Speakers - SGDA Student Games Festival

STUDENT GAMES FESTIVAL | 2020 GUEST SPEAKERS

Saturday May 2nd

Art Panel

Time: 10:00 AM

Stone Perales

Art Director at Black Tower Studios, Tokyo

Stone Perales is a So Cal Art Director with 23 years of experience in Games, Comics, Graphic Art, Collectibles/Toys, and Saturday Morning Cartoons. He works in Analog and Digital, 2-D and 3-D art for PC, Console, and Mobile games, and has contributed to studios like Sony, EA, Black Isle, Saatchi and Saatchi, 4Kids Entertainment, Sideshowtoy, Nickelodeon, and most recently on the Terminator Dark Fate mobile game. He is best known for his work in RPGs and MMOs and is a co-patent holder for contributions to the PlayStation R&D team. As a part time Lecturer his teaching is focused on practical real-world training and problem solving with an emphasis on design methodology. He is sometimes mistaken for Vin Diesel when he visits Tokyo and is currently working remotely on an unannounced project for Black Tower Studios Japan.

Brenda Chen

Technical Artist at Wave XR

Brenda Chen is a multimedia artist who loves creating interactive installations and sculpting funky sea creatures. Currently she works as a technical artist at Wave where she designs and builds virtual concerts for artists including Lindsey Stirling, Tinashe, REZZ, and Jauz. She’s a recent graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and during her time there created the first VR exhibit at the Getty Museum, demoed internationally, and shipped a VR title as an Oculus Launchpad grant recipient. In the years to come, she strives to push the boundaries of immersion and fun in the XR space.

Jade Greggory

UI Artist at Infinity Ward

Jade is a UI Artist at Infinity Ward, where she is currently working on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019 and Call of Duty: Warzone. With over 5 years of professional graphic design experience, Jade specializes in creating motion graphics for futuristic UI designs such as advanced computer displays, holograms, and data design for video games. She also creates brand identities and brand positioning for marketing and advertising campaigns. Originally from Barbados, Jade has studied and worked throughout the world, receiving her B.A. from the University of the Arts London in the U.K. as well as a diploma from Vancouver Film School in Canada.

Design Panel

Time: 12:00 PM

Jessica Kernan

Game Designer at Ember Lab

From Indie to AAA, Jessica has been a video game industry professional for the past 8 years, filling roles including Character Art, UI, Systems, and Level Design. You may recognize from her credits titles such as South Park: Stick of Truth and Armored Warfare from her time with Obsidian Entertainment. In addition to the commercial, she especially loves working on the design challenges that come with games in the Medical and Educational fields; projects which she has explored with her own former Indie company and her research work with University of California, Irvine. One of her favorite parts of the job is finding creative ways for design to give the player a unique experience or leave them with a newfound understanding of how something works! She received her BFA in Digital Arts from Chapman University in 2012.

Carrie Patel

Senior Narrative Designer & Project Lead at Obsidian Entertainment

Carrie Patel is a Senior Narrative Designer and Project Lead at Obsidian Entertainment, where she has worked on The Outer Worlds and Pillars of Eternity franchises. She wrote for the original Pillars of Eternity and The White March expansions, worked as Narrative Co-Lead on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and wrote several characters and questlines for The Outer Worlds. She is also a novelist and the author of the science fantasy Recoletta trilogy, which includes The Buried Life, Cities and Thrones, and The Song of the Dead. Her short fiction has appeared in PodCastle and Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Ian Rapoport

Associate Game Designer at Player First Games

Ian Rapoport is a game designer on an unannounced project at Player First Games in Santa Monica, California. He recently presented his university senior game project Squish at E3 2019 after graduating with a degree in Game Design from University of California, Santa Cruz.

Craig Morrison

Principal Designer at Blizzard Entertainment

Craig Morrison is a veteran game developer with almost twenty years of industry experience. Craig has a passion for multiplayer worlds, and has been a designer, producer, and creative director across multiple MMO titles down the years. He currently serves as a Principal Designer on World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment. Craig also lectures in Game Design at the University of California, Irvine, as part of their Computer Game Science major.

Engineering Panel

Time: 2:00 PM

Tim Ford

Assistant Tech Director at Blizzard Entertainment

Tim is the Assistant Technical Director on Overwatch and Overwatch 2, responsible for the team of engineers who write the game’s simulation, animation, AI and netcode. Tim helps to coordinate the Overwatch engineering team to solve broad-reaching technical challenges. Along with a cohort of principal and lead engineers across Blizzard, Tim helped establish the shared engine team, where he contributes technical guidance and code to help lay the foundation for future Blizzard games. Before joining Blizzard, Tim served as the lead AI and Animation programmer on the venerable Medal of Honor series. When he isn’t working, Tim spends most of his free time with his wife, son, and daughter. He’s a science enthusiast and a giant movie nerd.

