Area 5’s Jay Frechette and game producer Erin Ali met a few years ago when they were both working their way through game design programs at different schools (Jay at The Art Institute in San Francisco, Erin at The University for Advancing Technology in Phoenix, AZ). In Splash Damage, the duo discuss their experiences — the positive, the negative, the insightful, and the just plain funny — at game design school.
Follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JayFrechette and www.twitter.com/HenleyFenix.
JAY: I knew that I was going to move to California the moment the idea of working in the game industry infected my head. Years of reading game magazines and Web sites had taught me where the meccas of the industry were and, much like the aspiring actor that knows to head to LA to make his big break, I knew that if I wanted to get into the game industry, the Bay Area would be a great place to start.
In Michigan, the closest I could get to the game industry was a job at GameStop. I moved to San Francisco for college because it gave me access to so many opportunities for internships and networking with industry professionals.
Did location factor in for you when you decided to attend UAT?
ERIN: Location wasn’t a factor for me. I figured that I would make the move to a better location once I landed an internship somewhere. But going to a college in Arizona for game design did place me near a couple of studios, one of which I ended up working for as my first industry gig.
I also was an avid conference junkie: I attended E3, GDC, even our own university’s Tech Forum. That seemed to be what I thrived on when it came to connecting myself to the industry.
JAY: I never got to go to any of those things! I remember going to my first IGDA (International Game Developers Association) meeting, which was actually hosted at my school every month. Neil Young — then an executive at EA, now CEO of ngmoco — was a speaker that month. Someone asked him if getting a degree in gaming gave us an advantage when applying for a job, and his answer was absolutely not. That really stuck with me and made me realize that I would need to do more than just finish the program.
I knew that if I wanted to give myself the best chance of getting a job after school, I needed to start getting to know the people in the industry now. Building those relationships played a huge part in starting my career.
ERIN: Building relationships wasn’t difficult for me. By the time I attended my first E3 in 2005, I had already gotten to know most of the 1UP staff. I didn’t consider it networking then; I was just meeting really cool people who were interested in video games. At the show, I helped work the 1UP booth and ran errands for the team. It really helped boost my ability to walk up to people (game industry or not) and talk to them without feeling so small.
In retrospect, helping out at those shows — besides E3, I also volunteered at the Game Developers Conference as a Conference Associate, one of the best volunteer programs to work under — really expanded my contacts in the industry.
JAY: It’s really helpful to surround yourself with a network of people that are already working in the industry. Not only does it give you a great head start when the job hunting begins, it gives you the chance to get really valuable feedback while you’re developing a portfolio and preparing for a career. These people know exactly what you need to do to appeal to employers and are usually more than happy to help out.
What was some of the best advice you got from the people you got to know?
ERIN: The best advice was given to me by one of the head HR reps over at BioWare. At the time, nothing I was looking to do in the industry seemed to fit me. She and I got into this heavy conversation at the Austin Game Developers Conference, and she basically told me that most of the people in this industry love what they do so much that they don’t even consider it a job. What I should really seek out in this industry is what makes me happy, not just what I think I should be doing.
I’ve followed that advice ever since. It’s what I tell other people who are looking to get into the industry.
JAY: That’s great advice. For me, one of the things that networking did is give me a much better perspective on what to expect. I went into college with a lot of assumptions that proved to be wrong once I started talking to people in the industry; their advice saved me from making some major mistakes.
Also, while professors will teach you the tools of game design because — it’s their job, after all — I encourage students to dig deeper and try to get to know them better. Ask them about their work history and how they got there. There’s a lot of great information you could be getting beyond what’s on your class syllabus.
ERIN: Networking presents all types of benefits, from getting to know people who could potentially recommend you for a job to simply learning more about the industry. Hell, networking landed me the two positions I’ve had — and it will continue to help me find other positions as I grow.
One of the best things anyone can do is seek out people in the industry and just talk to them. Not only will they make great friends that they can share stories with (like you and I do), but they”ll also get a leg up when job seeking and discover insightful approaches to game development that they might not have figured out otherwise.
So find developers in online communities, attend conferences, and talk to people. It’s surprising how much you can accomplish from a simple conversation.