Mary Margaret to visit EIGF
by Kit

Wednesday, July 14 2004

President of recruiting services will be present at EIGF.

Mary-Margaret.com informed VGLN.com that company president and co-founder Mary Margaret Walker will be featured as a speaker at the Edinburgh International Games Festival (EIGF), in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 8th – 22nd. The EIGF conference, running August 12th-13th, attracts game creators and game publishers from all over the world, including the UK, USA and Canada.

From 10:30 am to 11:30 am on Friday, August 13, Mary Margaret Walker, founder and President of Mary-Margaret.com, will participate in the featured EIGF conference panel, “Hollywood Model - Come on Up!” Conceived and produced by Nicholas Doff of Artem Digital and moderated by top Hollywood agent Seamus Blackley of Creative Artists Agency, Mary Margaret will be joining a heavyweight panel comprised of Neil Young, General Manager of Maxis Studio/Electronic Arts and, Brad Foxhoven, founder and President of Tiger Hill Entertainment LLC.

This timely panel will cover the recent cross-fertilization of IP from games to movies and what it takes to develop IP that will work across all entertainment platforms - games, films and TV. Panelists will discuss whether game companies should follow any of the film industry methodologies and address the barriers to the games business following a similar model, as well as provide insight into how the game industry will be able to grasp some of the opportunities in the future that the film business currently enjoys. The panel will also discuss the Hollywood structure of team-building and how this same per-project basis can be applied to game development. Details on the panel can be found online at the EIGF web site: http://www.eigf.co.uk/siteContent/tradeEvent/programme.jsp.

Walker states, “Our client relationships and strategic partnerships with Hollywood companies have provided us with a front-row seat to the on-going convergence of games and films. This combination of direct access to the filmmaking community and my years of experience as a game developer at 3DO and as a recruiter in the game industry have formed my opinions about improved methods of project management and team-building. My hands-on role in recruiting has only strengthened my resolve to see our industry adopt a production model similar to that of the film studios and producers; a per-project system that can potentially create better games through stronger teams that are less likely to break down during the development cycle.”

The conference will be held at Edinburgh International Conference Centre, The Exchange, Morrison Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. Attendance costs £195.00+ VAT and includes access to all conference sessions, the Award Ceremony, after show party, refreshments and access to Go Play Games and the all new Game Screenings strand. To book, visit http://www.eigf.co.uk.

--- Kit