BFI Future Film and SCI-FI-LONDON Present… Micro Budget Sci- Fi Filmmaking – May 5th, 12:45
Join us for a Q+A with Directors Jim Munroe (Ghosts with Sh*t Jobs), G B Hajim (Strange Love) and Sloan U’Ren (Dimensions) as we discuss the future of sci-fi on film, and making sci-fi movies on a micro budget. Our panel will also be giving feedback on sci-fi shorts made by young filmmakers that will be screened as part of this event.

Lecture
On Saturday 14 May, Jim Munroe (CA) and Han Hoogerbrugge (NL) will talk of their experiences with self-publishing. Munroe chose to turn his back on the publishing world and publish his work himself. Han Hoogerbrugge, on the other hand, was actually discovered because he published his work online.

Workshops
Prior to the lecture, there is the opportunity of taking part in workshops that offer insight into how you can publish your work more widely and effectively.
Jim Munroe will be holding the workshop:
How do you make a game without programming? With G-O-D online (Gé Smit) you will start learning how to attract attention amidst the masses.

“Declaration of Independents”
Thursday, September 23
3:00pm

Few outside those working inside the indie game circle realize how wide-reaching and “successful” it truly is. With loads of blogs devoted to the scene and millions of downloads each year, a vibrant undercurrent of game developers are thriving and working without bureaucracy, utilizing accessible software and various lo-fi techniques to pump the games out. From inspiration to design and publishing, how do you make a game by yourself, and why?

SPEAKERS
Moderated by Brandon Boyer, Chairman, Independent Games Festival
Derek Yu, game developer and illustrator, Editor-in-Chief of TIGSource
Jonathan Blow, game designer, partner in the Indie Fund
Jim Munroe, novelist, game designer

“Wizard Takes All”
Saturday, September 25
4:30pm

What is it about computer games and magic? Magic and computer games have been linked from the very beginning when Fantasy themed, text-based, Multi-User Dungeons started popping up on mainframes in the 1970s. Generations of gamers have crawled their way through Adventure, Wizardry, the Ultimas, Bard’s Tale, King’s Quest, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Everquest, and World of Warcraft. Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and most recently Harry Potter have snatched the brains of children and adults alike. Why are magic and medieval fantasy such prominent themes in our media landscape? What do 20 million role playing Elves know that we don’t?

SPEAKERS
Moderated by Eddo Stern, Artist, Associate Professor at UCLA Design Media Arts Department
Sheri Graner Ray, Studio Design Director for Schell Games, writer and designer on the Ultima series
Jim Munroe, novelist, game designer
Tom Hall, Creative Director at KingsIsle Entertainment

Comix nerds: It’s got an amazing array of international talent and all the local lights as well.
Book nerds: It’s at the newly renovated Toronto Reference Library, with new rooms and facilities to wonder at.
Game nerds: The Torontron will be there alongside the Hand Eye Society table.
No Media Kings nerds: Shannon and I will be there selling & signing Sword and chatting on panels
Cheap nerds: It’s free.

UPDATE: I am doing two panels on Saturday:

The Spirit of Indie: Where Comics Meet Video Games
Saturday, May 8th, 2:00 – 2:45pm, The Pilot

There’s more to the game industry than blockbuster, multi-system titles just as there’s more to comics than Batman. This panel
seeks to explore the ways in which independent comic artists and game developers have influenced each other and spurred each other on to explore the possibilities of their medium. Cartoonists/game contributors and creators Scott Campbell, Jamie McKelvie, Jim Munroe, and Miguel Sternberg will be interviewed by games journalist Matthew Kumar.

Tracers, Photoshoppers, Cut & Pasters: Cheaters or Revolutionaries
Saturday, May 8th, 3:30 – 4:15pm, Novella Room

Comic artistry has traditionally valued drawing things with nothing but a pen and raw illustrative talent. But people working from photoreferences, using digital tools and collaging techniques are producing some of the most innovative and beautiful work in the comic world. Does this diversify comic expression and represent an unshackling from the draftstable? Or is it just cheating? Four non-traditional comic artists discuss this and their approach to comic making. Featuring Shannon Gerard, Emily Horne, Sonja Ahlers, Ryan North, and moderator Jim Munroe.

11am Editing Your Own Work
Authors and editors share tips on how to spot the problems that are so easy to miss in your own work, how to add a bit more polish to your writing, and how to prepare your draft so that editing goes as smoothly as possible.

2pm Collaborations
Advantages (and disadvantages) of collaborating, especially in the digital world, with all the latest tools at our fingertips.

No Hints Please: Adaptive Difficulty Strategies.
(Sunday, March 28th, 1:30pm-2:30pm, IF Suite)
We have different ways of collecting data on how “well” the player is doing and can shape the gameplay to suit, but not many people do it. Is the notorious difficulty of IF a design decision? Participants: Jim Munroe (Everybody Dies), Aaron Reed (Blue Lacuna), Dave Gilbert (Emerald City Confidential).

Session title:
Creating And Nurturing Your Indie Game Community
Tuesday, March 9 (3:30pm — 4:00pm)
Description:
In two short, sweet mini-talks, notable independent game community organizers discuss how you can get involved in nurturing the indie community in your local area – or for your particular flavor of independent games. Firstly, SuperHappyDevHouse and TIGJam contributor Jeff Lindsay, who has set up Hacker Dojo in the Bay Area as a permanent base for the tech community, will explain what he’s learned from being involved in indie game site TIGSource and his other projects in the tech community. Next, Toronto-based independent creator Jim Munroe, the person behind local indie game-centric events like The Hand Eye Society and The Artsy Games Incubator, explains how the area has grown a strong indie community and how you can mobilize your area to flood “out of the basement and into the streets!”