Village Gamer

Vancouver – Keynotes from Canadian videogame development luminaries Don Mattrick, Ray Muzyka, and Greg Zeschuk will kick off two days of best practices for building better games with better teams. With sessions designed to improve collaboration among designers, programmers, visual artists and writers, GDC Canada is a must attend event for the entire team.

The conference schedule has now been finalized, and with a wide variety of topics, there is something for everyone, from games as a brand to outsourcing and from audio to writing. The full schedule with more information can be viewed on the GDC Canada website.

Featured Sessions:

8 Things Game Developers Can Learn from BMW
Speaker: Otto Ottosson (Threewave Software Inc.)
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Sault Ste. Marie – Four Algoma University students have won the approval of critical judges and qualified for the Dare to be Digital video game design competition being held this June to August in the United Kingdom. Sunny Atwal, Eric Stock, Pedro Melendez, and Chris Iaconis from Algoma University and one student from the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland have been accepted to take part as a team in the annual competition.

Dare to be Digital bills itself as the United Kingdom’s premier video game design competition for students. Now in its tenth year of operation, Dare to be Digital is an annual summer event that allots teams of students ten weeks to design and build a video game prototype. At the conclusion of the ten weeks, the teams are brought together at a showcase event where their games are evaluated by industry experts. The competition is open to all university students across the UK and also regularly attracts international competitors from nations such as China, India, Japan and Malaysia.
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Banff – The Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) announces the new Kids & Animation series featuring top television program creators, broadcasters and executives in children’s and animation industries. The 30th edition of BANFF takes place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Canada, June 7–10, 2009.

“We developed the Kids & Animation series out of our continuing effort to create innovative festival programming together with more opportunities for building new business relationships,” commented Peter Vamos, BANFF Executive Director. “We are proud to launch this new series led by some of the best in the industry of animation and children’s television programming.” The Kids & Animation series is designed to address new programming formats along with the current trends and issues facing the youth focused and animated television industries. Sessions will run concurrently with the regularly scheduled sessions on Tuesday, June 9 and will include networking opportunities, broadcaster briefings and spotlights on key players in the industry.
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Banff – A Call For Entries has been issued for the CTV National Fellowship Programme, with an application deadline of 5pm EST, Thursday April 30th, 2009. CTV National Fellowships are intended to encourage professional development in the television industry by enabling emerging creative talent including producers, writers and directors – i.e., program makers – to attend the Banff World Television Festival. Fellowships are not intended for established professionals, nor are they intended for entry-level candidates. Applicants must have a minimum of one significant production credit.

CTV National Fellowships cover the following: full festival registration, including admission to all seminars, workshops, and on-demand screenings; all official social events; and air transportation (transportation allowance based on lowest airfare available). Accommodation and all other costs of attending the festival are the responsibility of the fellowship recipient. Read the rest of this entry »

Banff – The Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) and nextMEDIA Banff present the first Telefilm Canada TV 360 Program, established to provide cross-platform development opportunities for Canadian producers, writers & directors. TV 360 will be held during nextMEDIA Banff and the 30th edition of BANFF, which take place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Canada, in June 2009.

“TV 360 is a valuable addition to the existing training programs and fellowships at BANFF,” commented Peter Vamos, BANFF Executive Director. “We’re excited to collaborate with Telefilm Canada to create this new and original program that will foster cross-industry partnership between new media and the future of the television industry.”
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Vancouver – Get your digital black belt during a day of intensive training and professional development workshops at the Centre for Digital Media, Great Northern Way Campus.

Bringing together experts and leaders from an array of sectors in digital media, this workshop offers a full day of interactive sessions to help inspire new ideas and develop them into realizable goals. Participants will be treated to insider techniques for the conceptualizing, visualizing, prototyping and pitching of ideas, as well as insights into current industry trends and technologies. This is your opportunity to get a crash course in digital martial arts – Register Today!

Most of the proceeds of this workshop will be put towards scholarships for students in the Masters of Digital Media program.

Who is it for?

