The Austin Conference Will Focus On The Convergence Of Film And Games
The inaugural Captivate Conference and Expo has secured game industry veteran Warren Spector to deliver the Keynote on Leadership in the Arts. Captivate will take place October 6-8, 2013 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas. Spector is a 30-year veteran of the game industry, best known for creating the Disney Epic Mickey and Deus Ex series, as well as for his work on the Ultima games and System Shock. His long history in game development in Austin, and his academic background in film production and criticism at the University of Texas at Austin make him a natural fit for the conference.
“I’m excited to be keynoting the first Captivate Conference,” said Spector. “Captivate honors the creative development community, celebrating their contributions to the digital age. What most excited me and sets Captivate apart is the focus on games as part of the larger media universe - not just a particular kind of game or worse, games as somehow less than other media.”
Captivate is a first-time conference focused on bringing diverse and often insular communities of professionals together. Much of the conference is a discussion about how games, film, and music work together, as well as how mobile development enhances and is enhanced by game, film and music experiences.
“Captivate is the first game conference to bring together games, movies, music and more,” said Spector. “It’s vital that game developers, writers, musicians, mobile developers, creators of television and film productions talk about how their media are alike and different and how practitioners can work together to benefit the broader art scene. People often say ‘Keep Austin Weird.’ I say ‘Keep Austin Creative.’ And Captivate, with its many-media focus, with games at the heart of things, is ideally suited to take our creative chops – and maybe our weirdness – to a whole new level.”
Spector said the day of individual creation in media is dead or dying, at best it’s on life support.
