Monty Oum

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Monty Oum
Monty Oum at PAX 2013.jpg
Monty Oum at PAX 2013
Born (1981-06-22)June 22, 1981
Died February 1, 2015(2015-02-01) (aged 33)
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Cause of death
 Allergic reaction
Nationality American
Occupation Animator, screenwriter, animation director, voice actor
Years active 2007–2015
Employer Rooster Teeth Productions
Notable work(s) RWBY
Red vs. Blue
Spouse(s) Sheena Duquette

Monty Oum (June 22, 1981 – February 1, 2015) was an American web-based animator.[1] He was known for his crossover fighting videos and was employed by Rooster Teeth Productions to animate for Red vs. Blue and RWBY. Oum attracted attention within the gaming community after releasing the hit video Haloid in 2007 on GameTrailers, which a Destructoid article called "the most interesting Halo-related fan movie in existence."[2] The video has received more than 4 million views and is the most watched user-created content on the site.[3] In October of the same year, he released the first video in his Dead Fantasy fan series.[4] He released 5 episodes of Dead Fantasy and a preview of the eighth episode. He also created two music video spin-offs of the series. The music videos were named after the songs the main characters danced to. The first music video showed all the main characters dancing to Mariah Carey's 2009 hit single, Obsessed. The second music video was similar to the first, but the characters were dancing to the 2009 single Gee by the Korean-pop girl group, Girls' Generation. After Oum announced that he had started working for Rooster Teeth, the series was put on hold.

Oum was hospitalized in January 2015, under critical care,[5] and died on February 1, 2015.[6]

Career

According to Oum, he was "Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese." [7] Oum dropped out of high school and began putting together fan videos as early as 2002.[8] In January 2007, he discovered some reverse engineering techniques online that allowed him to extract models from Halo 2 and, utilizing assets from Super Smash Bros. Melee, created the "ultimate showdown" between a SPARTAN (Halo) and Samus Aran (Metroid) in Haloid, a portmanteau of their respective franchises. Two months after the premiere of Haloid, he was hired by Midway Games as a Combat Designer. In 2008 he was hired by Namco Bandai Games as a Combat Designer/Animator for Afro Samurai.[9] In 2009, Oum met Burnie Burns at a panel during San Diego Comic-Con International and the two discussed possibly teaming up.[10] He was officially announced as working for Rooster Teeth as character animator and choreographer at PAX East 2010,[11] and in 2012, he was announced as the creator and lead animator for their latest series, RWBY.[12]

Death

On January 21, 2015, Oum was hospitalized following a severe allergic reaction during a routine medical procedure that rendered him comatose.[6] Rooster Teeth co-founder Burnie Burns stated that Oum was "in critical care and it is not known if he will recover".[5] A donation page was set up for the medical expenses on GoFundMe; the goal of $50,000 was reached within three hours, with the fundraiser reaching $100,000 in four hours, and $150,000 within 24 hours.[13] On February 1, 2015, Oum died as a result of the allergic reaction.[6][14]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Year Award Category Title of work Result
2014 Streamy Awards Best Animated (Channel, Show or Series) RWBY Won
2014 International Academy of Web Television Best Animated Series RWBY Won
2012 Producers Guild of America Outstanding Digital Series Red vs. Blue Nominated

References

  1. Jump up ^ Burns, Burnie (2011-06-22). "Birth of A Legend". Red vs. Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
  2. Jump up ^ Devore, Jordan (2007-04-18). "Haloid: the craziest fan movie you'll see this week". Destructoid. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
  3. Jump up ^ "Popular User Movies". GameTrailers. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
  4. Jump up ^ Kietzmann, Ludwig (2007-10-13). "Haloid creator mashes up Final Fantasy and Dead or Alive". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Burns, Burnie (January 30, 2015). "Monty Oum hospitalized". Retrieved February 1, 2015. 
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Hullum, Matt (February 2, 2015). "Monty Oum has passed away". Retrieved February 2, 2015. 
  7. Jump up ^ Monty Oum's Twitter account, 2:46 AM, 16 Jun 13
  8. Jump up ^ Sweet, Meredith (2009-07-07). "GD at AX: Interview with Monty Oum". Gaming Dead. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
  9. Jump up ^ Monkelban, Andrew (2009-07-29). "Monty Oum – Hail to the King". Popten. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
  10. Jump up ^ Dean, Sam (2010-04-21). "Monty Oum Interview (PAX East 2010)". Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
  11. Jump up ^ Burns, Burnie (2010-03-29). "Monty Oum signs on with Rooster Teeth". Red vs. Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved 2011-07-06. 
  12. Jump up ^ Oum, Monty. "Rooster Teeth - RWBY". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved 2012-11-10. 
  13. Jump up ^ Rose, Jason (January 30, 2015). "Monty Oum Medical & Family Support by Jason Rose". GoFundMe. Retrieved February 1, 2015. 
  14. Jump up ^ Klepek, Patrick (February 2, 2015). "Rooster Teeth Animator Monty Oum Dies At 33". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved February 3, 2015. 

External links