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Vancouver – Anomaly is fusion of an art workshop and party to be held at District 319 in Vancouver on Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 6pm until midnight. This will be the first event of its kind featuring the best local artists and showcase live art demonstrations, keynote speakers, and a lounge party throughout the night. Presented by CG Movement, the purpose of the event is to bring 2D/3D artists together and provide a platform for inspiration and creativity.

Tickets for Anomaly are now on sale, available on the event’s website. Ticket price includes all presentations, a one year membership to CG Movement, event shirt, door prize raffles, snacks and after-party.

Ticket Prices:

Regular: $90.00 each
Groups of 5 or more: $85.00 each
Student: $75.00 (name of school and Student ID number required)

Anomaly is sponsored by: Mindseeker – Mitts Creative – Offload Studios – Zbrush – Annex|Pro

Featured Speakers:

Marco Menco – 3D Artist, Image Engine
Daryl Mandryk – Senior Concept Artist, Propaganda Games
Jeff Simpson – Concept Artist, Big Sandwich Games
Steven Chen – Artist, Blizzard Entertainment
Jesse Turner – Artist, Threewave Software
David Tran – Lead Character Artist, Smoking Gun Interactive
Peter Zoppi – 3D Character Artist
Julianna Kolakis – 3D Modeler and Concept Artist – Image Engine

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The BioWare Doctors to Discuss the “Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming’s New Frontier” at Inaugural GDC Canada

Vancouver – Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, general manager and CEO of BioWare and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder and vice president, Entertainment and Miscellaneous, of BioWare will give a keynote address at the inaugural Game Developers Conference® Canada (GDC Canada). The keynote, entitled “Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming’s New Frontier,” will take place on the morning of May 13, 2009. BioWare is an award-winning development studio with locations in Edmonton and Montreal, Canada, and Austin, Texas, known for critical and commercial hit games such as Baldur’s Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Mass Effect™ and many others that place storyline and emotion at the forefront. The Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications will bring GDC Canada to the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre May 12-13, 2009.

BioWare was founded in 1995 by Zeschuk and Muzyka and acquired by Electronic Arts in 2008, where both founders are now vice presidents. BioWare’s games include the Baldur’s Gate series, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™, Mass Effect and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Among the many highly-anticipated BioWare titles are the fantasy epic Dragon Age™: Origins as well as Mass Effect™ 2, the sequel to the 2007 Game of the Year, and Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) title. In addition to their work at BioWare and Electronic Arts, Zeschuk and Muzyka serve as directors and co-chairmen of CodeBaby Corp., a software company developing a next generation interface for digital media and the Internet.

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Vancouver – Ion Branding + Design, a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary graphic design studio, today announced the launch of their third annual One Good Idea™ contest. Doing good for the world is any organization’s badge of honour. Through their third annual One Good Idea™ contest, Ion Branding + Design is looking for a project that positively contributes to the well-being of our world. An organization’s project could be environmentally, socially or economically focused. The submission with the most merit will receive $25,000 worth of Ion’s creative services.

At its core, sustainability is an expression of the desire to find balance and harmony among the competing social, economic and environmental drivers of culture. It’s about trying to fashion a better society. While most would agree that we all want to make a difference, we would probably also agree that we feel overwhelmed about how to make it real. Our One Good Idea™ contest endeavors to remind people that even small steps can contribute to massive change. One Good Idea™ is all it takes.
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High tech executives are signing up to race in popular fundraiser for research into early detection of cancer at BC Cancer Agency

Vancouver/Victoria – High-tech company CEO’s will design and hand-build a fleet of sleek soap box race cars for the annual Canary Derby Soapbox race which will be held in Vancouver on  Saturday June 27th and Victoria on June 28th, to raise funds for the Canary Project of BC Cancer Foundation for cancer early detection research at the BC Cancer Agency. Canary Foundation of Canada, which is dedicated to funding early detection of cancer, is partnering with BC Cancer Foundation on this international cancer research effort.

Last year the first Vancouver Annual Canary Derby signed up 21 teams raising over $110,000 benefiting the Canary Project at BC Cancer Foundation.

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