The full schedule of talks, roundtables and one-to-one sessions for this year's GI Academy digital event has been confirmed.
The online event, which is entirely free to attend, takes places this Wednesday (October 26th) and runs until Friday (October 28th). It feature keynote sessions from indie developer Sam Barlow, Rare executive producer Louise O'Connor and Ubisoft narrative designer and writer Chella Ramanan.
The bulk of GI Academy will take place in a special Discord, where students -- or anyone looking to getting a job in games -- can speak with programmers, artists, game designers, journalists, composers, marketers and many more. You can sign-up here.
Here is the final schedule (UK time zone):
Wednesday, October 26th
Talks
10:00 - 10:45 Keynote Session: 'An Idea and an Emotion - How I make Games Speaker: Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid
Sam Barlow delves into the fundamentals of how and why he makes games, highlighting the core relationship with players and focusing on unifying the mechanical aspects and narrative elements of his experiences from Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, via Her Story and Telling Lies, up to his latest title IMMORTALITY.
11:00 - 11:45 Masterclass: Collaboration first: how to get the best from your team Speaker: Roberto Geroli, Development Director
This talk will focus on how processes foster good team culture and encourage cross-team collaboration. Roberto will also give tips on how to be a good team member for any discipline, the foundations for developing your career. He will also explore some real-life case studies.
Roundtable Sessions13:00 - 14:00: TBC
13:00 - 14:00: Room 1: JD Kelly, Freelance Voice Over artist Room 2: Emei Burrell, Narrative Artist, Media Molecule Room 3: Liam de Valmency, Lead Creative Programmer, Media Molecule
14:00 - 15:00: Room 1: Shane Bromham, Principle Level Design, nDreams Room 2: Mikael Karnell, EA DICE, Craft Director Room 3: Ioana Iulia Cazacu, Game Designer, Mojiworks
One-To-One Sessions
10:00 - 11:00 Room 1: Steph Darrah, Biz Dev, Playtonic Room 2: Mark Jawdosak, Managing Director, Gaslight Games Room 3: Eva Lyncy, UI Artist, D3T
11:00 - 12:00 Room 1: Steph Darrah, Biz Dev, Playtonic Room 2: Sonny Williams, Game Developer, Gram Games Room 3: Eva Lyncy, UI Artist, D3T
13:00 - 14:00 Room 1: Joe Franklin, Associate Character Artist Room 2: Shane Bromham, Principle Level Design, nDreams Room 3: Gordon Bell, CTO, Nosebleed Interactive
14:00 - 15:00 Room 1: Aaron Morley, Studio Director, The Next Hype Room 2: Sarah Brin, Business Development Manager, Media Molecule Room 3: JD Kelly, Freelance Voice Over artist
Special Guest
Ted Timmins, Senior Creative Director, Raven Software (Call of Duty: Warzone)
Thursday, October 27th
Talks
Keynote Session: Games -- Where Do We Go From Here Speaker: Louise O'Connor, Executive Producer, Rare
A look at how the games industry has grown and evolved in my time as a dev. Some reflection on what this industry means to me and what it can mean to everyone else, as we shape it’s future.
11:00 - 11:45 Masterclass: How to be a good Technical Animator Speaker: Agathe Laus-Pillot, Senior Technical Animator
In this talk, Agathe Laus-Pillot, will break down the core aspects of the technical animation discipline. It’s an essential area of games development, but one not often spoken about. Agathe will talk about the skills required, the purpose and use of rigs in development and the role Tech Animators play in tool development.
Roundtable Sessions
12:00 - 13:00 Room 1: Luke Johnson, Lead Recruiter Room 2: Amanda Cuthbery, Live Operations Marketing Director Room 3: Jak Barnes, Programmer, Radical Forge
13:00 - 14:00: Room 1: Richard Stokes, VFX Artist, DR Studios Room 2: Edd Coates, UI Lead, Radical Forge Room 3: Luke Hardwick, Community Manager, Media Molecule
14:00 - 15:00: Room 1: Josh Atack, Lead Concept Artist, EA Criterion Room 2: Martin Robinson, Editor-In-Chief, Eurogamer Room 3: Madeleine Thrush, Internal Recruiter and Suraj Mehan, Intern HR, PlayStation London
One-To-One Sessions
10:00 - 11:00 Room 1: Felix Wong, Partner, Level UP Room 2: Gary Ashurst, Art Director, 3D Generalist Room 3: Ben Barrett, Business Development Director, Firesquid
11:00 - 12:00 Room 1: Gerard Muntes, Senior Character Artist Room 2: Alex Rehm, Director of Live Operations Room 3: Josh Atack, Lead Concept Artist, EA Criterion
13:00 - 14:00 Room 1: Jak Barnes, Programmer, Radical Forge Room 2: Mikael Karnell, EA Dice, Craft Director Room 3: Liam de Valmency, Lead Creative Programmer, Media Molecule
14:00 - 15:00 Room 1: Edd Coates, UI Lead, Radical Forge Room 2: Sam Gage, Director, Engage Software Room 3: Daniel Woodward, Learning and Development Manager, nDreams
Special Guest
Caroline Marchal, CEO and Creative Director, Interior Night
Friday, October 28th
Talks
Keynote Session: Title TBC Speaker: Chella Ramanan, Narrative Designer, Ubisoft
11:00 - 11:45 Masterclass: Designing for intuitive Player Experience with the ‘3Cs’ (Character, Camera, Controls) Speaker: Bence Kovacs, Senior Designer
In this masterclass, Bence Kovacs will talk about how to design to best support a quality player experience. He will look at the key elements of Player Character; how to define what a character can do, Camera; how to design what the player sees and perceives in the world, and Controls; how the player controls the game.
Roundtable Sessions
12:00 - 13:00 Bence Kovacs, Senior Designer Alice Toft, Learning and Development Roberto Geroli, Development Director
13:00 - 14:00: Room 1: Jo Haslam, Design Director, Snap Finger Click Room 2: Daniel Woodward, Learning and Development Manager, nDreams Room 3: Jake Gaule, Freelance Audio and Composer
14:00 - 15:00: Room 1: Kev Bayliss, Character Designer and Artist, Playtonic Room 2: Stuart Wilson, 3D Environment Artist, XR Studios Room 3: Sarah Brin, Business Development Manager, Media Molecule
One-To-One Sessions
10:00 - 11:00 Room 1: Roberto Geroli, Development Director Room 2: Lasse Rasmussen, Senior Technical Animator Room 3: Alex Rehm, Director of Live Operations
11:00 - 12:00 Room 1: Justyna Cichosz, Lead Animation Programmer Room 2: Cara Houghton, Environment Artist Room 3: Tjalle Keus, Senior Environment Artist
13:00 - 14:00 Room 1: Louise Andrew, Head of Art, D3T Room 2: Mark Ffrench, Senior Engineer, Pocket Burger Room 3: Dan Hutchinson, 3D Artist, D3T
14:00 - 15:00 Room 1: Jake Gaule, Freelance Audio Designer and Composer Room 2: Emei Burrell, Narrative Artist, Media Molecule Room 3: Dan Hutchinson, 3D Artist, D3T
source https://www.gamesindustry.biz/check-out-the-full-schedule-for-this-weeks-gi-academy-online-student-event
