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Pushing the Envelope - Fusing Art, Games and Entertainment

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Designer Alex Mayhew and Producer Emma Westecott provide an insight into the creative, technical and commercial challenges involved in developing a new genre of grown-up computer game allowing for emotional engagement within a dramatic context: Dreamer and The Hive. Chaired by Jett Loe, Senior Commissioning Editor for Broadband at Flextech.

Designer Alex Mayhew and Producer Emma Westecott provide an in-depth insight into their personal experience of the creative, technical and commercial challenges involved in developing a new genre of entertainment combining online gaming, art and drama: Dreamer and sister project, The Hive. The discussion will be chaired by Jett Loe, Senior Commissioning Editor for Broadband at Flextech.

In addition, Alex will talk about his work on the award-winning Ceremony of Innocence. The presentations will be held in The David Lean Room at BAFTA in London, where audience members will be strongly encouraged to take part in the evening's discussions.

"Technology provides the potential for us to explore the length and breadth and true potential of our dreams. So why don't we do it? The time is coming for a fresh perspective on computer gaming. One that allows for emotional engagement within a dramatic context. It is time for gaming for grown-ups."
Alex Mayhew

Dreamer is a game with a difference. The whole piece functions on the basis of high action and emotional drama, which the player is responsible for, or at least involved in. It takes place inside the head of a man who has mysteriously fallen into a deep narcoleptic state. The Hive is a multi player environment set in the world of the Dreamer. It pits the two main communities in the dream, wasps and butterflies, against each other in an online war. The player will enter and play in the form of one of these insects. (For more information, visit the Dreamer website.)

Speakers

Alex Mayhew worked for Peter Gabriel's Real World on various multimedia projects and was the creative director and chief designer of Ceremony of Innocence, an interactive CD-ROM based on Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine trilogy - a mysterious story of love at the edge of sanity, told through the intense and intimate correspondence.

He then went on to complete a year's artist in residence at CREATEC (Ealing Studios), a new media lab which was a research branch of the National Film &Television School.

Emma Westecott has worked as a creative producer in interactive media for over 7 years, producing and programming projects for the likes of MTV, Real World Studios, Virgin, Coca Cola and Geffen Records, as well as lecturing in interaction design at The University of Westminster. Her most recent games credit is as Producer on Starship Titanic, Douglas Adams’ best selling CD-ROM Adventure Game. She is responsible for the launch of TDV's flagship web-based community based on The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Chair: Jett Loe, Senior Commissioning Editor - Broadband, Flextech. In Jett Loe's varied career, he has been an experimental video artist and has worked cases for a criminal defence lawyer in New Mexico, while his career in media has straddled both the old and new varieties. He co-started an Internet Service Provider in the pre-web days, got into broadcast production and design working for Channel 4, LWT and Sky, became an interactive producer for NTL, and is now senior commissioning editor for Broadband at Flextech. Jett is responsible for finding programming that is fresh, funny and above all smart, and he is currently commissioning a round of pilots in entertainment, kids and lifestyle genres.

About Dreamer

Dreamer: a serialised interactive fiction.

Max Reno appears to be in a coma, confined to a hospital bed. No one can wake him. His mind is haunted by the evil spirit of his old teacher, Miss Bugly. You are invited to adventure into his dreams, in the form of raw energy known as LFO (Light From Outside). You inhabit and control various characters within the dream (including Max's friends, family, wasps and butterflies).

Your objective is to help Max confront his fears, with the ultimate goal of exorcising his demons and waking Max up. A voyage into inner space, Dreamer allows the player to navigate through a journey of discovery, confrontation and transformation.

By providing a fresh slant on traditional gaming, Dreamer builds an interactive fictional world that combines high action, absorbing game play and emotional drama.

This event is presented in association with

Location

BAFTA