Entertainment Business Management graduate Max Song returned to China after a year in Vancouver, bringing with him a host of skills he was determined to use in the entertainment industry there.
We recently caught up with Max, who is now a producer at a company called Roadshow Advertising, which is located in Beijing with its headquarters in Hong Kong. So far, Max has been producing movie tie-in merchandise for local advertisers, which requires negotiating with the film studios behind such upcoming releases as Kung Fu Panda 2 and Transformers 3, along with recent blockbusters like Toy Story 3.
He also recently produced a number of episodes of a travel series, the title of which roughly translates to “Get Away From Your Travel Book”.
“We have produced two seasons of 8 episodes each,” Max says. “One season is about Beijing, and the other is about Shanghai.” (You can view a number of these Chinese-language episodes on the Roadshow website.)
Max landed the job through a colleague he knew before coming to Canada. “She knew I was going to study in Canada, and after she joined Roadshow, she thought this position would be right for me. I got the offer before I even graduated from EBM.”
Congrats, Max! Good luck at Roadshow!
Game Design Expo isn’t just for the ticketholders: it’s part of the fabric of Game Design at VFS. Students volunteer at the event, taking in talks and meeting speakers during their downtime, and there’s an entire day set aside for companies to visit our campus and make special presentations. This year, those visitors included Rovio’s Jaakko Iisalo and Matthew Wilson, here from Finland to discuss their hit game Angry Birds at Saturday’s Industry Speaker Day. On Friday, they spent some quality time with our students, and even broke bread with two of them, Sara Moore and Christian Casper. Guest Post by Sara Moore Last weekend, class 17 representative Christian Casper and I had the privilege of acting as ambassadors of the Game Design program at Game Design Expo. Not only did we get to enjoy the speakers during Industry Speaker Day, but got to meet first-hand two key members of the team behind the the hit mobile game Angry Birds. We were first greeted by Rovio Marketing Manager Matthew Wilson and Lead Game Designer Jaakko Iisalo in our classroom early Friday morning while we were neck-deep in polishing our final projects for Industry Night [in early February]. The guys were shown around the room, meeting each final project team, and play-tested our final projects. They gave all the student groups key feedback while we got to pitch our concepts to them. Overall, they seemed pleasantly surprised with the quality of the students’ projects and encouraged us to pitch our concepts to more industry people. After showing off our final project, Christian and I got to enjoy lunch with the developers at the Water St. Café in Gastown with faculty members Dave Warfield and Andrew Laing. While we were escorted to a private room, we talked about how Matt and Jaakko were enjoying the Vancouver rain and if they were able to get some sightseeing in during their visit. Once inside, we got to discuss our adventures in Game Design, as well as Jaakko’s favourite platformer, Super Mario Bros. After Christian and I finished lunch, we sadly had to return to VFS to catch the first industry speaker presentation at at the Game Design campus: “Portfolio Preparation” with the HR Manager of Obsidian Entertainment, Jim Rivers. In the afternoon, Christian and I did get to watch Jaakko and Matthew give a speech to students on developing hit games for mobile devices. We learned key lessons to developing mobile games, like starting with a simple design and characters and making the game easy for everyone to play. However, he also pointed out the key to having replay value of a simple game and making it skill-based, which allows for a greater target market. The lunch allowed us to get to know personally the guys, while the experience and feedback we received on our final projects was invaluable and a moment that I know I will always cherish. Thanks, Sara! For another Game Design student’s impression of the entire Game Design Expo experience, check out this blog post.
