TM is an independent film, video game, and software development company, founded by Ted Phillips and Mike Berrios about March 1998. The company developed a small handful of projects that were never released.
TM is a combination of the founders' first initials, with specific intent to mimic the abbreviation for trademark protection. The logo was intended to be used in superscript position in combination with other terms, depending on the medium, to emphasize this fact. It is likely, however, that the company would never be able to legally register due to this similarity.
TM initially formed as a software development company, taking over development of the operating system Teddy 97 that Ted Phillips had been working on solo for the previous few months.
As part of the operating system, they designed a primitive video game engine and development kit, called Game Universe. With the planned engine, they quickly expanded the company's mission, intending to use these tools to develop the video game Donkey Kong Country 4: The Kremian Wars Beneath Donkey Kong Country Isle.
As one of TM's first film projects, they began developing the screenplay for the film Y3K, which appeared on Ted's Fun Site later that month.
In April, they began collaborating on a novel called Dreamland, which they spent the next roughly 14 months writing. On or about March 3, 1999, TM began planning to adapt Dreamland into a multi-part film epic, which they planned to release no earlier than 2014. However, by June 1999, the Dreamland manuscript was stolen, save for a few pages that were torn out.
TM was never officially dissolved, but most of its intellectual property was acquired by Cracked Egg Studios between 2001 and 2005.
TM is a combination of the founders' first initials, with specific intent to mimic the abbreviation for trademark protection. The logo was intended to be used in superscript position in combination with other terms, depending on the medium, to emphasize this fact. It is likely, however, that the company would never be able to legally register due to this similarity.
History
While the founders had collaborated on earlier projects such as the video game console Super Nintendo 64 Entertainment System and the board game Colonopoly in 1997, they did not formalize their working relationship until around March 1998.TM initially formed as a software development company, taking over development of the operating system Teddy 97 that Ted Phillips had been working on solo for the previous few months.
As part of the operating system, they designed a primitive video game engine and development kit, called Game Universe. With the planned engine, they quickly expanded the company's mission, intending to use these tools to develop the video game Donkey Kong Country 4: The Kremian Wars Beneath Donkey Kong Country Isle.
As one of TM's first film projects, they began developing the screenplay for the film Y3K, which appeared on Ted's Fun Site later that month.
In April, they began collaborating on a novel called Dreamland, which they spent the next roughly 14 months writing. On or about March 3, 1999, TM began planning to adapt Dreamland into a multi-part film epic, which they planned to release no earlier than 2014. However, by June 1999, the Dreamland manuscript was stolen, save for a few pages that were torn out.
TM was never officially dissolved, but most of its intellectual property was acquired by Cracked Egg Studios between 2001 and 2005.