Katherine Anna Kang

Katherine Anna Kang
Katherine Anna Kang
Born	December 15, 1970 (age 53)
Occupation(s)	Founder and CEO of Fountainhead Entertainment
Spouse	John D. Carmack (m. 2000; div. 2021)
Children	2

Katherine Anna Kang (born December 15, 1970) is an American video game designer.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Career

In 2000, as founder and CEO of Fountainhead Entertainment, she championed machinima and became known as one of machinima's biggest supporters.^[4] Through Fountainhead Entertainment, she produced, wrote, and directed a variety of machinima pieces and co-founded the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences.^[5] In Machinima For Dummies, the machinima piece Anna is mentioned as "…one of the top ten list of every prominent machinima maker in the world."

While at Fountainhead Entertainment, Kang produced and designed mobile games for id Software.^[6] Mobile game titles Doom RPG and the Orcs & Elves series were heralded as some of the best mobile games of their time.^{[by whom?]} Orcs & Elves was eventually ported to the Nintendo DS with Kang producing and designing.

In 2000, Kang wrote, directed, and produced the documentary Gamers. The documentary included interviews from video gaming luminaries, with a brief focus on history and predictive trends. The documentary was released in limited distribution throughout Europe and the US in 2001.

Formerly, Kang was the Director of Business Development for id Software where she worked on Quake III Arena and various mission packs and Quake II ports.^[7] In 2008, she returned to id Software as President of id Mobile where she produced and designed Wolfenstein RPG and Doom II RPG.^[8] She also produced the iPhone-only game Doom Resurrection. A 2014 article listed her as a "former director of business development at id Software", following her husband's departure from id in 2013.^[9]

Kang is also co-founder of Armadillo Aerospace.^[10]

Personal life

Kang married computer programmer and businessman John Carmack in January 2000.^[11] In August 2004, Kang gave birth to their first son, Christopher Ryan.^[12] Their second son was born in November 2009. Due to her involvement with id Software and John Carmack, she was mentioned in the final chapters of Masters of Doom. The couple divorced in 2021.

Awards

Through Fountainhead Entertainment, Kang has won the following awards:

AMAS Best Technical Achievement for Anna
AMAS Best Direction for In The Waiting Line
IGN.com Adventure Game of the Year for Doom RPG
1UP.com Mobile Game of the Year for Doom RPG
Gamespot's Mobies Mobile Game of the Year for Doom RPG
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Best Cell Game for Orcs & Elves
IGN.com Best of E3 – Best Wireless RPG for Orcs & Elves
IGN.com Best Wireless Story for Orcs & Elves
Leipzig Game Convention Best Mobile Game for Orcs & Elves

Machinima

Fountainhead's machinima include the award-winning short Anna; In The Waiting Line, aired on MTV; Game Over, aired on UPN; and Sidrial released via Fileplanet.

Games

Quake II (1997), for Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, developed by id Software, published by Activision
Kingpin: Life of Crime (1999), for Microsoft Windows, Linux Interplay Entertainment Corp
Quake III Arena (1999), for Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, developed by id Software, published by Activision
Doom RPG (2005), developed by id Software, published by JAMDAT
Orcs & Elves (2006), for mobile phone, developed by id Software, published by EA
Orcs & Elves (2007), for Nintendo DS, developed by id Software, published by EA Mobile
Orcs & Elves 2 (2007), developed by id Software, published by EA Mobile
Wolfenstein RPG (2008), for mobile phone, by id Software, published by EA Mobile
Doom Resurrection (2009), for iOS, developed by id Software
Doom 2 RPG (2010), for mobile phone, by id Software

References

^ "Orcs & Elves DS Developer Diary #1". Vgblogger.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^ "Independent film makers see market in machinima - Aug. 12, 2005". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^ "Orcs & Elves". Gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^ [1] Archived February 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^ Andy Clarke; Grethe Mitchell (2005). "Videogames and Art: Intersections and Interactions" (PDF). Intellect Books (UK). Retrieved 29 October 2014.^{[clarification needed]}
^ [2] Archived September 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^ "GameGirlz.Com - Weekly Women Spotlight- Katherine Anna Kang". Gamegirlz.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^ "The John Carmack Archive - Gamasutra interviews John Carmack and Katherine Anna Kang (Nov 23, 2007)". 2009-01-05. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
^ McWhertor, Michael (August 18, 2014). "John Carmack's 9-year-old son just released his first video game". Polygon. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^ "Anna Kang Talks Orcs & Elves & Diamonds". Wired. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^ Ajami, Amer (December 15, 1999). "Carmack Gets Engaged". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
^ Carmack, John (August 16, 2004). "Rebuilding, New team member". Armadillo Aerospace News Archive. Archived from the original on August 17, 2004. Retrieved September 30, 2023.

External links

[vgblogger.com-1] "Orcs & Elves DS Developer Diary #1". Vgblogger.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

[2] "Independent film makers see market in machinima - Aug. 12, 2005". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

[3] "Orcs & Elves". Gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

[4] [1] Archived February 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

[5] Andy Clarke; Grethe Mitchell (2005). "Videogames and Art: Intersections and Interactions" (PDF). Intellect Books (UK). Retrieved 29 October 2014.^{[clarification needed]}

[6] [2] Archived September 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

[7] "GameGirlz.Com - Weekly Women Spotlight- Katherine Anna Kang". Gamegirlz.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

[8] "The John Carmack Archive - Gamasutra interviews John Carmack and Katherine Anna Kang (Nov 23, 2007)". 2009-01-05. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2021-03-03.

[9] McWhertor, Michael (August 18, 2014). "John Carmack's 9-year-old son just released his first video game". Polygon. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

[10] "Anna Kang Talks Orcs & Elves & Diamonds". Wired. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

[11] Ajami, Amer (December 15, 1999). "Carmack Gets Engaged". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved June 22, 2023.

[12] Carmack, John (August 16, 2004). "Rebuilding, New team member". Armadillo Aerospace News Archive. Archived from the original on August 17, 2004. Retrieved September 30, 2023.

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