Conference Keynotes

Opening Keynote:

Lance Priebe 9.20 - 10.10am

Club Penguin and the Future of Online Gaming

Lance will share how he took Club Penguin from zero users to what is now a mega brand with 150 million users. Lance will also share where he sees the game space going and where his plans after Club Penguin.

Patrick Hudson 10.10am - 11.00am

Shifting from Big Budget to Downloadable and Mobile Games: Cultural and Production Implications

Don Geyer

Build a Game Development Team and make games for the new market

In the current game market: social networks, portals and established publishers are in a race to get new modern content in front of their user bases. This opens up possibilities for new studios to form and fill these market needs. This talk will cover some of the methods that can be used to get a studio up and running. It will also cover some production processes, technical decisions and content production optimization that can help a new studio compete in the current paradigm. The talk with also cover game design and feature decisions made for the game Aethereus. How to create new features in established genres. How do you add new features that create interest without alienation the established audience?

Takeaway: Attendees will leave with insight, methods and guidelines for getting a new studio up and running to compete in the current game market. It will also discuss game feature and production decisions that can be made

Intended audience: Game Developers, Producers, Studio Managers, Game Designers, Artists, Programmers and Entrepreneurs

Tracey Sellar 11.20am - 12.10pm

Microsoft Games Studios
Improving your Game with User Research

During development, a team may wrestle with many open questions about their game: what will players really think of the experience? Will they understand the basics and nuances? Will they be appropriately challenged or just frustrated? Will they enjoy it and have fun? Will they keep coming back?

User Research provides developers with valuable feedback on how a target audience perceives and interacts with their game before (and after) it is released. It helps to take some of the guesswork out of designing enjoyable game experiences.

Using examples from several Microsoft Studios games, Tracey Sellar will highlight key approaches to collecting player feedback during development, and using it to improve the player experience. Whether you're a large games studio, or a 2-person team, the same core principles can be applied regardless of the size or scope of your project..

Carl Rosendahl 12.10 - 12.50pm

Company Pitch Session

Interested in launching your own company? During this breakout session we'll talk about how to pitch your company to potential investors and partners. A perfect companion session to the full day Entrepreneurship in Entertainment Technology class, you can get real world experience by practicing your company pitch in front of a friendly audience, giving you feedback and useful critique on the idea and the presentation.

If time allows we will also study videos of some successful startup fundraising pitches and discuss necessary content and presentation styles.

Participants are encouraged to prepare their company pitch ahead of time.

Scott Foe 12.10 - 12.50pm

Big Games in Small Packages

Challenges and lessons on creating compelling content in todays world of portable and personal interaction.

Josh Selig 1.30pm - 2.30pm

Kids Animation - Creation, Series Development and IP

Josh Selig is the President and Founder of Little Airplane Productions, producer of international preschool hits The Wonder Pets!, 3rd & Bird and the upcoming CBeebies/Disney Junior series, Small Potatoes.  Josh will share his unique approach to series development and creation and provide insight and encouragement to New Zealand's aspiring IP creators.

David Rosenbaum 1.30 - 2.30pm

Kids Animation - Creation, Series Development and IP

Session Description:  The video game business has grown into one of the leading entertainment industries.  This session explains how the business has developed: how the hardware cycles define the business and its growth; channels of distribution and how mobile/smartphone and social gaming are changing the paradigms of the business; how game sales compare to film grosses; how game sell by genre, by rating, by platform, and by territory; consumer demographics; how the game business is a global business; who the key industry players are and some names and trends to watch.

Session Takeaway: Develop an understanding of the metrics and history of the video game industry and how that affects opportunities to do business in video games.

Intended Audience: Development studio personnel, business development personnel, investment bankers, and anyone who is interested in managing game development and distribution.

Hal Josephson 2.30-3.20pm

21st Century Digital Delivery:Getting Content to Customers

This session will look at the issues, challenges and opportunities for creators who want to distribute their digital content. How do the various distribution platforms and networks work? How can you connect with new online audiences? How can you engage social media communities to become future paying customers?

Sean Kauppinen 2.30-3.20pm

Emerging Markets and Platforms for Games – where the Industry is Going.

This session will include a global market view presenting top-level data on the major emerging world markets for games as well as the platforms that will reign in the coming years. From Latin America and Russia, to Free-to-Play MMO and social games, to SmartTVs and the growing install base of Android and iOS devices, this session will give you three ways to look at the market so you can make the best decision as to where to take your studio to be successful.

Closing Keynote:

Enrico Casarosa 3.40 - 4.40pm

PIXAR's 'La Luna', PREMIERING in the Southern Hemisphere!

AnimFX NZ 11 invites you to attend a special screening and presentation of PIXAR Animation Studios' newest short, 'La Luna'. This New Zealand Premiere is being screened with its director, Enrico Casarova, who will share the journey that led him to create PIXAR's latest original short and, along the way, illustrate the roots, influences and inspirations that led him to tell is very own personal story, through this short film.