Guests
Jean Leggett - Games Keynote
Matthew Shepherd - Animation Keynote
Tara Audibert - Owner - moXyFoX
Chloe Bourdeau - Animator - Copernicus
Chad Comeau - Media Artist In Residence - University of New Brunswick
Rebecca Goodine - Game Designer - First Mobile Education
Ben Durrell - Animation Supervisor - Copernicus Studios
Phyllis Grant - Owner - Phyllis Grant Studio and Gallery
Jeff Mundee - Game Designer - Cold Furnace Studios
Jessica Beckett - Producer - Loogaroo
Lori Shepherd - Chief Creative Officer - Cold Furnace Studios
Natasha Small - Concept Artist - Ubisoft Halifax
Samuel St-Pierre - Interactive Production Manager - TV5 / UNIS
Devin Taylor - Freelance Illustrator
Kirsten Tomlinson - President/CEO - Fourth Monkey Media
Mark Wheeler - CEO - Cold Furnace Studios
Richard Wilson - CTO/CoFounder - {rikkir}
Jean Leggett is the co-founder and CEO of One More Story Games. Together with her husband Blair Leggett, they have developed StoryStylus, a simplified authoring platform for amateur to professional writers to create, publish and market narrative-based video games.
Jean brings a background of administration, coaching, public speaking and stand-up comedy to her role as CEO. Where Blair is the visionary, Jean is the evangelist. Together they have raised over $360,000 for OMSG.
OMSG works with writers as young as 10 - teaching them the basics of narrative design and coding - and is working on the game adaptation of Shakespeare's Landlord, one of five novels in #1 NYT best-selling author Charlaine Harris' Lily Bard series.
A graduate from NBCC Miramichi's Animation Program Matt has gone onto a variety of high profile projects including TV series (Oliver's Adventures, Johnny Test, Jake and the Never Land Pirates) and films (Hotel Transylvania, The Smurfs, Storks, Smurfs: The Lost Village, and The Emoji Movie). Currently he is the lead animator for Hotel Transylvania 3.
Check out his IMDB page for a complete listing.
Tara Audibert is a renaissance woman and has been creating art since she was old enough to steal the permanent marker she used to draw windows on her pink puppy wallpaper, which much to her parents dismay was the age of 2. Continuing this destructive period, Tara continued to create art in all forms including animating for over a decade on TV shows for WB and Teletoon (Johnny Test, Delilah & Julius, Olliver’s Adventures, Zoom) and written & illustrated the children’s book Matthew Loses His Laugh. She has illustrated several comics concerning Aboriginal Issues (River Run, Lost Innocence, A Pre-Historic Race, Making it Right). Her love of art has led her to continue her education throughout her career, moving from animation, to learning fine art at NSCAD, and continuing on to her Certificate in Adult Education, instructing in Animation and Graphic Design and becoming an Animation Producer/Director and starting her own independent animation and comic studio: Moxy Fox Studio.
Tara is currently in production of her indie short animated film entitled The Importance of Dreaming, which is inspired by the Abanaki legend of the same name and based on actual events from her life concerning forbidden love, children of mixed race and Alzheimer’s. The Importance of Dreaming will be completed in 2016. You can find links to Tara’s works via moXyFoX.wordpress.com.
Born and raised in Moncton NB, I attended French schools and graduated with honors in visual arts. I attended the Art Fundamentals Program in 2010, and Animation & Graphics later on in 2013. I left the program in the 5th semester to start working on "Teen Titans GO!".
Now with over 2 years of experience, I have grown exponentially since my days at NBCC, and look forward to sharing my experiences! I am currently living in Halifax, NS with my partner Tony Mitchell (another NBCC alumni!) and our tuxedo cat, Maurice.
Chad has just finished a one year stint as UNB's Media Artist In Residence and has been a part of game development academics in a variety of projects.
A long time game player turned game author, Rebecca is fascinated by the potential of games to create unparalleled affective media experiences. Her most ambitious video game project, Guide, aims to promote awareness of social anxiety among children and youth.
After completing her Media Arts and Cultures degree from the University of New Brunswick, Rebecca attended a three month “researcher in residence” position at the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland, where she studied emotional embodiment in virtual reality.
