William Ralph "Will" Wright (born January 20, 1960, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American video game designer and co-founder of the game development company Maxis, now part of Electronic Arts. In April 2009, he left Electronic Arts to run "Stupid Fun Club", an entertainment think tank in which Wright and EA are principal shareholders.
The first computer game Wright designed was Raid on Bungeling Bay in 1984, but it was SimCity that brought him to prominence. The game was released by Maxis, a company Wright formed with Jeff Braun, and he built upon the game's theme of computer simulation with numerous other titles including SimEarth and SimAnt.
Wright's greatest success to date came as the original designer for The Sims games series. The game spawned multiple sequels and expansions and Wright earned many awards for his work. His latest work, Spore, was released in September 2008 and features gameplay based upon the model of evolution and scientific advancement. The game sold 406,000 copies within three weeks of its release.
Plot
There comes a time when every young man must sever the ties of home to seek his way in the world. For 17-year-old Will Wright, the point of departure comes with the crack of a bat as he makes the cut at Newton Mill. But it's not going to be an easy road. During the late 1920s in South Carolina, "town folk" rarely set foot on "mill hill." Young Will has no problem breaking with tradition but his traditionalist father, Ezekiel Wright, explicitly forbids it. Yet Will feels the call to play ball so deep that he leaves home against his father's wishes and becomes the first "townie" ever to play for Newton. Golden dreams of a baseball career seem within his grasp-if only he can catch the eye of a minor league scout at the league championship. First, he has to survive a summer among the roaring, lint-blanketed world of textile spindles and looms. The clash of cultures is obvious from day one when Pike Spangler, "Big Stick" for the Newton Mill Sluggers, goes out of his way to knock Will down a few pegs. But the palpable tensions between mill players and Will fall away when the rookie finally starts swattin' one homer after another- earning a new nick-name: "Iron Will." The team is ready to welcome anyone who can help them win-all except Pike, for whom enmity with the town boy runs deep and personal. After-game celebrations create new tension for Will who was raised in a conventional "tee-totaling" home. The mill team is home to a flow of beer and bootleg whiskey difficult for any player to resist-especially if he wants to be accepted as one of the boys. Will learns the ropes from Chick Spangler-an old pal who has lived in the mill village all his life. Chick has never been to church and sees no problem with drinking-even though it's against the law under Prohibition. Pricked by his conscience, Will fights the temptation to go along with the crowd. His resolve is encouraged by a high-spirited mill girl named Ginnie Douglas. Though not much of a baseball fan at the outset, Ginnie is intrigued by Will's growing popularity among the boys at the mill. Will is intrigued by Ginnie. When she invites the ball players to hear baseball evangelist, Billy Sunday, the meeting proves a turning point in Chick's life. Will hears the call to follow Jesus Christ but remains unmoved. As the dog days of summer approach with league playoffs, Will feels a constant glare from Pike who lost ability to play ball because of an accident. Pike's hatred for Will is fueled when he sees Ginnie's interest flowing so easily toward the townboy. Pike makes up his mind that "Iron Will's" fall from grace will be as dramatic as his meteoric rise. Only one player can be "Big Stick" at Newton, only one will get a crack at the minor leagues and only one man will rise above personal ambition and selfish desire to be the true pride of Newton Mill.
Keywords: 1920s, baseball, christian-film, independent-film, south-carolina
Every town had a mill. Every mill had a team
Plot
Vicki and Jason, a separated husband and wife, are set up by their children to spend Christmas vacation at the beach together. Complications ensue when both Vicki's boss and Jason's assistant show up, but in the end both realize that they are meant to be together and that the marriage is far from over and that love will bring their family back together.
Keywords: christmas, family-relationships, separation
Some Accidents Are Meant To Happen
Plot
Story about a WWII wife & mother who joins a local dance band to provide for family while husband at war. Romantic involvement with one of the band members make her decisions difficult when husband returns from war. Story watches the progression of the band as it grows into a popular, successful recording and touring group. Excellent music and soundtrack.
