Thomas Tull leaves Brash -- What does it mean?

It's usually not a good sign when a co-founder and board member of a company, one who played a key role in raising its capital, resigns after less than two years because he's disappointed with its products and direction.

But that's what's happening at Brash Entertainment, where Thomas Tull -- who's also the chairman of Legendary Pictures -- has left the board. Full details are in this article in tomorrow's Daily Variety.

I should note up high that I couldn't get a comment out of Tull, so this is all based on what I heard from industry sources. But what I heard won't really surprise anyone who's been following the company. As I wrote in tomorrow's article, "Tull is believed to have been disappointed with the quality of Brash's games, as well as the company's strategic direction." Gamers know that means titles like "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Jumper," and "Space Chimps," all of which got largely negative reviews (including in Variety, as the links will tell you). "Alvin" did sell decently, perhaps not a surprise given how successful the movie was. The other two, not so much.

He also must not have been optimistic that Brash's upcoming slate is going to turn things around. That includes announced games like "Six Flags," "The Tale of Despereaux" and "Saw," as well as unannounced titles we've gotten wind of like "300," "Where the Wild Things Are," "Clash of the Titans" and "Night at the Museum 2." Maybe overall it was the general idea of just doing licensed games, which so far has resulted in titles developed quickly to meet movie release dates.

There were already signs Brash was having problems in the spring when president Nicholas Longano ankled (Variety's term for the nebulous nethworld between quitting and getting fired). But Tull is a bigger deal. As well as running the company that co-financed huge movies like "300" and "The Dark Knight," he's very into videogames, as evidenced by Legendary's involvement in the "Gears of War" and "Warcraft" films. Brash was his vehicle to get into the business and he helped to build it on the same private equity model, including one of the same financiers, that he used for Legendary.

So what's next for Brash? They've certainly got lots of high profile licenses to work on. I've seen the DS version of "Despereaux" and it's not half bad. Perhaps they hunker down and keep doing what they're doing, but try to do it better. Or perhaps Tull's departure augurs a larger shake-up and a re-thinking of how to use what remains of the $400 million the company raised just last year.

A Brash rep declined to comment.

Update: Contrary to my article, it turns out Chief Creative Officer and former CAA videogame department co-head Larry Shapiro left in July. Apparently I can't even keep track of all the high level departures at Brash. More details in the next post.