Eight BAME-foundation gifts from the games business have been chosen for the London Games Festival’s yearly 2020 Ensemble feature.
Ensemble, supported by the British Council, features the substantial commitment BAME creatives have made to the UK’s games culture at each level, concentrating on eight games creatives and examining their work.
Outstanding portrait photographs and profiles have gone live supplemented by a comprehensive story from media partner Evening Standard – a short video narrative about the eight which you can discover below or here.
The eight were chosen by curator Sharna Jackson along with a dedicated steering group of BAME representatives from over the UK computer games and interactive sector.
The eight creatives chose for 2020 are:
Abubakar Salim, Actor/Producer: Abubakar was BAFTA-nominated for his leading execution in Assassin’s Creed Origins and has as of late been given a role as one of the leads in Ridley Scott’s TV directing debut, Raised By Wolves. He is about to open his own game studio and production company.
Adrian Hon, CEO, Six To Start: Adrian studied neuroscience and experimental psychology at Cambridge and Oxford before forming Six To Start in 2007, leading design on the groundbreaking fitness adventure game Zombies, Run!
Catherine Unger, 2D Artist/Art Director: Catherine is a freelance artist who has worked for distinguished games developers, for example, Nintendo, State of Play and Broken Rules. She additionally also worked at SFB Games’ Tangle Tower, which is selected for a BAFTA Games Award this year.
Corey Brotherson, Writer, editor and creative consultant: Crafting and controlling content and fiction across mediums including games, comics and TV, Corey has also been a content maker for PlayStation Europe for more than 10 years, contributing to 100s of titles, including, Horizon Zero Dawn and Dreams. He is, as of now co-writing his first game, Windrush Tales.
Elle Osili-Wood, Video game presenter/voice actor: Elle began as a political broadcast journalist before going independent to cover games, where she became Editor and Presenter for PlayStation Access. She is currently Editor-in-Chief for Glass House Games and is introducing computer game content for the BBC.
Nida Ahmad, UX Designer/Researcher: Nida has been working on mobile games, coordinating scientific client research and UX processes to advocate for accessible and player-centered design. She recently contributed to Angry Birds Go! along with Warhammer Combat Cards and is as of now working at Netspeak Games on a social MMO. Additionally, She is on the founding group for POC In Play, a racial inclusive initiative.
Nihal Tharoor, Interactive writer, Electric Noir Studios: Nihal was working for top advertising organizations when he quit to establish a game studio and create the interactive crime drama, Dead Man’s Phone. The app has been nominated for a BAFTA this year. Season 1 of Dead Man’s Phone includes a story that faces topics of police profiling and prejudice in present day Britain.
Rosemary Buahin, Games Category Lead, Xbox: Rosemary began in games as International Sales Co-ordinator for Eidos, and has since worked at Warner Brothers, PlayStation and Curve Digital. She is currently Games Category Lead for Xbox, Vice Chair of BAME in Games and a board trustee for Into Games.
Ensemble is only one part of the London Games Festival, which includes a blend of activity for consumers and industry experts. The program can be found at www.games.london
London Games Festival is sponsored by the Mayor of London with financing of £1.2m more than three years and looks to make London the games capital of the world. It is delivered by Games London,an intiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries organization, and video games trade body Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment).
