EXCLUSIVE: British director Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull is adapting the first game from his new transmedia company into a TV series, and working on a second season of his YouTube chat show.
Dulull, who is also a screenwriter and games developer, told Deadline that he is in talks with partners about an animated TV adaptation of Astro Burn, which was announced earlier this year as the first project from his Beyond the Pixels label.
“From an industry point of view, if you look at the most recent news about Amazon MGM developing a series based on the game Split Fiction, and the amazing work my friends at [Tomb Raider TV series producer] Story Kitchen are doing, transmedia is now part of the IP creation process in film and TV,” he said. “My next project, Astro Burn, is a prime example. While it’s my debut indie game, we’re already developing it in parallel as a TV show concept and talking to producing partners about it this early on.”
He added he was “building strategic alliances with consumer brands such as Bitmap Books, Hyperkin, Razer, MyArcade and others that fit the Beyond the Pixels content brand.”
The series is planned to have a distinct pixel art aesthetic – similar to the games of earlier era consoles.
In an YouTube announcement video, Dulull has described Astro Burn has a “side-scrolling bullet hell shoot ’em up” that will launch on PCs via the Steam engine later this year, with mobile versions following “shortly after.”
It follows a sassy, wisecracking astronaut who is returning home after an interstellar mission, only to find Earth surrounded by a mysterious structure and the only way to the surface being through it. “This game is a love letter to the classic console shooters” Dullul “grew up obsessing over,” he added.
As TV and film producers seek new ways of developing and funding content, video game IP has taken on an increasingly important role, with the likes of Fallout, Tomb Raider and Twisted Metal just three examples. “We’re already seeing a shift,” said Dulull. “Hollywood producers are paying close attention to rising game IPs with strong community engagement or high Steam wishlist rankings, getting involved before the game even ships. This accelerates the pipeline for TV development.”
Dulull argued that the video games sector, which will bag estimated collective revenues of over $522B in 2025, has been better at connecting with audiences and fanbases, and that this would inform Beyond the Pixel going forwards.
“What games have constantly done better than film and TV is build community,” he said. “At Beyond The Pixels, that’s a core pillar: engaging audiences early in the creative process utilizing platforms like Discord, Reddit, etcetera, so they become part of the journey. That kind of organic involvement leads to stronger, more meaningful connections with the IP.
“This convergence isn’t just creative – it’s also structural. We’re building projects with aligned creative, technical and ownership models across film, TV, games, and even comics.”
For Beyond the Pixels, Dulull said this could even impact casting. “Even casting strategies may lean into the influencer space – because if we’re creating content for today’s audiences, we need to meet them where they are: YouTube, Twitch, Roblox, and beyond,” he said.
New Chapter
Dulull exited his previous company, HaZimation, earlier this year. HaZimation co-founder Paula Crickard went on to rebrand the company as Atelier 11 with a focus on becoming “boutique transmedia studio committed to shaping the future of storytelling across film, animation, gaming and TV series” – much like Beyond the Pixels in some ways, but now with a shifted focus.
“I’m genuinely excited about this new chapter,” said Dulull. To clarify, the split was amicable, as we both wanted different things as producers, whilst the industry changed and shifted over the years, so did our interests as producers. I have a huge amount of respect for Paula and will always have, so if a project crosses our paths then sure we could collaborate, but right now we are both on two different trajectories in our careers and companies.”
Beyond the Pixels is being bootstrapped by Dulull himself, with funds raised from his debut feature film, The Beyond from 2018, still generating revenue. “I also have several strategic partners helping to finance specific projects, but overall, I’m deliberately taking a non-traditional route,” he added. “The old ways of financing content are broken – we need new, flexible models that align with how audiences discover and support content today.”
Another project in the works is a second season of the Beyond the Pixels chat show, whose first season featured the likes of The Walking Dead actress Sarah Wayne Callies. Dulull said “the beauty of platforms like YouTube” was the data they provide informs producers on how to make format tweaks and shape strategy. He added “several transmedia projects are in active development,” beyond the announced slate.
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