Hironobu Sakaguchi

Video-game designer Hironobu has led the development division of computer graphics studio Square Productions, since l986, and with them made and directed the movie Final Fantasy: Spirits Within.

Adapted from one of his video games, Final Fantasy was the first full-length feature to be cast entirely with computer-generated people.

His goal was to create something within three years that no-one had ever seen before. Hironobu was looking to making something that was very realistic but not totally real.

At Square, Hironobu was promoted to executive vice president in 1991. He recently entered into an exclusive production arrangement with Square where he plans to oversee the development of Square's future games as well as producing other feature film projects.

Hironobu had long dreamed of creating "a world where the idea of 'spirits' is scientifically explained," and so Final Fantasy was born - a visual feast of concept, motion, design and imagination.