery.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "A Portrait of the Avatar: The Meeting". ABC News. 10 March 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "60 minutes – My second life video". Video.msn.com. 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "Harry Potter plagiarism case dismissed in UK". Reuters. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Harry Potter v Willy The Wizard". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  20. ↑ Dean Takahashi (11 May 2010). "Rocktropia virtual world for music lovers debuts". Venturebeat.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  21. ↑ Dean Takahashi (8 December 2010). "Next Island launches its time travelers virtual world". Venturebeat.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  22. ↑ "Movie-Based MMOG Hunt The Thing Launches". News.mmosite.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  23. ↑ "NEVERDIE Studios Announces the Launch of Movie-Based MMOG Hunt The Thing". Tentonhammer.com. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  24. ↑ "Official Site of Zombie Kong". Zomkong.com.
  25. ↑ "Gamers Loot $20,000 From King Kong Inside Entropia Universe 3D Virtual Reality World" (Press release). PRNewswrie.com. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  26. ↑ "Jon 'NEVERDIE' Elected President of VR – Promises One Billion Jobs in Virtual Reality – SERIOUS WONDER". SERIOUS WONDER. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  27. 1 2 "President of Virtual Reality Unveils Plans to Create 3 Million Jobs with the Virtual Public Transport IPO". Vrlife.news. 3 May 2016.
  28. 1 2 "Method Fest". IMDb. 2019.
  29. ↑ LePire, Bobby (29 March 2019). "Lost Angelas". Film Threat .
  30. ↑ "Ayse Polat's 'In the Blind Spot' Wins Oldenburg Film Festival German Independence Award". The Hollywood Reporter . 17 September 2023.
  31. ↑ "Oldenburg: Cassian Elwes on His Directorial Debut 'Passenger C'". The Hollywood Reporter . 15 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.