12:00 NOON -2:00 PM
REGISTRATION

2:00 - 5:15 PM
CONFERENCE SESSIONS

5:15 - 6:45 PM
DEAL MAKERS MARTINI RECEPTION
Sponsored by Electronic Arts

Introduction

Jamil Moledina, Executive Director, Game Developers Conference
John Kilcullen, Publisher, The Hollywood Reporter
2:00 - 2:15 PM

Introduction

Jamil Moledina, Executive Director, Game Developers Conference
John Kilcullen, Publisher, The Hollywood Reporter
9:00 - 9:15 AM

As Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, financier Thomas Tull has developed a strong track record of how to serve the interests of commerce and creativity, through films including Batman Begins, Superman Returns and 300. With the debut of his latest venture, Brash Entertainment, Tull brings those skills to the gaming industry. A self-professed "movie and videogame geek", Tull will discuss the parallels between film and games: how the gaming sensibility has made films more experiential at the same time as cinema has inspired gamers to increasingly adopt a sense of story. He is joined by Brash Entertainment CEO, Mitch Davis, who describes how his film-centric game studio synchronizes with the movie industry to complete the audience's experience. A Q&A with GDC's Jamil Moledina closes the keynote.

What Digital Distribution Can Do For You

Mesh Flinders, Writer-Director, Lonelygirl15
Amanda Goodfried, Supervising Producer, Lonelygirl15
Kellee Santiago, Director, flOw
11:50 - 12:30 PM

Digital distribution was once seen as the retail-killer.  Now, it is a robust retail channel that, with its low cost to entry and its global accessibility, provides not only new economic opportunities in the style of the long tail, but also alternate arenas for artist visibility and viral marketing. In this session the creators of two different properties discuss how integral digital distribution was to raising the profile of their product, leading to a development deal.

YouTube, Flash, and the Hive Mind: A Case Study of Afterworld

Brent Friedman, Creator-Writer, Afterworld
2:00 - 2:30 PM

What if you created a story, produced 130 2-minute animated glimpses of it, posted them on YouTube, made them interactive, designed a separate game to tell alternate threads of the story, and launched a participatory community that became part of the universe of the story?  Five years ago, the concept may have matched the genre – science fiction – but today, screenwriter and game consultant Brent Friedman gives an inside peek into how he used modern tools, services, and creative talent to adapt his imagination to the real world.

Integrating Games into Television

Gregg Backer, President, Foglight Entertainment
Brandon Barber, Director of Entertainment Development, Electronic Arts
Peggy Kim, Producer, The History Channel
Moderated by Geoff Keighley, SpikeTV
2:35 - 3:15 PM

Videogames are drawing coveted eyeballs of males 18 to 34 years of age away from “Must See TV,” but there are new ways to leverage videogame franchises to attract these lucrative viewers. This session explores how production houses like Foglight Entertainment and game companies like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are partnering with networks like SpikeTV, History Channel, and Discovery Channel on new ways to blend interactive and linear entertainment.

Creating Parallel Community Experiences Between Films and MMOs

Nicholas Beliaeff, SOny Online Entertainment
Michael Lewis, CEO, Cryptic Studios
Rob Pardo, VP Game Design, Blizzard Entertainment
Jeff Yapp, EVP, MTV Networks Music and Logo Eterprise Group
Moderated by Corey Bridges, Executive Producer, The Multiverse Network

3:45 - 4:40 PM

The creators of films, television shows, comic books, and games are focusing on massively multiplayer online games now more than ever to continue the experience of their legacy and new franchises. Connected competition and cooperative play offer both vicarious involvement for fans and business opportunities for producers. Major studios such as Sony Pictures and tech giants such as Microsoft also want a piece of this action as part of their strategic roadmaps. This session brings together leading players in this space to discuss both the economics of this business, and how Hollywood franchises are being extended into MMO experiences.