Ghosts of Ruin executive producer and showrunner, Michael Ryan, and co-creator and executive producer, PJ Accetturo, opened up about their upcoming game-changing project. The show promises to be a thrilling blend of genres, including dystopian, action, horror, and mystery, with a touch of humor. Here’s a closer look at the key highlights from the interview.

The Birth of Ghosts of Ruin

Accetturo shared the incredible journey that led to the creation of Ghosts of Ruin. Starting as a content creator with just 300 subscribers, a viral video catapulted their channel to a million subscribers in six months. This success, coupled with their love for Battle Royale games like Fortnite and Apex, inspired the idea for the show.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s been a labor of love and certainly, at the end of the day, I was a content creator for years with 300 subscribers playing video games and one day, PewDiePie caused one of our videos to go viral. We went from 300 to 500k subscribers in a week, a million subscribers in six months.

We thought we were on top of the world and we’d been playing a lot of Battle Royale, Fortnite, Apex, and Ryan, who’s over there, he’s a co-writer, my best friend for years, he’s like, alright, let’s finally tell that story, maybe we can make a show out of it, which is the Ghosts of Ruin story, a story about content creators in the future where they go into neural reality and they’re not able to distinguish reality from non-reality and the whole world watches as these gamers really start to go from a dream to a nightmare.”

-PJ Accetturo, ‘Ghosts of Ruin’ Co-Creator & Executive Producer-

The Influence of Real-Life Experiences

Ryan added depth to the conversation by sharing how the pandemic’s impact on their lives influenced the show’s direction. Working in different fields, including driving for Uber and working in a mental health hospital, they witnessed firsthand the struggle to distinguish reality from non-reality. This experience led them to focus on PTSD and trauma within the context of gaming.

“It was an awesome script and I think what really informed the depth of it is that when the pandemic hit, we lost our channel, I’m driving for Uber, Ryan’s working in a mental health hospital, he’s coming home with a black eye and it’s just because his patients couldn’t tell reality from non-reality.

And it really was just like, man, we really want to have a PTSD-focused aspect of this because we just feel like it’s our duty to share, when games become indistinguishable from reality and that’s going to be a not-too-distant future with Neuralink and all that kind of stuff, what happens to trauma in the games?”

-Michael Ryan, ‘Ghosts of Ruin’ Showrunner & Executive Producer-

A Multi-Genre Experience

The show is described as a blend of dystopian, action, character-driven content, horror, and mystery. While there is humor in the show, it’s not classified as a comedy. The creators emphasized the importance of character-driven storytelling and the inclusion of horror elements to add an undercurrent of mystery.

“Michael Ryan: I think we’re dystopian, but we’ve got a lot of action because we’re very much a gaming show and we’ve got a lot of character-driven content because for me it’s always character, character, character, so the characters really drive this story. And we also have horror thrown in for good measure because we like horror and it’s sort of fun because there’s sort of a horror movie element to the show that kind of is an undercurrent mystery that they have to figure out.

PJ Accetturo: Yeah, oh, it’s a mystery too. One more genre?

Michael Ryan: Yeah, it’s a mystery. And it’s a comedy. No, it’s not a comedy. Although there is some humor, but it’s not a comedy.”

-Michael Ryan & PJ Accetturo, ‘Ghosts of Ruin’ Executive Producers-

A Story for Gamers

The creators expressed their desire to create a show that resonates with gamers and those who grew up playing Battle Royales and various shooter games. The storyline, set in a near-future tech dystopia, involves 100 of the world’s best gamers and influencers competing in an epic Battle Royale. The plot thickens with the introduction of a monster hunting the players and the mysterious inability to log out of the game.

“We wanted to make the show that we always wanted to see growing up as gamers and playing Battle Royales, playing games, playing all the types of shooters right now. We just wanted to see someone tell that kind of story about content creators in the form of anime. I really feel it’s like this perfect storm of setting that’s really hopefully going to make this a relevant production to the masses. Because the storyline takes place, they’ve invented a new reality and they’ve got a full immersion of technology and they’ve got 100 of the world’s best gamers and influencers who are going to compete in this epic Battle Royale.

It’s a documentary about the future like this is going to happen. I think it’s already happening probably. And then our hero Lee, he gets thrown into this because he’s a kid from the cubes and he wins a ticket to sort of be a part of this. And so he’s in way over his head. And then there’s this monster in the game that’s hunting everyone and killing them one by one. And nobody knows why it’s there, how it’s there. So this becomes something they have to resolve in order to survive this whole sort of this moment and not become ghosts themselves.”

-PJ Accetturo, ‘Ghosts of Ruin’ Co-Creator & Executive Producer-

Empowering Content Creators

Accetturo, with a background as a YouTuber, expressed a strong desire to empower up-and-coming content creators. They offer masterclass videos and provide resources and tools to teach aspiring creators how shows are made.

“So we do these master class videos, you know, each week where I’ll interview Mike on some aspect of our production and really want to teach them how these shows are made because there’s no blueprint for how to get a show. There’s no blueprint for how to talk to PR agency and how to talk to actors and all these things. And that’s what we’re really trying to empower creators, give them resources and tools. And then as a second component, really give them a voice in the show, let them vote on elements.”

-PJ Accetturo, ‘Ghosts of Ruin’ Co-Creator & Executive Producer-

Community Voting and Involvement

The creators have also involved the community in voting on various elements of the show, such as character designs and props. They even offer opportunities for community members to appear on screen, adding a unique interactive dimension to the production.

“I love the voting. It’s one of my favorite parts. It’s like, so we’ll create, we’ll let them vote on models and props and things. So like Juggernaut’s boots, what color do you guys want? We give them three or four choices. What design do you want on that? You know, Juggernaut’s pet dog has a tattoo on its butt. So it’s like, what kind of tattoo do you all want? So we give them different choices for that. And then one of my favorites was this guy in a sweatshirt, one of our characters. Basically you. It’s me, because he’s this old man flipping people off.

So it’s like, oh, that’s me, that’s me. So he’s got this sweatshirt and we thought, well, what design should we put on this? Should it be like a bling bling dollar sign or should it be like the love with the OB and the yin-yang symbol? Or just anything that’s kind of, or even like the anarchy symbol instead? So it was like, in a sense, giving them a metaphysical choice, like where does your heart lie? That’s true. And they voted for my favorite one, which is the love with the heart, with the OB and the yin yang. But he’s like flicking people off. That’s important.

Old people are really grumpy in our world. Also in our production team. Yeah, right. But just getting them, community involved in these kinds of votes has just been such a pleasure. And also allowing them to have chances to be seen on screen too, right? So, you know, they, we have like wanted posters, which are going to be scattered along the city. They could be animated on-screen under that. And of course, there’s death drops.”

-Michael Ryan, ‘Ghosts of Ruin’ Showrunner & Executive Producer-

Ghosts of Ruin promises to be a thrilling and thought-provoking show that explores the intersection of gaming, reality, and trauma. With a blend of genres and a strong focus on character-driven storytelling, it’s set to resonate with gamers and non-gamers alike. The creators’ passion for the project and their commitment to community involvement add a unique dimension that sets it apart from other productions.

Ghosts of Ruin

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