Edwin Hubble’s got nothing on one team of VFS Game Design students. Aurora is a browser-based solar system sandbox game developed in Unity by Dustin Kaban, Jarrett McKenna, David Millar, and Chris Wimer. And it’s already a hit, well before its official launch. Their universe is growing at an alarming rate. Spend a couple of minutes with the game and its appeal is easy to see – you create temporary gravity wells to create a solar system, altering orbits and expanding your area of influence. Civilizations come and go. Planets collide. Worlds ends. And then it all begins anew, set to a peaceful musical score. Most of all, it’s fun – and the game is getting better and more polished by the day. (You can play it – and rate it – here.) This week, they released the game on the popular site Kongregate and entered the Unity Game Contest. Within about 24 hours, it had more than 75,000 plays (now over 150,000) and hundreds upon hundreds of comments. They’ve already rolled out updates to respond to the feedback, even as Aurora rockets up the leaderboards. As they explain, it’s all part of their master plan. Hi, guys! So, Aurora’s a hit already… What kind of player feedback have you gotten so far? Has any of it resulted in fundamental changes to the game? Chris Wimer: We’ve had so much feedback, it’s incredible! Between Facebook and Kongregate, we’ve had well over 100,000 playtests. A lot of the early feedback was telling us that people didn’t understand the game. They didn’t know what to do or how to do it. We put a lot of time and effort into making the game more accessible. Our later feedback showed that we succeeded – at least to a point. Chris: Having two amazing programmers on our team was what really made us such an agile team. We were able to prototype several concepts a week, constantly adding to and improving on our core idea. We could explore multiple avenues and quickly see what was working and what wasn’t. David Millar: Constantly prototyping new features allowed us to confidently move on from tested ideas that may have looked better on paper but in reality didn’t fit the game. Aurora has a pretty unique mechanic at its core. Could you talk briefly about how the idea came about? What were your team’s goals at the outset? Dustin Kaban: First and foremost, we wanted to get an emotional response from the player. We wanted to inspire wonder and spark a curiosity in space, even if we dressed it up a bit. Scope was also an issue for us because we didn’t want to just create a five-minute experience for Industry Night, but rather a complete game as it’s intended to be received. Likewise, the tone of the game is a bit out of the ordinary – you’ve got this mellow music, and when two planets collide – millions dead! – it still retains the glowy, almost peaceful feeling. Was that there from the beginning, or something you developed later on? David: That tranquil feeling was there from our first prototype. There were several times when, through constant prototyping, we lost that feeling and had to fight to get it back. It was a battle between our initial prototype, which was very much a fantastic-looking toy, and a more structured game experience. Jarrett McKenna: It was important to us to create a full game. So while Industry Night is a big deal and a great time to show off our game, we’re not going to let it die afterwards. Dustin: We really wanted to develop something that could stand on its own and have the potential to succeed after school. Do you feel ready? Lots more to do? Jarrett : There are a lot of things we would like to see get into the game in the future. But between now and Industry Night, we are busy promoting Aurora, through indie game contests like Kongregate’s, on Facebook, or on our own website. We are all really excited to finish our year and take the game outside of VFS – but it’s been good to us and there’s going to be a lot we’ll miss. Thanks, guys! The game’s meteoric success – sorry – continues, and we really can’t recommend the game enough. Readers, check it out and rate, rate, rate! Update: We caught up with the Aurora team in the days leading up to Industry Night, as well as soon after the successful event. You can read about the process, the nerves, and the relief here.
Us? We were delighted to see a certain VFS stamp on a few nominees. Like The Illusionist, nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, which highlights the work of Senior Animator and Classical Animation graduate Yann Tremblay. In fact, the other two nominees in the same category – How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3 – had notable VFS contingents too. And that’s not all – four of the five nominees for Visual Effects (Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Hereafter, and Iron Man 2) all feature contributions from our alumni. We’ll be watching February 27!
While the film is a tearjerker, Yoon says it’s also much more than that: “I want the movie to trigger debates and talks,” he told The Korea Herald. “There are a lot of cultural and social problems (between classes) that I’ve embedded in this movie.” Check out the Korean website for the film here.
