Jory Prum (January 31, 1975 – April 22, 2016), also known as Jory K. Prum, was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

, best known for his work in film and

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

. He was the owner of a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

located in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

Biography

Prum was born in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...

, attended Troy High School's technology

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

, and later studied sound for film & video as an undergraduate student at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

(CalArts) in the 1990s under John Payne, Craig Smith, and Doug Loveid. While studying at CalArts, Prum worked on many student films, some of which were screened at festivals, such as

Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation is a presentation of award-winning animated short films, annually touring throughout theaters, film festivals or college campuses in the United States. Background The festival premieres annually in the La ...

. One such film, a parody of ''

Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, music videos) which aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network AB ...

'' titled ''Political Correction'', was a collaboration between Prum and fellow student

Steven Fonti Steven Fonti, also known as Steve Fonti (born June 16, 1970), is a Primetime Emmy Award winner who has worked in the Art Department on movies such as ''Over the Hedge'' and Adam Sandler's ''Eight Crazy Nights'', '' Cinderella III: A Twist in Ti ...

. Another was Adam Lane's ''Sea Slugs'', a

stop-motion animation Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

about pirate slugs on the open seas, which was also featured as part of MTV's

Cartoon Sushi ''Cartoon Sushi'' is an adult-animated showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was developed by Eric Calderon and produced by Nick Litwinko, and was the successor to Liquid Television. The title screen opening was illustrated ...

. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Prum worked as an ''Electron'' at

Jim Henson's Creature Shop Jim Henson's Creature Shop is an American animation and special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based in Hollywood, California, United States. History Jim Henson's Creature Shop was ...

and then briefly at

Disney Online Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversees various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it w ...

. After being let go, he inquired during a CalArts job fair about employment opportunities in the sound department of LucasArts Entertainment Company. He joined the LucasArts sound team in January 1999 and was involved with all of the ''

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (also known simply as ''Star Wars: The Phantom Menace''), is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and d ...

'' release titles and most of the other games published by both LucasArts and

Lucas Learning Lucas Learning is an initiative of the George Lucas Educational Foundation with a mission to work with partners to combine research-validated project-based learning principles with modern simulation technology for pre-K-12 schools. History In i ...

between early 1999 and the beginning of 2001. Prum departed LucasArts at the start of 2001 and continued to work in video game sound. He contributed

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

, recorded

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

and music and mixed

cutscenes A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...

and orchestral scores for numerous games, such as LucasArts' '' Knights of the Old Republic'',

Telltale Games Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...

' '' The Walking Dead: The Game''—for which Prum and his team won the Game Audio Network Guild's 2013 award for ''Best Dialogue''—''

The Wolf Among Us ''The Wolf Among Us'' is an episodic adventure game developed and published by Telltale Games. It is based on Bill Willingham's ''Fables'' comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were re ...

'', and

Sam & Max ''Sam & Max'' is an American media franchise about Sam and Max, a pair of anthropomorphic vigilante private investigators. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, ...

episodic titles, Double Fine Productions'

crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial ...

Broken Age ''Broken Age'' is a point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Double Fine. ''Broken Age'' was game director Tim Schafer's first return to the genre since 1998's '' Grim Fandango'', and was released for Microsoft Windows, ...

'',

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

's '' CSI'' games, and

Pandemic Studios Pandemic Studios, LLC was an American video game developer based in Westwood, Los Angeles. Andrew Goldman and Josh Resnick founded the studio in 1998 after leaving Activision. Pandemic Studios, alongside BioWare, was acquired in 2005 by Elevation ...

' '' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames''. Prum and his dialogue production team have been nominated nine times for "Best Voice Acting"

Aggie Awards ''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1999 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game desi ...

and have won three times. In addition to video games, Prum worked in

post-production Post-production, also known simply as post, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording indivi ...

audio for feature films. He created the voice of the big bird, Leo, in Pixar Animation Studio's animated short film '' For the Birds'', earning him a mention in Ralph Eggleston's acceptance speech at the

74th Academy Awards The 74th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly ...

. Prum also worked as the foley recordist on

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...

' '' Lost in Translation'', and

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

' '' Adaptation.''. In 2004 Prum set up a recording studio
Studio Jory
near his home in

Fairfax, California Fairfax is an List of cities in California, incorporated town in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at an elevation of . The population w ...

. In August 2014, Prum recovered the aging audio archives of the classic

point-and-click adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an Interactive storytelling, interactive story, driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus ...

Grim Fandango ''Grim Fandango'' is a 1998 adventure game directed by Tim Schafer and developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static backgro ...

as part of Double Fine Productions' restoration and remastering effort. He also worked with composer

Peter McConnell Peter Nelson McConnell (born April 19, 1960), also known as Peter Mc, is an American video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work at LucasArts and for composing the soundtracks for every ''Sly Cooper'' game since the second ...

to record and mix the new orchestral score, performed by the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on fun ...

. Jory died on April 22, 2016, after suffering severe injuries in a motorcycle accident. The final game Prum worked on was '' 2064: Read Only Memories'', which is dedicated to him.

Accolades

Selected games

*'' 2064: Read Only Memories'' (2017),

MidBoss MidBoss is an American video game and media production company that was founded by members of the GaymerX team as they expanded beyond GaymerX into other ventures, specifically '' Gaming in Color'' and '' 2064: Read Only Memories''. On March 2 ...

*'' Earthlock: Festival of Magic'' (2016), Snowcastle Games *'' Through the Woods'' (2016), Antagonist *'' Manual Samuel'' (2016), Perfectly Paranormal *'' Grim Fandango Remastered'' (2015), Double Fine *'' Among the Sleep'' (2014), Krillbite Studio *''

'' (2014), Double Fine *'' Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers'' (2014), Pinkerton Road *'' The Walking Dead: The Game, Season 2'' (2014), Telltale Games *'' The Walking Dead: 400 Days'' (2013), Telltale Games *''

'' (2013), Telltale Games *'' The Walking Dead: The Game'' (2012), Telltale Games *''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...

'' (2009), Double Fine *''

Tales of Monkey Island ''Tales of Monkey Island'' is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games under license from LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the '' Monkey Island'' series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, '' Escap ...

'' (2009), Telltale Games *''

The Sims 2 ''The Sims 2'' is a 2004 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in ''The Sims'' series, and is the sequel to ''The Sims''. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on ...

'' (2003), EA/Maxis *'' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' (2003), LucasArts *''

SimCity 4 ''SimCity 4'' is a city-building game, city-building Construction and management simulation games, simulation Personal computer game, computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. The game was released in January 2003 for Mi ...

'' (2002), EA/Maxis *''

Escape from Monkey Island ''Escape from Monkey Island'' is an adventure game developed and released by LucasArts in 2000. It is the fourth game in the '' Monkey Island'' series, and the sequel to the 1997 videogame '' The Curse of Monkey Island''. It is the first game in ...

'' (2000), LucasArts *'' FlixMix'' (1993), Celeris

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prum, Jory 1975 births 2016 deaths People from Fairfax, California Musicians from Fullerton, California California Institute of the Arts alumni American audio engineers American sound designers Video game developers Engineers from California Troy High School (California) alumni Road incident deaths in the United States