Chance Thomas Official Website

Making It HUGE in Video Games is a candid, behind-the-scenes story of building a creative career in music.

From Lord of the Rings to Avatar, from music school to the Academy Awards, this book describes ambitious dreams and painful setbacks, business risks and hard-earned triumphs.

Part memoir, part career guide, part financial wake-up call—Making It HUGE offers tough-love lessons for composers, artists, students, teachers, and anyone trying to create a meaningful life in the arts.

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“I hate the image of the starving artist.

I would love to debunk that idea forever.”

—Chance Thomas, Making It HUGE in Video Games, pg. 317

Notable Quotes

“Though I was never blessed with generation-defining talent, I was given just enough talent coupled with an outrageous work ethic.” (page 1)

“My mission was to understand with authority how J.R.R. Tolkien had envisioned music throughout the breadth and depth of Middle-earth, across all of its ages.” (page 28)

“Some goals can take decades to fully blossom.” (page 76)

"The music was almost visible, a ghost-like morphing of overtones and undertones dueling and dancing in the air.” (page 102)

“Resilience wins. In business and in life, resilience always wins.” (page 217)

“I hate the image of the starving artist. I would love to debunk that idea forever.” (page 317)

Story Snippets

"The music design called for nearly four and a half hours of music tracks. The schedule allowed just seventy days to compose the score, plus another month or so to produce it. What had I gotten myself into?” (page 125)

"We continued like this for another two hours, building volume curves, carving frequencies, massaging effects, highlighting instruments upon their entrances, and tweaking to our hearts’ content. The hard work and attention to detail had paid off. This was a celebration of fine-tuning, a victory of crafted excellence over good enough." (page 88)

"The night of the party arrived, and I pushed my way into the crowded nightclub. A mobile DJ booth was pulsing over in the corner. Red and blue lights flickered from the ceiling, tickling a small dance floor. Suddenly, I spotted the man I had come to see—C. Michael Greene, CEO of the Recording Academy. I introduced myself as a new member and mentioned that I composed music for video games. He nodded, but seemed disinterested and distracted, his eyes darting around the room. I pressed on, posing the question I had driven to San Francisco to ask, “Is it possible to have a new Grammy Award category for video game music…?" (page 22)

"He finally asked about the box I kept fiddling with. “Oh yes, this is for you,” I said, handing him the shiny package, “This is my new demo.” Unwrapping the box, Mike’s eyes lit up at the wireless headphones and colorful iPod. He slid the printed booklet out and started thumbing through the pages. He picked up the iPod and admired its shiny surface, then pulled the headphones out and tried them on his head. A moment later he gushed, “This is the coolest demo I’ve ever received. I can’t wait to listen…” I knew he would. And I knew it was going to sound great." (pages 166-167)

"If I decided to work on Avatar, I would have to leave EA—that was his ultimatum. But the creative fee for scoring Avatar was double my annual EA salary. There was no way I was letting that go. My proposal had been fair, productive, and timely. But ultimatums can make any situation untenable. I tendered my two-week notice.” (page 120)

"After the fifth failure to get through the piece even one time, I slunk away feeling completely defeated. “Go solve the problem,” I thought, “Rise above your emotions.” I returned to the stage. Once the clicks came on, I never missed a beat. I was proud of myself for stepping up when all I wanted was to hide away in an obscure corner.” (page 95)