Film Victoria Digital Media Internship

Presenter Brad Giblin

Presenter Outline

“Who wants to work in a company?”

“Who wants to work for yourself in an indie games role?” was the questions Brad Giblin opened up with at the beginning of his presentation. Brad works for Film Victoria which is a government initiative to promote films & digital media, games are a part of this. Brad is involved in the process of grant funding. Film Victoria gives money to people with a concept they believe will make money and be a viable business. Film Victoria has funded every game’s company in Victoria and they offer direct funding for games of all shapes and sizes. They are the only government in Australia to have such a level of funding and have been doing so in the games industry for the past 15 years. The culture at Film Victoria is “Will it make money or not?”

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How does the topic relate to the Games Industry?

The Victorian government is supporting the local games industry, with the “Games investment program” – <http://film.vic.gov.au/www/html/88-games.asp>

Internships are available to individuals with the aptitude to work in a team. Supporting local companies is one of the eligibility requirements for the grants or internships; it has got to be local.

Currently Film Victoria has enough funding for 5 internships per year, with a salary of $34,000. This kind of job placing enables the internee to learn the ropes quickly and gives them experience which companies are looking for so as not to waste money on inexperienced students. There has been support for multinational companies in the past however most is given to small to medium business.

Past intern positions

• Programmer
• 3D modeller
• Storyboard artist
• VFX artist
• Producer
• Motion designer

These positions can lead me into the games industry

How does the topic relate to my own ambitions in the Games Industry?

After finishing my degree, I can apply for an internship. Doing an internship will actually get me a job in the games industry. 10:1 is the odds at getting an internship, by focusing on smaller companies as they have more vacancies. However this may not look as impressive on my resume. Thankfully age is not a limit as most applicants are younger. However mature age students do go through. One comment by a games agency that placed a mature aged applicant was that skills are just as important as “having a lovely person to have around” Iloura Games Production.

February 4^th 2012 is the next cut off date for potential candidates.

Some important points Brad made about publishing was to exercise marketing skills, get the timing right, develop a brand, collect information, get a following via email lists etc, and have an advertising budget to pay for people to use. He suggested having a game that is controversial vs a puzzle game that may well have been overdone previously.

He suggested looking at the Apple App store, Steam, PSN and XBLA as viable places to sell and publish your work.

Brad displayed a video containing feedback given to Film Victoria regarding requirements for a 3D modeller. These were:

• Only put the highest quality in your portfolio
• Stick to the fundamentals, e.g. animator has a ball bounce rather than a fully textured model
• Focus on style- a railway sleeper done creatively rather than an extravagant butterfly that has no purpose.
• Photo real skills are a bonus
• Able to produce concepts
• Observe by osmosis and keep it simple
• Do a few things well

Also be very specific about the work you have done and credit your team members. Brad also advertised contact details to be used for further research.

Film Victoria Contact

Kate Taylor

96603200

Kate...@Film.vic.gov.au

Bridh Athanatos

References

Film Victoria – Games, viewed 15^th April 2011, <http://film.vic.gov.au/www/html/88-games.asp>