Jason David Cook
Atlanta-based writer, director, game designer, and actor
I create original stories for animation, film, and games.
I’ve been making short films since I was ten, and I was active in theater throughout middle and high school, performing in a wide variety of roles. My background includes acting (both film/stage), game design, animation, and live theater production. I’ve worked on both sides of the camera and across production: developing characters, directing performers, designing visuals, editing footage, and building sound.
I spent my early career learning just how hard it is to create anything, even if it's "easy." The lesson I learned: if even the easy thing can be hard, you may as well devote yourself to the really hard thing that you actually want to do.
Current work
I’m developing Reckless Roger the Bullet Dodger (opens in a new tab), an animated limited series and two games about a low-level maintenance robot who becomes sentient as an all-robot city collapses, forcing him to fight for a civilization that never meant for him to matter. You can explore the story and development material on the Roger wiki (opens in a new tab).
Some of those same questions about machine identity carry into my music project, ROBANA (opens in a new tab). Working with ChatGPT and Suno, I explore them through a wide variety of musical genres, as well as new subgenres only recently enabled by the unique nature of AI workflows. Many of the songs have a deceptively upbeat sound with more introspective, subversive, or even unsettling lyrics underneath.
Selected credits
- Vendetta Studios (opens in a new tab) (2009 - 2010)
Co-founder and creative director. Directed, co-animated, and scripted the Ninja vs. Samurai (opens in a new tab) shorts and managed a five-person contractor team. Designed Omniball (opens in a new tab), created all of its art, and wrote and directed all of its commercials. - Starbase Orion (opens in a new tab) (2011)
Designed the interface and more than 90 starships for Chimera Software’s 4X sci-fi strategy game on iOS. - Theater (2017 - 2022)
Co-wrote Never a Truer Tale (opens in a new tab) and Corner Kids with CAST, Peachtree Christian Church’s teen musical program. Co-directed performers and worked on five annual productions, each with an out-of-town tour, contributing across sets, costumes, lighting, and sound.
Personal note:
I'm not religious at all. PCC, despite knowing that, was incredibly gracious in giving me the opportunity to create and perform stories that were important to their congregation. - Short films (2006 - 2009)
Wrote, directed, and co-starred in the sci-fi short Vain Blade, leading its two-person VFX team. Wrote and produced the comedy Chapstuck (opens in a new tab), with assistant direction and editing.