Jess Lanzillo Joins White Wolf as Creative Director

Jess Lanzillo, the former VP of Dungeons & Dragons that departed the company last month, is joining White Wolf as the creative director for World of Darkness. In a press release, White Wolf noted that Lanzillo will lead IP development for all World of Darkness story worlds, including Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse and others. This includes the TTRPGs, video games, and other projects.

Lanzillo has been a lifelong World of Darkness fan since the inaugural release of Vampire: The Masquerade back in 1991.

“World of Darkness has been my creative north star since the '90s, and I've seen firsthand how these games create communities and inspire storytellers,” Lanzillo said in the press release announcing the news. “My focus is on supporting and amplifying what makes these worlds special—the rich lore, the player agency, the mature themes—while ensuring they reach everyone who would love them. World of Darkness is so much more than just games; it's a cultural touchstone with a passionate community and incredible untapped potential.”

"Bringing Jess on board to shape the creative future of World of Darkness is a big win for White Wolf," said Marco Behrmann, White Wolf Executive Vice President in the same press release. "She’s a world-class Creative Director with deep roots in developing transmedia properties and a sharp instinct for audience-first storytelling. Jess’s experience makes her the perfect fit to lead White Wolf in bold, ambitious ways. Jess is a key pillar of our expanding studio, helping drive a strong and clear creative vision from the heart of our team. Her arrival underscores Paradox’s long-term commitment to White Wolf and our goal to make World of Darkness the number one horror entertainment brand in the world."

 

[WisdomOfWombats]

WoD has been the closest one to become a serious rival for D&D, at least for a time. We shouldn't be too surprised if Hasbro was interested into WW's IPs.

I think that WoD is exactly the opposite of the family-friendly entertainment that WotC is pursuing. WotC has changed a lot since that short time period when they published Ars Magica.

 

[EthanSental]

Of course she's a big fan. She just took a job with them.
Yeah, that's why Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins "changed positions" to another company after 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons, and then again after 5th edition.

Yeah, let’s take minute on that and see a big difference. 4th edition didn’t do well in most mind sets and not a commercial success so let’s not go out and leave the company on a low point but 5th edition was huge and with this latest revision still in top 10 years later…yeah they are going out like Peyton manning after winning the Super Bowl. Slightly bigger difference in my eyes on the timing but other views will differ.

 

[abazaba]

Total aside: you would think that with all the spell and grammar check elements embedded in various word processing apps, they would be able to detect blatantly missing words. But you see it ALL THE TIME.

Nah. Sometimes you just lose a whole

 

[EthanSental]

Done that before

 

[Charlaquin]

Honest question: what is "audience-first storytelling"?

I mean, it sounds like meaningless corpo-speak. Though, knowing Paradox and Nu White Wolf, it may be how they refer to their particular LARP-driven metaplot.

 

[Alzrius]

Honest question: what is "audience-first storytelling"?

Presumably it's the opposite of contemporary Hollywood's style of storytelling.

 

[Von Ether]

Does this make her the VP of Franchise for the World of Darkness then?

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

Yeah, let’s take minute on that and see a big difference. 4th edition didn’t do well in most mind sets and not a commercial success so let’s not go out and leave the company on a low point but 5th edition was huge and with this latest revision still in top 10 years later…yeah they are going out like Peyton manning after winning the Super Bowl. Slightly bigger difference in my eyes on the timing but other views will differ.

Occam's beard is growing pretty long these days.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

We can agree World of Darkness is the opposite of a family-friendly franchise, but is it Ravenloft, Innistrad or Duskmourn?

A lot of players want factions and crunch (superpowers, magic item and like this). And WW has got some franchises like Pugmire.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Honest question: what is "audience-first storytelling"?

Producing content based on audience demands, not corporate needs.