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Friday, 17 December | 4:15 PM - 6:00 PM | Room 308B/C

East Meets West: The Power of the Pitch

Friday, 17 December | 2:15 am - 4:00 am | Room 308B/C

This course presents a publisher's perspective on development opportunities related to the pursuit of new intellectual property, work for hire on existing portfolio needs, and possible acquisition off external, independent developers.

The course explores four key questions:

1. What are publishers looking for these days?
2. How does a small, independent developer get traction when risks are high and investment is scarce?
3. How does the publisher's perspective change based on the genre and/or the region for product opportunities?
4. What is the best way to pitch a company and/or a product-development opportunity?

The course ends with a question-and-answer session.

Presented in cooperation with the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.

Level

Intermediate

Intended Audience

All who love games, how we make them, and how we can continue to be an important part of shaping interactive entertainment for the future.

Prerequisites

An open mind, strong opinions, and great questions.

Syllabus

Introduction
Joseph Olin

How to Pitch the US Market
Dan Winters

Q&A

How to Pitch the Korean Market
Changki Kim

Q&A

Dan Winters
Activision/Blizzard

Changki Kim
Gravity Co., Ltd.

Joseph Olin
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

Instructor Bios

Dan Winters
After getting his start at Activision in 1993 and working on various titles including Mechwarrior 2, Dan Winters spent 10 years at Disney Interactive, where he became Vice President of Product Development. Under Dan’s leadership, Disney Interactive contributed to or co-released over 50 games, including Kingdom Hearts, Tarzan, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, and Tron. He rejoined Activision in 2005 to oversee developer relations and acquisitions after a stint at Electronic Arts as Executive Producer of Medal of Honor.

Changki Kim
Changki Kim co-founded Joycast Entertainment Co., Ltd., the first 3D console developer in Korea, in 1997. Having come from a different field, his major role was mainly focused on investor relations and overseas business development. Later, he moved on to establish an online game-development company called Xenon Interactive, where he managed a merger with Mega Enterprise. After the merger, he served as the director of overseas business development and helped Mega sign publishing deals with Digicell and CIBN. Now at Gravity Co., Ltd., he heads acquisitions, marketing, and publising as well as sales and online game services through publishing partners or Gravity's subsidiaries. He has been in both the publisher's and developer's role as Ragnarok Online has expanded to 64 countries, and he has supported seven online titles developed and maintained by independent studios. He strongly believes in systematic management to maximize monetization and prolong the life cycle of live online games.

Joseph Olin
Joseph Olin is president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, an organization dedicated to advancement and recognition of the interactive arts. He oversees the annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, the Interactive Achievements Awards (IAA), the Into the Pixel videogame art exhibit and the Indy Game Challenge. He has been instrumental in advancing the international presence of the academy and is a highly sought-after speaker at international videogame and related industry conferences.