Earlier today we reported on a story in Variety in which it was revealed that Thomas Tull had left Brash Entertainment, a company he co-founded. Variety's Ben Fritz characterized Brash's business as being "in turmoil," but Mitch Davis, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Brash, has told GameDaily BIZ in an exclusive interview that's simply not the case.

Davis acknowledges that Brash was probably "overly ambitious" in its first year, but he also explains that his company has taken steps to reorganize and ensure quality going forward. Davis also says that Brash might one day "explore original IP," but for now the company remains focused on film properties and licenses.

Here's our Q&A, which Davis graciously completed for us via email way past business hours.

GameDaily BIZ: Can Brash confirm the departures of Thomas Tull and Larry Shapiro from the company? And if yes, why did they leave, particularly Tull, who as a co-founder and the Chairman of Legendary Pictures was pretty important to the business?

Mitch Davis: Thomas is Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, and co-founder of Brash. Although, he has resigned from our board due to a conflict of interest he remains an investor and a close advisor to the company. [Note: Mitch Davis confirms Shapiro's departure in the next question – Ed.]

Certainly, Thomas's company, Legendary Films, has great IP and there has been a lot of speculation that Brash would benefit by getting those titles through having Thomas on the board. (In fact, I think Variety speculated on which titles we might have, naming 300, Where the Wild Things Are, and Clash of the Titans.) While we can't confirm which of these titles are in development now, we can [confirm] that our slate has not changed. So basically, we have a very solid slate. Many of these games are already in production with development cycles of up to three years. That's an unusually generous schedule for a movie based game, and can be seen as an indication of quality as we will be able to spend more time in pre-production and concepting, more time developing technology and more time testing—really just giving ourselves time to get it right. In addition to those titles that are a few years out, we are shipping two great family games this holiday: Tales of Despereaux and Six Flags Fun Park and we are gearing up to officially announce Night at the Museum Battle for the Smithsonian for next year.

BIZ: The report in Variety claims that Tull was concerned with the quality of games from Brash. So far, Brash's games have not been received that well critically. Are you concerned? What steps are being taken to ensure quality?

MD: Good games take time, and it's fair to say that we were overly ambitious in putting out three games in our first year of business. We certainly took our lumps on those titles, and for that reason we have made several changes.

BIZ: Reporter Ben Fritz described Brash as a company "in turmoil." How would you describe the Brash business to this point?

MD: In a little more than a year, Brash was able to achieve amazing things. We secured financing, we signed multiple licenses, we hired more than 70 people and set up three offices, we put out three games in our first year and have more than a dozen in various phases of development. Now, we are at a point where we can reassess. We have systems in place, and feedback on what has and hasn't worked. We're making changes to refine our business so that we can meet our goals.

BIZ: From the get go, the idea of a video game company devoted entirely to film properties and licenses in general seemed like a risky proposition. Most publishers believe in a balanced mix of original IP and licenses. What makes you believe that making primarily movie-based games (an area that's historically not been so hot) will be successful for Brash?

MD: Historically, it's been easier to predict the success of licensed titles rather than original games because we can better gauge demand based on a built in audience for the IP. We also have the strength of the film's fanbase and theatrical marketing campaigns driving further demand. In starting Brash, it was our philosophy that we would build a publishing division that could service licensed games with the understanding that ultimately we might explore original IP. But, creating a successful original game is a difficult business—we are focused on the core business of building great games around compelling licensed properties.

BIZ: Thanks for your time.