Selling Invisible Fun. Seminar Brian Upton (Galway)

Galway Film Centre, in association with Imirt, are hosting internationally renowned Game Designer, Brian Upton as part of the ‘Selling Invisible Fun’ Gaming Seminar in Galway on Monday 23rd January.

Creative Europe MEDIA will also be providing information on their support schemes for the development of video games on the day along with a networking lunch.

Renowned Game Designer, Brian Upton, will give a talk about how to pitch games. Having worked as senior game designer for Sony Playstation, Brian now manages his own consulting business and has also written books on game design including ‘The Aesthetic of Play’ (MIT Press 2015), a book about games design and meaning-making.

Brian’s talk will be preceded by an Information Session with Creative Europe MEDIA on their support scheme for the Development of Video Games. The seminar will conclude with a networking lunch.

10.00 am – 11am: CREATIVE EUROPE MEDIA SUPPORT FOR VIDEO GAMES with Eibhlín Ní Mhunghaile

Creative Europe Desk MEDIA Office Galway Co-ordinator Eibhlín Ní Mhunghaile will give an overview of Creative Europe MEDIA’s support scheme for the Development of Video Games. The deadline for the current call is March 2nd 2017 and this seminar will give participants an opportunity to learn about the application criteria and process.

11.00am – 1pm: SELLING INVISIBLE FUN with Brian Upton
Making games takes money, so if you’re an independent game developer, chances are you’ll eventually find yourself pitching your game to an investor— someone with the funding to turn your creative vision into a reality. Usually this pitch occurs early in the project, long before a single level has been built, or a single encounter has been scripted. So how do you sell a potential partner on your creative vision when there’s nothing for them to play? How do you sell them on your game when the fun is still invisible?

This talk is about how to pitch games: How do you convey the feel of a gameplay experience that still exists only on paper? What do publishers look for in a game pitch? What information is important to lead with? How much detail should you go into? What common mistakes should you avoid? And how do you sell yourself as someone who’s able to deliver on what you’re promising?

1pm – 1.45pm: Networking Lunch, in association with Creative Europe MEDIA Office Galway

About Brian Upton:
Brian Upton is a freelance game design consultant based in Los Angeles. At his company Game On The Rails he advises worldwide clients on pitching, prototyping, design, narrative, and production. He specializes in creative problem-solving, helping teams ship their games under tight time or budget pressure. For 14 years he worked as a senior game designer at Sony’s Santa Monica Studio where he collaborated with external teams on titles such as Fat Princess, Warhawk, Sorcery, Everybody Has Gone to the Rapture, Bound and Here They Lie. Prior to joining Sony, he was the creative director at Red Storm Entertainment where he pioneered the tactical shooter genre as the lead designer of Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon. He has served on the advisory boards of the game design programs at UC Santa Cruz, NYU, and University of Limerick. He is also the author of The Aesthetic of Play (MIT Press 2015), a book about game design and meaning-making.

Tickets for the half day Seminar are €10 and can be booked through EVENTBRITE. For any further details, please contact the Galway Film Centre on admin@galwayfilmcentre.ie or call 091 770748.