Keywords: 1940s, band, dance, independent-film, world-war-two
Plot
The railroads are squeezing farmers off their land. When a railroad agent kills their mother, Frank and Jesse James take up robbing banks and trains. The public regard them as heroes. When Jesse retires his erstwhile friend Robert Ford shoots him in the back to get the reward.
Keywords: 1870s, 1880s, actual-animal-killed, ambush, assassin, assassination, bandit, bank, bank-robbery, bar-shootout
The Epic Story of the most Colourful Outlaw who ever lived
Motion Pictures' Supreme Epic !
The world branded him . . . an OUTLAW . . . a KILLER . . . a WOLF . . . but to the simple folk who knew him he was a victim of injustice - and to the girl who loved him he was brave and a gentle lover ! !
The Tremendous Dramatic Thrills Of the Midwest's Lawless Era will burst from our screen...
So Big and Sensational! Yet Capable of Stirring Your Tenderest Emotions.
[last lines]::[about Jesse James]::Major Rufus Cobb: He was one of the doggonedest, gawl-dingedest, dad-blamedest buckaroos that ever rode across these United States of America!
Engineer: What you aimin' to do, pardner?::Jesse Woodson James: I ain't aimin' to do nuthin'. I'm doin' it. I'm holdin' up this train.::Engineer: The whole train?
Zerelda 'Zee' Cobb, later Zerelda 'Zee' James: If I could just think of some way to let you know how wrong you are.::Jesse Woodson James: No use, honey. It's just like I always told you: I hate the railroads... and when I hate, I've gotta do somethin' about it.::Major Rufus Cobb: That's the stuff! People ain't hating nowadays like they used to. They gettin' soft. I got to admit that I like a man that hauls off and hates good and hard. It's the lawyers - gol-dang it - it's the lawyers are messin' up the whole world! Why ten years ago, here in Liberty, we didn't have no lawyers and we got along fine. Man killed somebody, then somebody killed him, and the marshal shot 'em all and that was the end of it. But, look at it today: right here in Liberty we got hundreds of lawyers, thousands of 'em, as far as the eye can see: nothing but lawyers!::Zerelda 'Zee' Cobb, later Zerelda 'Zee' James: Uncle Rufe, there are only TWO lawyers in Liberty.::Major Rufus Cobb: Huh? Two? Is that all? Then they run around too much. Gol-dang it, I'm gonna write me an editorial about that.::Major Rufus Cobb: [he goes out into the newspaper office] Roy!::Roy: Yes, sir?::Major Rufus Cobb: Take an editorial on lawyers.::Roy: Liars?::Major Rufus Cobb: That'll do. We'll begin easy. [he begins to dictate] Paragraph: If we are ever to have law and order in the West, the first thing we gotta do is take out all the lawyers and shoot 'em down like dogs.
[Jesse and Zee have come to the church to get married - the minister and the congregation react when he says he's Jesse James]::Jesse Woodson James: We don't want no trouble.::Minister: Trouble? Why, son, you're as welcome as rain to the flowers. Do you realize, boy, that I had a farm giving nine hundred bushels of corn... until that railroad had taken it from me? Why, I'd given up preaching... and was making an honest living off of the land, until that dad-swinged railroad swindled me out of my own home. By golly, son, do you know I had a big house... two barns... three outhouses... until that gold-danged railroad hornswoggled me!
Bob Ford: [masked and holding a gun on train passengers] If you don't know what this is, folks, it's a hold-up! [a woman screams] Stay in your seats, keep your hands in sight, and the gent who just threwed his pocketbook in the spittoon will kindly take it out and wipe it clean before we get to him.
Major Rufus Cobb: [standing over Mrs. Samuel's body] There's no use. She's dead. This is bad! Mighty bad! I'm sure sorry!::Barshee: Well, I'm sorry too!::Major Rufus Cobb: Oh, I wasn't talking about her. She's gone. It's you I'm sorry fer.