She is currently working in a game art and research role for Fredericton’s First Mobile Education, and she has recently been awarded a 2017 SSHRC research grant to continue her studies in the Master of Design graduate program at Concordia University in the Fall of 2017.
Ben Durrell has been working in the animation industry of Nova Scotia for 9 years, gaining experience in both Flash and Harmony pipelines. Previous shows include Delilah and Julius, Speed Racer, Garth and Bev, Wildgrinders, Bravoman, Teen Titans Go, and most recently supervising animation on Disney's Pickle and Peanut.
Phyllis Grant is a Mi’gmaq artist from Pabineau First Nation. She is a mother, artist, rapper, filmmaker, dreamer and lover of all creation. She runs a tiny art gallery and studio next to her home on reserve, and also works in her home community office of Pabineau First Nation. Phyllis has collaborated with several organizations and groups –from the province of NB to Coca-Cola Canada, the National Film Board of Canada and Honor the Earth. An interdisciplinary artist, her works include animated films, poetry and music, as well as paintings and illustrations. She holds a Bachelor of Integrated Studies with a Certificate in Leadership Studies from UNB. Her artwork has appeared with many organizations and publications, notably, Pearson Canada, Native Women's Almanac, First Nation’s Children’s Futures Fund, UNB and CBU. Phyllis is passionate about community building and transformative learning in terms of leadership through art and technology. Her art focuses on sharing traditions and exploring identity within the process of creation, often retelling the Mi'gmaq legends she grew up with. She enjoys inspiring and facilitating creativity in others, and shares her path with unique expressions of family, community, nature, stories, medicines, passion and love.
Jeff Mundee has worked in the video game industry for over ten years starting in Vancouver with Factory1 Games, learning the ropes of game design and environment modelling as an intern. He then worked with Electronic Arts for three years as a motion capture specialist, and was involved in the production of animation for many EA games. Most notably, Fight Night Round 3, FIFA, Dragon Age, Skate, Dead Space, and Need For Speed. He then became a mission designer at United Front Games where he worked on Sleeping Dogs for Activision, later published by Square Enix. For five years he taught many game design courses at Art Institute of Vancouver. This involved mentoring of hundreds of students in various disciplines, many of whom are now professionals in the industry themselves. While teaching, he worked on several independent projects including Red Rolling Hood with Holy Mountain Games. He continues to teach several game design courses for UNB's MAAC program and is the Game Design Director at Cold Furnace Studios.
Jessica graduated from NBCC Miramichi in 2001 since then she has worked in many capacities and roles in the industry. After starting out working on commercial animation she moved on to layout and background painting. Once mastering those process she moved into the position of producer.
Jessica then joined the Loogaroo team in 2009 as the Lead producer and office manager. She prides herself with client satisfaction and artist understanding. She brings her many years of expertise to Loogaroo in which she combines both artistic and management skills together in a wonderful melding of knowledge. Some of the many projects Jessica has produced at Loogaroo include clients such as Mondo Media, BBC, FOX ADHD, Chevy and the ever popular Lego brand and so many many more.
For the last year she has been producing a live action/animated hybrid show for Broadcast on Unis tv called Canot Cocasse.
Lori builds games. Lori also builds teams from the ground up, ensuring the effectiveness of the team through collaboration.
Lori creates military based games, combining her security training, and creativity into realistic and engrossing experiences. Encompassing criminal elements, espionage, law enforcement, cyberwarfare, intelligence, and tactics.
Lori’s audience, in the security forum, have included police agencies, government, military and defense, legal professionals, technology sectors, consultants, and private investigators.
International law enforcement and security organizations have worked with her in understanding and preparing for virtual world culture and threats to games associated with crime in online gaming. Lori has contributed to the INTERPOL Working Party on Information Technology Crime, regarding Gaming and Virtual Worlds.
She has worked in the AAA industry, specializing in game security; including Anti-Cheating, Anti-Piracy, and Secure Distribution.
Before joining the game industry in 2007, Lori was employed by the Government of Canada, and responsible for system design and security architecture.
Natasha Small is a digital artist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After being offered a job at the end of her first year in the Animation and Graphics Program at NBCC Miramichi, she decided to take her chances and jump right into the animation industry in Nova Scotia.
