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Barrie business heading to the Dragons' Den

Jean and Blair Leggett will enter the Dragons’ Den later this month. The Barrie couple, founders and owners of One More Story Games, will be filming a pitch to the Dragons at the CBC TV Studio in Toronto
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Jean and Blair Leggett are preparing for a trip to the Dragons' Den. Robin MacLennan/BarrieToday.com

Jean and Blair Leggett will enter the Dragons’ Den later this month.

The Barrie couple, founders and owners of One More Story Games, will be filming a pitch to the Dragons at the CBC TV Studio in Toronto.

They auditioned, along with 15 other hopeful business owners from all across Simcoe County, at Georgian College in Barrie last month.

“We almost didn’t go for the audition,” Jean says. “They seemed to really love us last year and we were sure they would pick us, but they didn’t.

“We weren’t sure about trying again.”

For the Leggetts, however, the second time was a charm and about two weeks after their spur-of-the-moment audition, they got a phone call inviting them to meet with a Dragons’ Den producer to plan their TV pitch.

It could be an exciting chapter for One More Story Games, a platform that turns narrative-driven stories written by emerging and established writers into online games.

Games currently offered on the website send players hurtling through space and time, stealthily creeping through back alleys in Victorian London, evading capture or saving your shipmates from an unexpected attack.

Jean says the business creates “living, breathing and interactive worlds.”

The past few months have been particularly exciting. Along with the Dragons’ Den opportunity, the business finalized a deal to work to work with #1 New York Times best selling author Charlaine Harris, adapting her novel Shakespeare’s Landlord into an interactive story game.

“Ms. Harris has had her work adapted for television more than once and we're thrilled to be transforming her novel into a living, breathing and interactive world,” said Jean.

It’s the first of a five-part series.

If One More Story Games lures a Dragon or two into a deal, Jean says the cash will help update technology and make games accessible to an expanded audience.

Blair is the technical wizard, with years of work experience at Electronic Arts, the largest game publisher for console games at the time in Vancouver and then for Zynga in San Francisco.

Since returning to Barrie in 2013, he built the independent gaming studio with more than $250,000 raised from friends, family and other supporters.

“We have created a multi-sided market model where you have software for people without a lot of technological skills,” Jean explained. “It’s ebook meets video game.”

And it appeals to kids as young as 10 and adults with no age limit.

Dragons’ Den producers were impressed with the “traction” the Leggetts have made since their first audition.

 With just a few weeks to go before their television debut, the focus has shifted toward creating an effective, unique and interactive presentation that will catch the attention and the wallets of the Dragons’

“We are planning something special for them,” Jean said with a coy smile.

What that “special something” is will remain a secret for now.

While they say they aren’t nervous about the pitch, Jean says keeping the result a secret will be difficult.

No matter what the outcome of their pitch, the show won’t be aired until next season, sometime between September and March, 2017.

“That’s a long time to keep quiet,” Jean said with a laugh.


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Robin MacLennan

About the Author: Robin MacLennan

Robin MacLennan has been a reporter, photographer and editor for the daily media in Barrie, across Simcoe County and Toronto for many years. She is a proud member of the Barrie community.
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