Founding Chair, SVA|NYC MFA Products of Design
Editor-at-Large, Core77
Owen Roberts
Faculty, BMCC
Artist & Digital Storyteller
Nick Fortugno
Founder and CCO of Playmatics
Nick Fortugno is a interactive narrative designer and game designer based in New York City. Nick is a Lead Artist on the Frankstein A.I. project, and has worked extensively on interactive narrative projects in a variety of formats. He is founder and principal of Playmatics (www.playmatics.com), a interactive development company. Playmatics has created a variety of digital and real-world experiences for organizations including Pro Publica, Red Bull, AMC (such as the CableFAX award winning Breaking Bad: The Interrogation), Disney, American Museum of Natural History, the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Red Cross/Red Crescent. For the past ten years, Fortugno has been a designer, writer and project manager on dozens of commercial and serious games, and served as lead designer on the downloadable blockbuster Diner Dash and the award-winning serious game Ayiti: The Cost of Life. Nick is also a co-founder of the Come Out and Play street games festival (www.comeoutandplay.org) hosted in New York City and Amsterdam since 2006, and co-creator of the Big Urban Game for Minneapolis/St. Paul in 2003. Nick has taught game design and interactive narrative design for 15 years at institutions such as Columbia University and the Parsons School of Design, and has participated in the construction of game design and immersive storytelling curriculum. Some of Nick’s writing about interactive narrative can be found in the anthology Well-Played 1.0: Video Game, Value, and Meaning, published by ETC-Press.
Tim Szetela
Tim Szetela is a Designer, Animator, Digital Artist and Faculty, MFA Visual Narrative, SVA.
Melanie Hoopes
Writer/Storytelling Consultant
John Benton
Adjunct Professor Design Digital Art & Film, NYU
Faculty, MFA Computer Arts, SVA
John Benton is a narrative artist working with haptic and immersive environments. In the last few years, his interactive books have won the Tribeca Film Festival’s mobile storytelling prize (’15) London’s PttP Market Prize (’15). as well as receiving grants from the NY Media Lab (’16) and the New York Media Center( ’16/ ’17) for work with AR & VR. Most recently he has been developing PRGRM with the New York Foundation or the Arts.
He teaches film, emerging technology and game design at New York University and the School of Visual Art, as well as the International Center of Photography. He regularly lectures and speaks on the future of storytelling.
SooJin Buzelli
SVP, Creative Director, Strategic Insight
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- Katherine Streeter
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- Dadu Shin
Anna Eveslage
Artist/Educator
FAQs
How many people will we be collaborating with?
Each team will have about 5 people.
Do we have a budget for materials needed to create our project?
Story Of/ will not be providing a budget for materials to create your project, though we will be providing paper and pencils for brainstorming. Participants are welcome to spend money on their prototype, but we would like to emphasize that this is indeed for a prototype, resourcefulness is encouraged.
How will the teams be formed?
Teams will be formed to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration. In other words, teams will have varying levels of experience, and varying professional backgrounds.
Please consider that by signing up for this event, you are agreeing to be placed on a team with any person, with lots of experience or new to their field, and from any creative background.
Is this as open as a game jam or hackathon? Is this as prescriptive as a design sprint?
This event is not as open as a game jam, but is also not as prescriptive as a design sprint! We will provide a framework for thinking about story, and will provide consultation along the way. About ⅓ of the time will be structured, and ⅔ of the time will be open creating time, with consultation from Nathan, Jenny, and mentors with various creative specialities. We will not solve for any commercial or applied problems, though the frameworks we supply and the experience can absolutely be applied back to jobs, as well as be inspirational for artistic practice.
What types of people will I meet at this event?
We held a beta version of this event in December 2017, and participant breakdown in terms of experience level was: 25% under five years experience, 42% 5-15 years experience, and 33% over fifteen years experience.
We also saw a wide range of skill sets at the event, ranging from: front-end development, VR, music composition, graphic design, journalism, painting, writing, illustration, and acting.
What is expected for the final prototype? Should it be refined?
Refinement of the prototype and what it looks like and works like will depend on the skill sets of your team and also the needs of your story. Last year, teams produced prototypes and pitched an immersive theater experience, a table-top game, a digital videogame, and an animatic. It’s important that the story variables are conveyed clearly, and beyond that the challenge will be to leverage each team member’s skillset and areas of expertise.
How many participants do you expect in total for this event?
We expect about 25 – 30 participants.
Where is this event? Do I need to be there IRL?
This event takes place in NYC, and yes, participants will need to be physically present for both the launch night and the main event. The launch night will take place at Society of Illustrators (128 E. 63rd Street), and both days of the main event will take place at School of Visual Arts (132 W. 21st Street) on the fourth floor.
What should I bring to the launch event?
Please bring yourself and a sense of adventure, be prepared to create & brainstorm – accepted applicants will receive an email with some more in-depth info about what to expect overall for the workshop.