Since then, she has worked as an animator at Copernicus Studios on shows such as Teen Titans Go! Shortly after she became a background painter for Ubisoft and Cartoon Conrad, and is now a full time concept artist at Ubisoft Halifax.
She currently supplies concepts, designs and art assets for Tom Clancy’s Shadow Break, which is now soft launched in Canada on IOS and Android! She continues to hone and refine her skills, both on and off the job, and is eagerly working towards her future goals and aspirations.
Samuel St-Pierre is currently working at TV5 and Unis as a project coordinator in interactive production. He is also a game designer, an interactive scriptwriter and a videographer. He loves exploring the different possibilities of various mediums and platforms. His latest projects the web series Connexion en cours and the interactive documentary Climate under pressure were well received all around the world.
Devin is a graduate from NBCC’s Animation and Graphics program. He spent his first seven years in the industry primarily as an animator and posing artist for television series (Stella and Sam, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Atomic Puppet and Lion Guard to name a few). He also took the odd character design or storyboarding job along the way.
In the last few years, he’s worked more on the conceptual side of things, providing designs and artwork to develop mobile games, VR games and animated series for various studios. He is currently doing character designs for Disney’s Star vs the Forces of Evil, and illustrating books based on the series. First, he worked on a chapter book called "Star and Marco's Guide to Mastering Every Dimension". He then got to fulfill a lifelong dream of being a pro comic book artist with the release of the first 4 issues of an 8 issue series titled "Star vs the Forces of Evil: Deep Trouble". The next 4 issues are still to come.
Storytelling in comic books was always his first love, so Devin is also working on some creator owned comics for different writers as well as developing some of his own ideas.
Kirsten began her media career 15 years ago as a freelance production assistant on hectic live action television and movie sets. Not satisfied with the real world drama of the movie business and craving the sort of creative absurdity one could only find amongst unwashed animators, she made the move to become a production coordinator at Collideascope Digital Productions in Halifax. In the animation world she had the opportunity to work on numerous award winning and critically acclaimed series as she scaled the monkey bars upwards earning more responsibility as an associate producer, and eventually as a producer. Loved by her crew, and integral to the successful planning and execution of tight budgets and schedules, Kirsten learned a lot about the artistic process and how to organize large teams of creative individuals towards a common goal by building stable productions and fostering an atmosphere of respect, teamwork, and productivity.
Always up for a new challenge, Kirsten decided to leave the industry she loved to take on a new role as a video game Producer for HB Studios in Lunenburg. She accepted the challenge of learning an entirely different production model in a new technology sector, quickly rising to the role of Senior Project Manager. During her time with HB Kirsten successfully produced a number of world-class console games with top clients from around the gaming world, and helped the company expand their business while managing numerous productions at two separate facilities. After experiencing work-life in a large gaming facility, Kirsten decided to make a sideways swing into a smaller boutique gaming and e-learning environment. Acting as Senior Production Manager for Raised Media, she has immersed herself in the world of education based games and online branding, all the while learning how to make a smaller company perform like a well oiled multi-national brand.
Kirsten’s in depth and rounded work experience in media, television, feature films and games gives her a stunning array of skills and attributes any client will find indispensable. She has evolved her career towards serving the interests of her clients and her craft, and she represents the missing link between left-brain artistic creatives and goal-focused executives. Kirsten’s professional, positive attitude and her infectious humour make her a joy to work with, and we are proud and fortunate to have her as Fourth Monkey’s top banana.
Mark Wheeler, CEO of Cold Furnace Studios, is a currently serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
With his background in military leadership, as well as combat experience, Mark has thrown himself out of a few airplanes, and smashed his lips off the ground.
Mark has been deployed in several international conflicts, including multiple tours to Afghanistan as well as the Balkans. He runs a tight ship, seeks realism, and quality in video games.
He uses his experience to deliver amazing games, and run an amazing team, Cold Furnace Studios.
Richard works hard to be able to maintain his position as an indie developer; supplementing himself with "real world" work, Richard still managed to burst onto the scene with award winning games like Tappy Toes and Alpha Quest, getting featured in the app store right out of the gate. Richard learned everything about the business and getting himself published and marketed all on the fly, and hopes to share this hard found wisdom.