Relic's Jonathan Dowdeswell announces the Brian Wood Memorial Internship at Game Design Expo 2011 Game Design Expo‘s Industry Speaker Day went out on a powerful, emotional note this past weekend with the announcement of the Brian Wood Memorial Game Design Internship. Wood, a longtime Relic Entertainment employee and Lead Game Designer on the Company of Heroes franchise was killed in a tragic traffic accident in September 2010, leaving behind his wife, Erin, and his then-unborn child, who both survived. Relic General Manager Jonathan Dowdeswell made the announcement of the internship to an audience of nearly 200 game industry professionals and enthusiasts. To honour and continue Brian’s contribution to the international game community, as well as in memory of his passions in life, each year Relic will award a four-month internship to three graduating students in VFS Game Design who exhibit a similar passion and excellence in game design. “Relic Entertainment has worked with VFS for a number of years and in the past has had employees who taught classes as part of the Game Design curriculum,” says Dowdeswell. “Continuing this partnership in a meaningful and long lasting effort by introducing the Brian Wood Memorial Game Design Internship was a natural fit for all concerned.” The inaugural internship will be awarded in February 2011, and the chosen Game Design graduate will have the opportunity to work directly with a team at Relic, pioneering exciting projects that impact the development of titles at the Vancouver-based studio. “We are honoured and humbled to be a part of carrying on Brian’s legacy with this memorial,” says Dave Warfield, Head of VFS Game Design. “Not only does it represent the values of game design and supporting new designers that were such a big part of his passion, but it allows us to share that with the community that was so affected by his tragic death.”
Designing Sound has posted a great interview with 8 members of Mass Effect 2‘s audio team, to mark the game’s PS3 release. And we’re proud to say that 5 of those interviewees – Joel Green, Jordan Ivey, Jeremie Voillot, Mike Kent, and Steve Bigras – are VFS Sound Design for Visual Media grads! We did our own interview with Jordan around the time Mass Effect 2 first came out, but it’s nice to see a truly in-depth look at the Game of the Year’s incredible sound design. (h/t @jordanfehr)
Game Design Expo 2011, our fifth annual celebration of games and the people who make them, has come and gone, and what a weekend it was! Saturday’s sold-out Industry Speaker Day was our most packed schedule ever – a long, satisfying day of learning, exploring, and sharing insights on the game industry’s many facets. From the moment the doors opened, the Vancity Theatre was buzzing – with the games on the exhibition floor and anticipation of the day’s talks. Other presentations delved into the challenges of creating blockbuster AAA titles, involving huge teams of talented people ranging from artists to programmers – and the very real risk that years of development could result in an expensive flop. Relic’s Raphael van Lierop explored the nature of team creativity, and TRON: Evolution‘s Jonathan Gallina discussed the perils – and stigma – of working with a popular movie license. On Sunday, people came out in the hundreds to Vancouver Film School for a free Game Design Open House – a day of experiencing the school, meeting the people who make the acclaimed program tick, and enjoying giveaways, games, and standing-room-only sample classes. The Open House also marked the official launch of $100,000 in scholarships, including the 2011 Women in Games Scholarship. You can read about them – and apply – right here. Thank you to all our speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and volunteers – and everyone who came out to share this weekend with us. We’ll have more highlights coming soon from Game Design Expo 2011, including photos and video from the weekend! Stay tuned!
The game industry moves fast. It presents a special challenge when it comes to teaching game design: post-secondary education is notoriously laggy. How do you keep students at the forefront? You can start by tapping into a pool of men and women who are actively – right now – in the business of games. They’re the ones pushing the industry forward. That’s why the Game Design program at Vancouver Film School is built upon creating relationships between students and a faculty of working professionals. Students can develop the skills relevant today, while making those first crucial industry contacts. Dave Warfield, Head of Game Design at VFS, weighs the question seriously when adding to the full- and part-time faculty rosters: “I’m looking for people who have extensive expertise in a particular area and industry experience that they can share,” he says. “When it comes to part-time staff, I’m looking for people who are working and keeping us current with what’s going on in the industry as of this exact moment. So when they’re coming in and teaching their class at night, they’re able to refer to the game development-type decisions that were made earlier in the day.” Typically, instructors will have at least two or three shipped titles to their name, or a significant history of real-world accomplishments that will be called upon to update the program’s intensive, ever-evolving curriculum. Some current Game Design instructors work at EA, BigPark, Next Level, United Front, and Propaganda. The bar is set high. According to Senior Instructor Andrew Laing, that’s a luxury they can afford because of VFS’s deep industry roots. “I don’t think there’s a studio in town that doesn’t have an executive that used to work for Dave. That’s what it boils down to. He was in the industry a long time.” The Game Design program has also benefited from the maturing of the local game industry. According to Andrew, there is a growing pool of well-established professionals in the Vancouver area who now have 10 to 15 years of experience. That means they know this industry through and through and can speak with real authority to the opportunities that are out there and the current direction companies are going. One of the big attractions for faculty as well (and also a massive benefit to students) is the adaptability of the program to advances in the industry. Instructors have the program’s full support to introduce new technology and processes.
