Leopoldo Gout is an artist, writer and filmmaker who was born in Mexico City and studied visual art Saint Martin’s School of Art in London. He has shown his work in galleries and museums all over the world. He has written, packaged, published and developed books for more than a decade, both under his own name with several major publishers (Genius, Ghost Radio, Monarca, Piñata) and published other writers under his own imprint with Atria / Simon & Schuster: Leopoldo & Co (Dahlia Black, The Eyes of the Queen, Scarlet Letters). Leopoldo was co-president of the James Patterson Entertainment company for many years producing films, videogames, new media & television. He is the author of Piñata (Tor), Monarca (Harper ONE), among other books. With his brother Everardo, he is the show-runner for American Jesus (The Chosen One) for Netflix / Mark Millar, and he is the creator of No Man’s Land (Starz), among numerous other film and television projects.
Genius
Genius is a series of novels for young adults by Leopoldo Gout that follows a three teenage technological prodigies from all around the world who use their ingenuity and networked technologies to confront daunting real-world problems. These friends—Rex, Tunde, and Painted Wolf—are given the opportunity to meet and collaborate by The Game, a global competition hosted by Kiran Biswas, an Indian billionaire and a wunderkind in his own right.
The story begins with 2016’s Genius: The Game, becomes more dangerous and entangled with 2017’s Genius: The Con, and moves toward a climactic resolution in Genius: The Revolution, slated for publication in 2018. Genius imagines a future shaped by human ingenuity and rapid technological change, driven by the imaginative verve and technological savvy of young people determined to change the world for the better—even in the face of long odds and powerful adversaries.
Project Genius will expand the narrative of the books into reality, seeking brilliant unprivileged young people from around the world and empowering them to solve pressing social problems or pursue exciting new ideas with the help of scientists, artists, and educators. CSI and Project Genius spring from the same seed: the idea that we need to inspire more creative and ambitious thinking about the future, especially among young people. CSI is excited to host Project Genius and work with Imaginary College Fellow Leopoldo Gout as this idea continues to blossom.