One of the major opportunities for games creators moving forward is the chance to work with and educate other areas of the creative industries. Film, television, music, literature and even the performing arts are all now looking seriously at games, apps and interactive media and wondering how to make it work for them.
Thanks to the ubiquity of interactive experiences on the new generation of devices such as smartphone, tablets and even web browsers, the creative world now has to understand these devices and the opportunities they create for new experiences, new ways to make content available and new opportunities to work with strange and interesting people.
Interactive media is fundamentally changing almost every aspect of the creative industries. From the way new projects are created, to new ways of distributing content, monetising it and even consuming creative work, interactivity is the key.
It’s very exciting…
Crossover Scotland, a project funded by Creative Scotland and the TV fund of Creative Skillset has been created to offer a series of events and education to enable greater understanding and opportunities for companies across all areas of the creative industries to work together.
The first of these happens on January 23rd in Edinburgh, at Surgeon’s Hall. It features a line-up of high profile speakers and guests, exploring new ways for people in the creative industries to work together.
Speakers include:
Rhianna Pratchett – Rhianna has worked on titles such as Eidos/Square Enix’s Tomb Raider, Sony’s PS3 epic Heavenly Sword, Codemasters’ twisted fantasy games Overlord, Overlord II and Overlord: Dark Legend, 2k’s Bioshock Infinite and EA’s Mirror’s Edge. Her aim is to help developers embrace story-telling in games and improve the ways in which interactive narrative is defined, integrated and received.
Jeanie Finlay – Director of the acclaimed Sound It Out and The Great HipHop Hoax, Jeanie Finlay is an artist and film-maker who creates intimate and personal documentary films and artworks across cinema, broadcast, exhibition and the web.
Paula Le Dieu – Working with Mozilla to develop and support digital making in the UK, Paula le Dieu works at the intersect of traditional and new media experiences. Paula has worked with the BBC, Guardian, Fairfax, Ofcom,Creative Commons and the BFI as well as online content and activism communities such as iCommons and the international documentary community.
Rohan Gunatillake – An innovation producer and entrepreneur Rohan Gunatillake has worked with Sync, Digital R&D Fund for the Arts, Culture Hack Scotland, Edinburgh Festivals Innovation Lab and Mission Models Money as well as projects including Buddhist Geeks and buddhify – the world’s first urban meditation app.
Following the Inspiration Day, applications will open for Crossover Scotland, an exciting programme of professional training designed to catalyse the development, vision, connectivity and ambitions of Scotland’s creative practitioners.
The organisers are looking for developers, designers, artists, programmers, writers, artists, filmmakers, composers, animators, designers, illustrators and digital creatives
The event runs from 11:30-18:30 and includes lunch, refreshments and drinks afterwards.
Tickets cost £10 and can be booked here.
Crossover Scotland also features a four day Creative Lab in March, followed by a four day Development Lab and a two-day Pitching Workshop in April and May.
Together these will prepare Scottish talent for the challenges of pitching real projects to leading commissioners at the Crossover Summit and Market at Sheffield Doc/Fest in June 2014.