Bob’s Burgers, which premiered January 9, sprung from the mind of Loren Bouchard, who you might remember him as the guy who co-created Home Movies. (That alone makes him a big deal here in VFS Blog HQ.) What’s more, the new series is animated at Vancouver’s Bardel Entertainment, a longtime supporter – and employer – of our grads. In fact, of the Bardel employees on LinkedIn, 26% of them attended VFS. All this is to say that VFS alumni – especially of programs like Classical Animation and Digital Character Animation – are working on Bob’s Burgers now. A few minutes’ research turned up some familiar names… Nayt Keane… Tammy Dubinsky… Here’s a Q&A by the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix with another VFS grad, Desiree Cassidy – we love these local-girl-makes-good stories! It should come as no surprise that this is our favourite part: “I got referred along with a few other classmates from our instructors when the team was looking for more animators on later episodes.” Bob’s Burgers airs Sunday nights at 8:30. Update: We’re now hearing of upwards of 15 VFS Classical Animation grads working on Bob’s Burgers, including Animation Supervisor Jake Biberdorf!
Guest Post: Will the Angry Birds Be Having the Salad or the Soup?
Game Design Student
I soon learned that Matthew was originally from Canada and grew up in Scarborough, Ontario before moving to Finland to hit it big with Rovio. He explained the perils of living in Finland: its high costs, never-ending darkness in the winter, and the Finnish cooking. He also discussed the next steps for Angry Birds, which includes expanding Rovio, a possible Angry Birds cartoon, and the possibility of developing new games with the Angry Bird I.P.Game Design Students’ Galaxy Expands… and Expands
Aurora is their final game in the year-long program, and the team has been aggressively prototyping throughout the process, releasing builds to the public beginning in December to help establish a following – and get crucial feedback – as they barrel towards Industry “Pitch & Play” Night on February 8th.
You’ve been able to take on a pretty aggressively iterative approach to Aurora’s development. How has your team been able to manage that?
Why start drumming up Aurora hype before Industry Night?Classical Animation Grad a Big Part of Oscar-Nominated ‘Illusionist’
So, the nominations for this year’s Academy Awards were announced this morning. Some surprises, some snubs… It’s another year of Oscar!Korean Film Grad’s Feature Debut
It’s been over 10 years since Yoon Jae-Keun graduated from the Film Production program. As he recounts in this interview with The Korea Herald, he returned to Seoul and began working as a screenwriter – which helped him on his path to releasing his feature film debut as a writer-director, Heartbeat.Remembering Relic’s Brian Wood with Memorial Internship
Sound Design Grads Talk Mass Effect 2
Game Design Expo 2011: What a Weekend!
The presentations ran the gamut, from the smallest casual game to the biggest blockbuster. The day got started with two of the minds behind Angry Birds – Senior Game Designer Jaakko Iisalo dissected the game’s origins and the keys to its accessible gameplay while Marketing Manager Matthew Wilson explained how their game rose above the competitive marketplace to become the best-selling game in App Store history. “Aim for multiple different markets… It’s not that difficult to get big in smaller markets,” he said. He later explained how the company’s care and attention to detail made a difference: “You shouldn’t treat your game like a disposable object.”
Blizzard Entertainment Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton got down to the real nitty-gritty as the day drew to a close: “World of Warcraft is a gigantic undertaking,” he said. “It’s really easy to get lost in the details of something and get caught up in that one specific thing instead of seeing everything on the game and everything you’re working on.”Welcome to the Next Gen: Game Pros Give Back
“Dave Warfield is so well-connected,” Andrew says. Dave played a pivotal role at Electronic Arts for many years, rising to Senior Producer on EA’s venerable NHL franchise – a successful series that helped build the BC industry into the force it is now.Classical Animation Grads All Over Bob’s Burgers
The latest addition to Fox’s Sunday night animation lineup has huge ties to Vancouver – and to VFS.