Top games developers, publishers and producers will be in Belfast on Monday 9th October as part of a week-long series of IDEASFACTORY masterclasses in association with Belfast City Council. They’ll be discussing the latest developments in the world of consoles, mobiles and PCs.

This masterclass is suitable for anyone with an artistic or technical background who is interested in making their way in games production. The panellists are:

PAUL MCLAUGHLIN

Paul McLaughlin is head of art for Lionhead Studios in the UK.

He’s ultimately responsible for the visual ambition of the studio’s projects, sitting on the senior Management and executive committees. He formulates visual policy and helps to steer the direction of the company.

Before moving to Lionhead in Guilford, Paul worked at Bullfrog Productions on strategy games such as Populus and Theme Park

In the late eighties he worked at Emerald Software in Waterford on various games for the Amiga including Treasure Trap & Phantom Fighter.

Paul’s worked on over 15 published titles and many (character forming if failed) prototypes. Currently he is Art director on a major new concept which is destined to be one of Lionhead’s key intellectual properties over coming years.

RISA COHEN

Risa Cohen is Adjunct professor for 3D & Videogames production at the University of Paris.

She also works as a senior producer and consultant at Film Finances Inc., evaluating and monitoring games projects.

Born and raised in New York City, Risa started her career in entertainment as a Playwright and Producer. After finishing art school, she moved to Paris and began working in multimedia and videogames.

Risa has worked for Kalisto, Infogrames, Exmachina Image and Disney. She has worked in collaboration with Square, Namco, NEC, Microprose, Universal studios, Warner Bros, Moulinsart and ABC television.

Her credits include: Dark Earth, Loons: fight for fame, Martian Alert, Martian Revenge, Lucky Luke: on the Dolton trail, Smurf Adventure, Loony Tunes racing, Adventures of Tintin, Dead to Rights; Piglets BIG Game, and Alias.

She has won awards including Best voice recording 2000, Dark Earth and Piglets BIG Game in 2002 and Best kids game, PS2 Magazine USA in 2003. She is an authority in Europe on 3D animation and 3D special fx.

JOHN BROOMHALL

John Broomhall is an independent Audio Director & Consultant with twelve years experience in videogames.

He has held senior management roles with major videogame publishers and has over sixty published titles to his credit.

As an accomplished musician and composer with ten years’ work in recording behind him, John originally joined MicroProse in ’92 to write game scores.

His career, which also includes working as a game producer, encompasses many hit titles such as the hugely successful X-COM series, Superman, American Idol/Pop Idol, Guinness World Records and the BAFTA-winning Football Manager 2005 as well as many others.

He sits on the BAFTA Games Committee and the Skillset Games Skills Forum, Edinburgh International Entertainment Festival steering committee and the MusicWorks advisory board. He writes a monthly column for well-known industry magazine, Develop.

His company, Broomhall Projects Ltd was set up to provide professional services to the videogame, music and publishing businesses.

GINA JACKSON

Gina Jackson is Head of Business Development for New Media at Eidos, publishers of Tomb Raider, Hitman and Commandos.

She is responsible for global business development strategy for Eidos’ mobile games and the online distribution of PC games.

Gina Jackson and her team manage relationships with a worldwide network of distributors, mobile carriers and technology providers.

She has been part of the games industry since 1991, initially at two independent developers before joining publisher Ocean Software where she worked as a producer on Break Point and True Pinball among others.

In 2000 she joined Nokia where she helped initiate some of the first mobile games, sourcing mobile games for embedding into Nokia handsets or distribution through Nokia’s content services.

Gina returned to work at a developer, Kuju, as a Business Development Manager where she signed three titles to three different publishers including a first party to Nintendo and the first title signed to Konami Europe.

If you’re interested in attending this session scheduled for 2 – 5pm on Monday 9th October, at the Waterfront Hall’s Green Room, then email ideasfactoryni@channel4.co.uk outlining why you believe that you’d personally benefit from this experience. Include a 300 word review of a game that grabs you for good or bad!

Email: ideasfactoryni@channel4.co.uk
Web: http://northernireland.ideasfactory.com/belfastmasterclass/