Taking a RISK: From Board Game to Facebook
We will explore some of the current issues facing game production through a case study of EA’s Risk: Factions. This panel will address some of the perceived differences between console games and social games and will attempt to answer questions about the future of social games in regards to Flash-based production methods.
Presenters
Brad Graeber is the CEO and co-founder of Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc, a traditional animation studio in Austin, TX.
Powerhouse is a service based studio that produces content for film, television, and video games. Powerhouse celebrated its 10th Anniversary in 2011, and employs 35+ animators and artists. Some of the better known projects Powerhouse has worked on include Disney’s Epic Mickey, shorts for Kevin Smith’s Clerks, Sony’s DC Universe online and animated versions of syndicated comic strips such as Dilbert, Pearls Before Swine, Bloom County, and Over the Hedge for Ringtales. Powerhouse has worked on projects for companies including Sony, Electronic Arts, Disney, Microsoft, Miramax and many more.
Brad was born in Austin, and went to graduate school at the Visualization Sciences program at Texas A&M University. Brad serves on the board of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance. He hosts a monthly figure drawing class called Naked Lunch which is tailored for artists in animation and games. In 2011, Brad co-founded Artists Against Cancer, a non-profit company dedicated to helping artists with their fight against cancer.
Megan Kluck is a Creative Director at Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc. in Austin, TX. At Powerhouse, she's a lead character designer, animator, and serves as director on projects such as Disney's Epic Mickey. Megan was born in Richmond, TX, and received her BFA in Communication Design from Texas State University. She has an Associates Degree in 2d Animation from Austin Community College, and is currently a member of their 2d Animation Advisory Committee.
Spencer Brooks has been at producer at Electronic Arts for 7 years. During his time there, he has produced games on console, handheld, mobile, and web. Some of the titles he produced include Boom Boom Rocket (Xbox 360), Scrabble (PSP, NDS), RISK: Factions (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Facebook).
Before coming to Electronic Arts, Spencer was the world's leading expert on artificially inseminating Kangaroos. In his lab in Perth, he successfully bred the heavily endangered Donkaroo, which are now steadily on the rise in Austraila's Strzelecki Desert.
Sunday, March 11
