Join The Business of Creating Institute in partnership with the WGF for a dynamic, interactive panel and Q & A with seasoned Entertainment professionals to discuss designing and writing video games and building a career in the interactive entertainment industry.
Topics will include:
Overview of Positions on a Video Game Project
Narrative Design
Writing Your Own Material
Writing for an Established Franchise
Getting Hired
Cross-Platforming Your IP into a Video Game
…and more!
Panelists include:
Stephan Bugaj - Chief Creative Officer @ Genvid | Emmy®️ & Webby Winning Showrunner
Andrew McClain - Senior Games Writer/Narrative Designer, Neo Cab, Goodbye Volcano High
Ashley Poprik - Senior Narrative Designer, Destiny 2; Writer, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Justin Sloan - Senior Games Writer, Battlefield, Tales From The Borderlands, Game of Thrones
Moderated by Jennifer Mangan, Writer/Producer, Beautiful Day Productions and Co-Founder of The Business of Creating Institute.
This event will be held in-person at the WGAW headquarters in Los Angeles and livestreamed via Zoom. Space is limited, so RSVP today.
Doors open at 6:30pm. Event starts at 7:00pm.
Get your early bird ticket for $20 through Tue, March 25. Tickets will be $25 starting on March 26. A ticket purchase is required to receive arrival or login instructions.
If you have any questions about this event, please email us at events@wgfoundation.org.
About the Panelists
As Genvid’s Chief Creative Officer, Stephan Bugaj created and helmed SILENT HILL: Ascension for which he won an Emmy Award, and the currently running DC Heroes United. His wealth of past creative and technical leadership experience includes past roles as CCO of DJ2 Entertainment, the Hollywood company behind the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, Tomb Raider anime, and more; VP of Creative at Hanson Robotics developing the AI personality of the Sophia android and premiering his short films starring her at Cannes; and Studio Creative Director at Telltale Games overseeing creative and story for beloved narrative games including Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. Earlier in his career, Stephan spent a dozen years at Pixar on both creative and technical teams, with credits including The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Brave, and Wall-E. Stephan also continues to advise SingularityNet on AI mind design and character development.
Andrew McClain is a Los Angeles-based games writer and narrative designer. His contributions to critically-acclaimed independent games Goodbye Volcano High and Neo Cab have earned multiple BAFTA nominations and the Tribeca Games Award. His other credits include AAA studio projects Bioshock 4 and Project ETHOS.
Ashley "Ash" Poprik is a video game writer and narrative designer. Her credits include Destiny 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Additionally, she is a Women in Games Ambassador, BAFTA Connect Member and was a part of the Game Awards Future Class in 2022.
Justin Sloan is a writer of games, screenplays, and novels. Most recently, he wrote on the next Battlefield game at Electronic Arts and authored tie-in novels for Galactic Entertainment's PlanetQuest. He has written on such narrative-driven games as Game of Thrones, Tales from the Borderlands, The Walking Dead, and Minecraft: Story Mode. He also worked on DJ2 Entertainment's Emmy-winning Silent Hill: Ascension and various mobile, hybrid, and new media games. Justin has sold over one-million books and is proud to have participated in the Writers Guild Foundation's Veterans Writing Project.