David Green

Chief Engineer & Designer for Altered Mechanics

David has worked in most aspects of the gaming industry including many years in AAA for Sony and being involved in the build of two successful indie games companies. During this time he worked on projects such as Until Dawn, Playstation Home, Eight Days and Smash Cops. Also in his career David has directed the creation of startups in VR training for fortune 50 companies, VR real estate for high end home buying and real time social display systems for events such as the Super Bowl. At the moment his interest lies in building a full-motion simulator with articulated arms for an immersive mech combat game with Altered Mechanics, a company he founded in 2018. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bytemysoftware/ https://alteredmechanics.com

Curtiss Murphy

VP Engineering at MobilityWare

Curtiss Murphy is a lifelong gamer, turned developer, turned leader. He is an award-winning speaker, author, and game designer with decades of experience. Currently, he’s both the professor of Game Design at Laguna College of Art and Design and VP Engineering at MobilityWare.

Audio Design & Composition Panel

Time: 4:00 PM

Ali Cedroni

Co-Founder of NokNokAudio & Freelance Sound Designer

Ali Cedroni is a freelance sound designer who recently launched a company called NokNokAudio based in Oslo Norway with Martin Kvale and Oda Tilset on April 1st, 2020. She reserved her BA in Audio Design and Production at Columbia College Chicago in 2016.

Julian Korzeniowky

Sound Designer at Schell Games

Projects include: I Expect You to Die, Mission: "It's Complicated", Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, and Hololab Champions. I have worked with sound in many different game mediums ranging from theme park attractions to augmented and virtual reality. I got my Bachelors of Music in Music Composition from New England Conservatory and my Masters in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University.

David Orr

Composer & Sound Designer at Mahi Gaming

David Orr is a composer and sound designer whose credits include Castle Crashers, Call of Duty: Heroes, Call of Duty: Siege, and EvoCreo. David received their B.A. in Piano Performance and Music Theory at University of New Hampshire and their M.M. in Music Composition at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Joe Sanders

Freelance Composer & Producer

Joe Sanders is an award-winning composer, songwriter, producer, violinist, and vocalist based in the Los Angeles area. Drawing from an eclectic set of influences and a deep passion for musical storytelling, Joe continuously delivers unique, haunting scores that transport the listener to someplace far away. He regularly works in a variety of media applications including music for film, TV, mobile apps, and video games. He has worked on composition and production for Universal Music's production music library and is winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the World Music category for his video game song Kundiman, Freeform Network's Good Trouble He received his BM in Music Composition from the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University, Long Beach.

Indie Panel

Time: 6:00 PM

Max Clark

Independent Developer

After 7 post-college years working an insurance appraiser, Max quit his job in 2017 to pursue his dream of making a video game. He is a mostly self-taught artist and programmer. He received his B.S. in physics from UC Irvine in 2010 with a math minor.

Mike Schweitzer

Principal Software Engineer, Co-founder of Second Dinner

Mike Schweitzer is the Principal Software Engineer and Co-Founder of Second Dinner since August 2018. Before working at Second Dinner, he has been at Blizzard Entertainment for 13 years as a Senior Software Engineer working on Hearthstone, where he has implemented many features and tools in Unity, polishing the game using the Spell system, and creating a predict-and-merge system for the Players. He earned his BS in Information and Computer Science at UCI and is highly skilled in C#, Unity, iOS, C++, SQL, Oracle, WinForms, Perforce, and Confluence.

Jeff Mumm

Independent Developer & Animator

Jeff Mumm is a solo independent game developer and animator. He studied graphic design at California State University Sacramento, cartooning at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, and traditional animation at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He has pursued a career as an independent artist for his entire adult life, first developing the webcomic “Guinea Something Good,” followed by a YouTube animated series adaptation, and finally culminating in the development of “Guinea Pig Parkour,” an independent video game loosely based on the series.

Jason Fader

Game Director at Iocaine Studios.

A 20 year industry veteran, Jason has taken on several roles in the indie and AAA space such as Game Director, Creative Director, Lead Producer, Lead Designer, Tools Programmer, and CEO. His previous titles include Fallout: New Vegas, World of Warcraft, Warcraft 3, Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, ThreadSpace: Hyperbol, and System Shock (2018). He has also served as the Chapter President of IGDA Orange County from 2013 - 2019. Currently he is working on an unannounced project utilizing blockchain technology for his indie company, Iocaine Studios.

