Keeping Creativity at the Center
Great projects often begin with a magical moment of invention. A spark that ignites a team’s imagination, bringing a new idea to life. It is where it all begins, but what about the rest of the project? We all know the exhilaration of that invention moment, and we know it is vital. Yet, as a project progresses, creativity can get left behind as focus shifts to getting the thing shipped. Is it possible to maintain that driving creativity throughout a project’s life? Should that be a goal?
We will explore these complex concepts using examples from our work and discuss the struggles, successes, and even a few failures that illustrate our processes.
About the Speakers:
Jon Snoddy is CEO of OperativeGames.ai, creating narrative games with fully conversational characters.
He previously served as SVP and global head of R&D for Disney Imagineering, where he led a cross-disciplinary mix of artists, scientists, technologists, and engineers, working to invent the next generation of entertainment experiences. He notably brought an early AI focus to next-generation robotics, created novel display systems, ride systems, animation, and storytelling. His teams have developed AI-controlled characters who converse, tell stories, and compose & perform music. Jon helped launch the THX system at Lucasfilm before joining Disney. At Disney, he led ride system development for the Indiana Jones™ Adventure and founded the Disney VR Studio. Jon later started multiple companies specializing in video games, and social media experiences. During this time, he launched Game Works LLC with Steven Spielberg, Sega, and Universal Studios and co-founded the personalized video sharing company Bigstage Entertainment.
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Bernard François is the founder of PreviewLabs, a studio that helps clients explore ideas through prototyping with game technology. Since 2010, PreviewLabs has worked with research groups, creative teams, and companies to build early prototypes that support discussion, experimentation, and decisionmaking.
Bernard is typically involved at the earliest stages of projects, when goals are still forming and both creative direction and technical feasibility are open questions. He is especially drawn to the innovative phase of development: shaping gameplay and interaction ideas while also addressing technical challenges needed to make them work.
His interest in prototyping predates PreviewLabs and was influenced by early hackathon culture, including the first Global Game Jam in 2009. The mindset of working quickly, testing ideas hands-on, and learning through building things, continues to inform how he approaches projects today. This year, PreviewLabs is organizing the first ever Game Prototyping Track at MIT Reality Hack.