Mark DeLoura + Adam Sussman Join Our Games-For-Change Lab
Mon, September 28, 2009 | Games-for-Change Lab
0 comments ››
The Hollywood Hill is proud to welcome two additions to our Impact Lab Games-for-Change Advisory Board. Both are top executives in the gaming industry:
ADAM SUSSMAN
VP Worldwide Publishing
, EA Mobile and
EA Casual Entertainment Label
Adam Sussman is Vice President of Worldwide Publishing EA Mobile and is responsible for overseeing sales, marketing, business development and all new direct to consumer initiatives.
Mr. Sussman has more than 15 years experience managing business and publishing entities in the videogame and entertainment sectors. Prior to his current position, he served as General Manager for 2K West and Vice President of Take Two Interactive Software where he oversaw all aspects of the division’s publishing business. Previously he served as Director of Strategic Planning and Corporate Development at the Walt Disney Company. During his tenure at the Walt Disney Company, Mr. Sussman focused on the company’s Internet, Interactive and Technology initiatives where he evaluated and implemented business development opportunities, company strategies and M&A. Prior to joining the Walt Disney Company, he held various positions at the Boston Consulting Group and Hearst Entertainment. Mr. Sussman joined EA Mobile, the leading mobile game publisher worldwide, in June 2007. He has a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.
MARK DELOURA
Independent Game Developer
Throughout his career in the videogame industry, Mark DeLoura has maintained a dedication to making game development simpler and less expensive, and making game creation more accessible as a tool for entertainment, education, and communication. As creator of the Game Programming Gems series of books, and as editor-in-chief of Game Developer Magazine, Mark encouraged game developers to learn from each other’s best practices, to propel the industry forward. While serving in technology leadership positions at Sony, Nintendo and Ubisoft, Mark applied his knowledge to developer evangelism and improving the technical quality of games for the Nintendo64, GameCube, PlayStation2, PlayStation3, and PSP. He is currently performing game technology consulting for a variety of organizations, and serves on the boards of the International Game Developers Association and OneBigGame, as a judge for the Independent Games Festival, and as an advisor to Gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine.
A special thanks to Dan Abrams and Robin Hunicke for their involvement.
To view the full Games-for-Change Lab Advisory Board with bios, go to:
http://www.armrev.org/ar/about_projectadvisors/#games
The Hollywood Hill is a proud sponsor of IndieCade 2009!
Thu, September 24, 2009 | Events + Conferences
0 comments ››
Located in downtown Culver City Oct. 2-4th, the IndieCade 2009 International Festival of Independent Games is the world's only festival of independent games open to the public. The Hollywood Hill is a promotional sponsor this year and The Hollywood Hill's members will receive a discount on day passes to the events. To purchase discounted tickets (20% off) on the web, go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/72291 and enter in The Hollywood Hill member's discount code (members should email contact@hhill.org for code).
The Hollywood Hill's Executive Director, Ariel Hauter, will be moderating a panel on Friday, October 2nd, at 11am titled "Challenging Topics," with co-panelists Brenda Brathwaite (Train), and Mikkel Overby (Global Conflicts: Latin America).
The panel will explore how the Games for Change community is approaching challenging topics in games, particularly the methods for effecting measurable social change through video game activities. Panelist Brenda Brathwaite's game Train is in competition for IndieCade 2009, as well as the Global Conflicts team who will be attending from Denmark for their in-competition game Global Conflicts: Latin America.
Brenda is the longest serving woman in computer games, having been involved since 1981 in 22 commercial titles. Brenda is on the Board of the International Game Developer's Association, and is the Chair and Founder of the IDGA's Sex Special Interest Group.
Game Profiles
Train (Brenda Brathwaite, US)
Train, a new non-digital art game by video game pioneer and academic Brenda Brathwaite, is part of a suite of experimental board games she is developing to address challenging emotional topics. An elegant art object built from found objects in the tradition of the Dada and Fluxus movements, Train reflects upon one of the greatest tragedies in human history through an abstract yet reverent approach to the subject matter. Brathwaite's approach might best be described as an interactive poem, using a simple, elegant, abstract game mechanic and lovely, simple but powerful visual elements to give the player an unexpected view of the Holocaust, one that provokes thought while remaining respectful of those who lost their lives. The end result is a striking art object which can also teach and enrich us.
Global Conflicts: Latin America (Mikkel Overby, Denmark)
From Denmark's Serious Games Interactive, Global Conflicts: Latin America is the second in a compelling series of documentary games. Using 3D graphics and storytelling worthy of a studio-produced game, Global Conflicts: Latin America borrows extensively from the adventure game genre, combined with the 3D open exploration of Grand Theft Auto, putting the player in the role of a journalist trying investigating a story. Players explore a small town whose populace serves a nearby maquiladora whose poor environmental practices has lead to a spate of illnesses and birth defects in the town. It's a rivetting narrative, and the more you investigate the more drawn in you are by the human drama unfolding before you, even while coming up against formidable adversaries who don't want you to know the truth. As with its other offerings, Serious Games has succeeded in its goal of creating games in the spirit of initiatives like Participant Productions, the film company responsible Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck, games that both entertain and engage people with meaningful, serious topics.
SAVE THE DATE - OCTOBER 21ST EVENT
Wed, September 23, 2009 | Events + Conferences
0 comments ››
The Hollywood Hill & the Open Source Digital Voting Foundation
Invite you to Towards “We.Gov”: Restoring Trust in our Election Systems
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 | 7:00pm
The home of film producer Lawrence Bender, Bel Air, CA
Please join California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and esteemed pioneer of the personal computing revolution Mitch Kapor for an evening of conversation about the future of American elections systems – how America will cast ballots in a digital age and how we can restore trust in our election systems.
Cornerstone of Our Democracy
Elections in the last decade indicate that our voting systems are far from reliable or accurate and lack necessary transparency. You may wonder what is to become of the existing "industry" for voting equipment, when only two vendors remain to serve the majority of elections systems nationwide, including L.A. County. We’ll discuss:
- How can technology help (not hurt) elections auditing, security, and transparency?
- What is the new voter registration modernization effort?
- What role will the internet play in future elections?
- Will we one day be able to vote from our phones and mobile devices?
Towards Transparency and Trust
OSDV Foundation’s Co-Executive Director, Gregory Miller, will introduce you to a non-profit Silicon Valley project making headway to reinvent the nation’s voting systems. Not just another think-tank writing white papers or pushing for legislative reform, the Foundation’s TrustTheVote Project is building transparent publicly-owned technology that people can see, touch, and try, and governments can freely adopt and deploy.
And the effort is holistic. CEO of Rock the Vote, Heather Smith, will round out our discussion with an outlook on the modernization of voter registration through open source technology.
With only 3 years before the next Presidential election, now is the time for change in how we manage elections and how technology is used to cast and count our ballots. Learn what steps are being taken and how you can help.