Patrick Traynor

Patrick Traynor is an independent and hobbyist developer based in Irvine, CA. He has been programming and making games as a hobby since high school, including precision platformers, puzzle games, and tools, and participating in various niche game making communities. Currently he is working on his first commercial game, Patrick's Parabox, an IGF-award-winning puzzle game about boxes recursively nested inside other boxes. He is also part of the team working on I Wanna Maker, a freeware level editor and level sharing game based on I Wanna be the Guy fangames. He recieved his B.S. in Computer Science at UCSD.

Sunday May 3rd

Benson Russell on Emotionally Intelligent Design

Time: 10:00 AM

Benson Russell

Independent Consultant

Benson is a 22 year veteran game designer most well known for his work on The Last of Us, and the Uncharted series. His original claim to fame was as the designer of the D-Day level in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for PC, which helped define the "wow moment" factor in gaming. Benson has worked on genres ranging from shooters to action / adventure, first and third person, on consoles, PCs as well as VR. Currently he's an independent consultant.

Production Panel

Time: 12:00 PM

Claudia Rose O'Flaherty

Associate Producer for Cloud Imperium Games

I am an Associate Producer for Cloud Imperium Games. I work specifically with the character team handling the internal art team and outsource! I graduated from UCI with Art degree after spending all my time hanging out in the computer science department. I was an officer in UCI's VGDC for two years before graduating.

Mary Sanzone

Game Producer at Turtle Rock Studios

I'm currently working as the producer managing the feature teams for the Back 4 Blood title. On the weekend, you can find me at Disneyland! I received a B.S. in Human Services from CSUF. I started at Saddleback College and then transferred to CSUF. It took me a total of nine years to receive my bachelor's degree since I was working full time and going to school.

Nathan Moore

Production Coordinator at Blind Squirrel Games

Nathan Moore worked as a producer at BlindSquirrel. He received his BA in Project Management and in Art Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Before working at BlindSquirrel, he was the President of Video Game Development Association and was a Developer and Producer for Astronaut T-Rex working on their game, Frenzy. Moore has also worked on Drifters and WWE 2K18 Switch Port.

Paul Bellezza

Senior Producer & Product Manager at Riot Games

Paul Bellezza is currently working on Riot Games' forthcoming character based tactical shooter: VALORANT. Previous to that he spent over ten years working as a Producer & Product Manager on League of Legends. Prior to his time at Riot Games, Bellezza was co-founder and CEO of The Odd Gentlemen developing The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom from a student game at USC into a commercial launch on XBLA and PC with 2K Games. In a previous life, he was a high school biology teacher and a QA Tester on the legendary title: Barbie and The Magic of Pegasus. Paul has an M.F.A. in Interactive Media from USC’s IMGD and a B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley.

Robin Hunicke

Co-founder & CEO of Funomena

Robin is an experimental game developer whose titles include The Sims2, Boom Blox, Journey, Luna and Wattam. Currently the co-founder and CEO of the SF-based indie studio Funomena, she is also a full professor at UC Santa Cruz, where she is the founding director of their Art, Games & Playable media BA program, and the acting Associate Vice Chancellor of Research. Her academic background is in Computer Science, Gender Studies and Narrative Art, she's appeared on last season's Project Runway, and she was the first female game jammer on planet earth! She has a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities from University of Chicago, an MS in CS from University of Chiago, and am ABD as a PhD in AI and Games from Northwestern University.

Recruiting Panel

Time: 4:00 PM

Maria Vasilchikova

HR Manager at Unbroken Studios

Maria Vasilchikova has over 5 years experience hiring for games development across Unbroken Studios and Obsidian Entertainment. She is committed to assembling an excellent group of game developers and fostering an outstanding studio environment to develop best-in-class games. Maria is very active with the student community and is always eager to offer advice or help students connect with professional developers.

Hector Tang

University Relations Recruiter at Blizzard Entertainment

Hector is a University Relations Recruiter managing Blizzard Entertainment's Summer Internship and New Grad programs. Previously, Hector was employed at Warner Bros. Entertainment for 4.5 years starting off in corporate finance, then moving to Information Systems and eventually into University Recruitment. Specifically at Blizzard, Hector focuses on MBA/PhD level hires within the Business Operations teams which include Data Science/Engineering, Business Intelligence & Analytics, and Game Development. During his free time, Hector loves spending time with his wife and squatting heavy at the gym while pondering his next build in Cities: Skylines.

Marissa Benjamin

University Relations Recruiter at Blizzard Entertainment

Marissa joined Blizzard in 2019 after four years overseeing recruiting operations at a growing tech startup. Currently, Marissa focuses on finding top-talent to support a variety of engineering roles including desktop, mobile, web and data disciplines. When she's not connecting students with their dream internship, Marissa can likely be found at the beach walking her dog, or planning her next camping trip.