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Chris Roberts founded Ascendant Pictures in early 2003 and quickly positioned both himself and the company as influential players in independent film production and financing. In 2004, Roberts received an Executive Producer credit on The Punisher and produced The Big White (starring Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Woody Harrelson) and Lord of War (featuring Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto). In 2005, he produced Lucky Number Slevin. He also served as Executive Producer on The Jacket (Adrien Brody, Keira Knightly) and the forthcoming Robert Towne film, Ask The Dust (Colin Farrell, Selma Hayek). By the end of 2006, Roberts was producing the special effects-heavy sci-fi Viking film Outlander, starring Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, and Jack Huston, directed by Howard McCain. Principal photography began on October 16 in Nova Scotia and was scheduled to continue through January 2007. Roberts was also set to be Executive Producer on Black Water Transit, filming in January 2007 in New Orleans.
Before founding Ascendant, Roberts was Chairman and CEO of Digital Anvil (DA), a game development and digital effects company he launched in 1996 with backing from Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices. Under his leadership, DA grew to $14 million in annual revenue before releasing many of its in-development games. His innovations transformed the gaming industry, including pioneering the use of 35mm film narratives in interactive games. DA became the first interactive entertainment company to adapt a game, Wing Commander, into a $25 million feature film, directed and produced by Roberts. The movie starred Freddie Prinze Jr., Saffron Burrows, and Matthew Lillard.
DA and its video game titles won numerous awards, and the company became a digital effects leader, providing all digital effects for the Wing Commander film and contributing to effects for other movies such as Spy Kids. Roberts sold DA to Microsoft in December 2000. DA continues as a successful Microsoft subsidiary and content provider for Xbox.
In 1987, Roberts joined Origin Systems, Inc. (OSI), which Electronic Arts acquired in 1992 for $30 million. Roberts played a key role in growing OSI’s annual revenues from $4 million to $50 million. In 1990, he developed Wing Commander, which set a new benchmark for PC games and evolved into a franchise series that he developed and produced. With cinematic quality, strong storylines, and well-known actors, Wing Commander created the "interactive movie" genre within gaming. By 1995, the series had generated over $110 million in revenue and accounted for more than 60% of OSI’s income from 1990 to 1995. The series sold over 3 million units worldwide by 1995 and won numerous gaming awards. To date, Wing Commander has generated over $400 million in global retail revenue.
A prodigy in gaming, Roberts sold his first computer game at age 14 and by 20 had developed three UK #1 hits: Match Day, Wiz Adore, and Stryker's Run.
