PlayUK 20/21 Showcase
Event Information
About this Event
Live On YouTube: https://youtu.be/C8FF1PFK1pw
Join us on the afternoon of March 24th for the last live event as part of PlayUK 20/21. The PlayUK 20/21 showcase will bring together leading videogame creatives, experts and community leaders from across the Western Balkans and the UK for an afternoon of discussions and talks live from a brand new PlayUK virtual exhibition space.
We’re thrilled to be welcoming to the event a line up of speakers that includes Malath Abbas (Biome Collective), Dajana Dimovska (NapNok Games), Ivan Notaros, Kristina Jankovic (Serbian Games Association) and Jordan Erica Webber.
Live captioning will be available during this event.
To join the event simply sign up here. Ahead of the event a link to join will be shared with you.
PlayUK Showcase Schedule
15:30 CET /14:30 GMT
Welcome Address by Jordan Erica Webber
The PlayUK 20/21 Showcase opening address by our host for the afternoon Jordan Erica Webber.
15:45 CET / 14:45 GMT
Ivan Notaroš, Exploring Southeast Europe through Videogames
Ivan is an independent game developer from Belgrade, Serbia. In his practice he creates a prolific range of videogame prototypes, often exploring themes such as procedural generation and first person experiences. In his talk Ivan will be taking us through some of his recent work and discussing the way each draws inspiration from places and spaces across Southeast Europe.
16:15 CET / 15:15 GMT
Inspiration Microtalks 1.
PlayUK 20/21 welcomed a cohort of 10 emerging videogame creatives from across the Western Balkans and the wider European area into a brand new mentorship scheme. In these micotalks we hear from each mentee as they discuss what inspires them and their work in games.
16:25 CET / 15:25 GMT
Ed Fear, Directing Murder by Numbers
Ed Fear is a Lead Creative at Mediatonic, and the director and co-writer of the sassy 90s puzzle crime caper Murder by Numbers. In this talk Ed will be taking us behind the scenes of the design and development of this critically acclaimed game, and providing insights into what it meant to be director of such a groundbreaking title.
16:55 CET / 15:55 GMT
Inspiration Microtalks 2.
The second installment of microtalks in which PlayUK mentees tell us what inspires them and their work in games.
17:10 CET / 16:10 GMT
Dajana Dimovska, Founding NapNok Games: From Skopje to Copenhagen & Back Again
Originally from North Macedonia Dajana is co-founder & CEO of the award-winning and BAFTA-nominated games studio NapNok Games in Copenhagen. Since its launch she has gone on to help expand the studio to Skopje. In her talk Dajana will be talking about her journey building the studio from scratch and reflecting on her experiences as part of the Danish and North Macadonian videogame industries & communities.
17:40 CET /16:40 GMT
Inspiration Microtalks .3
The third and final instalment of microtalks in which PlayUK mentees tell us what inspires them and their work in games.
17:50 CET / 16:50 GMT
Fostering Creative Communities and Events. Panel: Malath Abbas (chair), Agnesa Belegu, Bojan Endrovski, Kristina Janković
The closing session of the PlayUK Showcase brings together an inspiring panel of community and event organisers Western Balkans and the UK. They’ll be talking about the events and projects they’ve undertaken as well as reflecting on the distinct challenges different regional communities can face.
To find out more about PlayUK 20/21 please visit www.britishcouncil.rs/en/programmes/arts/film/playuk20-21http://sga.rs/en/
Showcase Speakers:
Agnesa Belegu, Game Designer (Techland)
Agnesa is a passionate Game Designer, currently working on Techland's Dying Light in Poland. Since 2017, especially when she is physically in Kosovo, she has worked to lay the groundworks of the gaming industry in her country. An MA in Interactive Entertainment, she mentors students through the JuniorGeeks program, practicing and building a curriculum for game design.
As a founding member of the Kosovar Game Developer's (KGD) community, she continues her work to grow and strengthen the community in Kosovo.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/agnesabelegu
Dajana Dimovska, Co-CEO (NapNok Games)
Dajana is a serial entrepreneur with 10 years of experience in Business and Game Development. She is co-CEO of NapNok Games, an award-winning and BAFTA-nominated Games Studio. Beyond this, as a co-founder of both the Copenhagen Games Collective & of the European Game Showcase and one of the female founders of the worldwide Game-Jam movement, she remains committed to helping build the independent game community.
Ed Fear, Lead Creative (Mediatonic)
Ed Fear is a Lead Creative at Mediatonic, and the director and co-writer of the sassy 90s puzzle crime caper Murder by Numbers. Over his many years in the industry he’s been a writer, designer, narrative consultant, producer, marketer and journalist, on games like The Swords of Ditto, Heavenstrike Rivals and Hatoful Boyfriend.
Ivan Notaroš, Game Developer (Independent)
Ivan is a jack of all digital trades from Belgrade, Serbia. He spends most of the time jumping from a project to project prototyping ideas as they flow through his mind. With a background in architecture and photography, he is mostly interested in procedural generation and first person experiences.
Jordan Erica Webber, Writer and presenter (various)
Jordan Erica Webber is the resident gaming expert on The Gadget Show (Channel 5), a presenter for BBC Radio 4, and host of podcasts including Wild Wild Tech and Talking Simulator. She has written for the Guardian for nearly a decade, and co-authored a book called Ten Things Video Games Can Teach Us (about life, philosophy and everything).
Kristina Janković, ,Administrative Manager (Serbian Games Association)
Kristina Janković has proudly been supporting the mission of the SGA since its foundation in 2018, as its manager and the focal point for the local game dev studios and the wider community. She is actively engaging with all of the SGA members, partners and friends, as well as other players relevant to the flourishing Serbian gaming industry ecosystem.
Malath Abbas, Game Designer, Artist & Producer (Biome Collective)
Malath Abbas is an independent game designer, artist and producer working on experimental and meaningful games. Malath established Scotland's first game collective and co-working space Biome Collective, a diverse, inclusive melting pot of technology, art and culture for people who want to create, collaborate and explore games, digital art and technology.
Showcase Microtalk Speakers
Adnan Mujkic, Software and game developer
Fehime Seven, Game developer
Giorgi Shelegia, Game designer
Jovan Jaramaz , Game and level designer
Julia Makivic, Creative technologist
Nastasya Myakinina, Environment artist and indie developer
Pavle Goloskokovic, Game Designer (Prune Games)
Stefan Shontevski, Game Designer (Aeria Canada)
Vasilije Kovačević, Game Designer
The PlayUK showcase event will be brought to you live from the brand new PlayUK virtual exhibition space. Created in Mozilla hubs this new virtual exhibition has been designed by illustrator Anđela Janković and built by Andrej Jagar.
After the PlayUK showcase live event the virtual exhibition space will also be opened up for folks around the world to visit. Visitors will be invited to explore this playful and speculative landscape inspired by Serbian architecture. Here they can meet the PlayUK mentorship cohort, or catch up on all the 20/21 PlayUK speaker salon talks that have taken place over the past 6 months.
