Tag Archives: game production

A MEGA-fun weekend at MIGS

By Michael Foti (Game Producer ’21), Montreal Industry Coordinator

I’ve never been to a conference before. Sure, I’ve been to career fairs and Comicons, but never have I ever been to a large conference revolving around game developers, their games and companies. This lead to a whole new event that I wasn’t ready for, but pushed myself into having one of the best experiences I’ve had while starting in the game industry. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Michael-Paul

By Michael-Paul Ho-Kang-You (GPROD ’20)

During the Fall 2018 semester, Michael-Paul interned at Iron Belly Studios as an Associate Producer.

Michael-Paul (GPROD ’20)

Company:

Ironbelly Studios is comprised of a talented, passionate and dedicated number of game developers from all corners of the globe. The studio focus is on creating high-quality entertainment experiences as well as providing outsourcing services at a fraction of the cost seen elsewhere, such as 2D, 3D, Animation, UI, VR, LD, and Archviz. IronBelly was founded in 2009 and located in Montreal, Canada.

During my Fall semester of 2018, I interned at Ironbelly Studio in Montreal, Canada as an Associate Producer having Adrian David as my supervisor. He is the Vice President of Internal Operations at Ironbelly Studios. Throughout my time at Ironbelly Studio, I had a few responsibilities at Ironbelly such as: Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Chris

By Chris McCammon (GPROD ’20)

During the Fall 2018 semester, Chris interned at Casa Rara, a game development studio in Montreal.

During my time studying abroad in Montreal, I interned at a small game development studio called Casa Rara. This amazingly weird place is where I learned so much about my major, game production management, and what it really means to be a producer in the real world. The studio started October 4, 2016, with an official start date of January 16, 2017. Casa Rara is made up of veterans from the gaming industry such as our creative director who worked on Papa and Yo, as well as our programmer who worked on Roller Coaster Tycoon World. Our producer, Tali, has had years of experience in regular film production as well as in virtual reality game production at Minority Media. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Charlie & Wes

By Charlie Grabber (GPROD ’20) and Wes Weitzman (GDES ’20)

During the Fall 2018 semester, Charlie and Wes both interned at Back to the Game.

Wes (far left) and Charlie (far right) with partners from Back to the Game.

Charlie

During my time in Montreal, I worked as a Production Intern at Back to the Game. The company was founded by Richard Rispoli, an industry veteran who worked at EA Interactive and Ubisoft during his 15+ years working as a producer and project lead. I learned a lot about managing a team of 8-10 people, organizing schedules and keeping the project running smoothly via Trello, and how to organize and prioritize multiple clients for a service-based product. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Austin

By Austin Roorda (GPROD ’20)

During the Fall 2018 Semester, Austin interned at Behaviour Interactive in Montreal. 

My name is Austin Roorda, and this semester in Montreal I was a Project Management Intern working at Behaviour Interactive. Behaviour Interactive is an independent game development studio based in Montreal, although it’s roots are actually Quebec City, where it was founded as Multimedia Interactive in 1992.

Since 1992, the company has worked on over 150 titles, many of which belong to AAA IP’s and have sold millions and millions of copies. Some of the titles that it has worked on include winners of several ‘Game of the Year’ awards with their work on titles such as Fallout Shelter. Behaviour also works on and creates its own IP’s, such as the critically acclaimed Dead By Daylight. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Brett

By Brett Schwartz (GPROD ’20)

During the Fall 2018 Semester, Brett interned at Minority Media Inc. as a Management and Marketing intern.

Brett Schwartz (GPROD ’20)

During my time studying abroad in Montreal I worked at Minority Media Inc. as a
Management and Marketing Intern. It’s a relatively small studio that continued to shrink during my time there. Our studio is a single flat with two office spaces and a meeting room connected to the center room, and the over all floor is shared with another software development agency and a publishing studio. So as one could imagine, Minority Media isn’t a very large crowd but its collective unit has got over fifty years of experience working in all aspects of their collective industry. The core business team remains together as their projects evolve, but the development team seems to change with key members working for a few years and then moving to another place in the industry. Through it all has been Stella, the maleficent office dog

Minority Media was formed eight years ago by Vander Caballero and Julien Barnoin.
They quickly became recognized in the VR development sector for their commercial success with Papa & Yo. Following this, they continued to stand by VR game development despite the failures it faced in commercial acceptance. Minority had adapted by developing for Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Genevieve & Megan

By Genevieve Guimond (GDES ’20) and Megan Hoins (PWRT ’19)

During the Fall 2018 semester, two of our students interned at Double Stallion’s Montreal studio. 

Genevieve

Double Stallion was founded in 2013, and was helped along in its inception by the game company incubator Execution Labs. Their first two games were mobile: Big Action Mega Fight! was released on iOS and Android in 2013 and OK K.O.! Lakewood Plaza Turbo! was released in 2016. That game is actually a property that Double Stallion partnered with Cartoon Network to create based on their show OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes. During development on two of these games, Double Stallion moved on to start their most recently released project: Speed Brawl. Continue reading →

Megan Says Goodbye

By Megan Hoins (PWRT ’19)

I’m going to be honest: I really didn’t think Montreal would have a huge impact on me. I just figured it would be another semester, albeit with a lot of new, fun experiences in a totally new place.

That didn’t happen. If anything, this semester had the most impact on me out of any I’ve had at Champlain, since it allowed me to get to know myself for, really, the first time in my life.

Going abroad meant depending on myself, in a lot of ways: making my own food, commuting to work, and living apart from the big college community I was used to. It also meant spending a lot of time by myself, which, as a social introvert, sounded perfectly ideal to me. Continue reading →

A Foot in the Door: Company Visits

By Emmett Friedrichs (GDES ’20)

Among the many off-campus activities I participated in this semester, there are none that I enjoyed more than the company visits. While many of our visits are simply tours of the establishment, some are more personal. Even the tours opened up untold secrets of the game industry, and new possibilities for networking. This all packaged into a single trip in which we explore the city of Montreal just a little bit more. Parties set up by companies/studios or events and conventions such as MEGA or MIGS allow even more networking and communication through direct conversations. Continue reading →

Managing Montreal: Production Management in Montreal

By Claire Yeash (GDES ’20)

Social Media Coordinator, Claire Yeash, spoke with the producers in Montreal during the Fall 2018 semester about the city, the study abroad process, internships, and what it is like to be a producer.

Montreal is one of the biggest gaming hubs in the world; it is the largest city in game development in Canada, a country that ranks third in the world for games.

The producers in Montreal during Fall 2018

Developers from all over flock to this great city, and with over 150 indie companies and multiple AAA studios such as Ubisoft, Square Enix, and EA, there is a huge video game community. In addition to a great networking advantage, students who study in Montreal can gain valuable experience in a professional studio, attend interesting classes that improve students’ skills tenfold and dive into the culture of Montreal.

Continue reading →