Warren Spector Lecture Series; Video Game Storytelling & Design Philosophy: Choice & Consequence(Part 3 of 3)
June 1 - Choice & Consequence - the Heart of Game Design. Though games can and do tell stories, game stories must be built on a foundation of "doing," of interacting with problems and challenges posed by the game designer. In this lecture, Warren will discuss two primary philosophies of game design that lead to very different kinds of games. In this lecture, Warren will discuss those philosophies and discuss why he favors one over the other.
Warren Spector Lecture Series: Video Game Storytelling & Design Philosophy: Narrative in Games (Part 2 of 3)
May 25 - Narrative in Games. Many creators of traditional "linear" media see the surface level similarities between games and their own work. While there is definite overlap, video games have unique tools - and limitations - when it comes to telling stories. In this lecture, Warren will discuss the ways in which games tell stories with, rather than to, players.
Warren Spector Lecture Series: Video Game Storytelling & Design Philosophy: Games and Other Media (Part 1 of 3)
May 18 - Games and Other Media. This introductory lecture covers the ways in which games are like and different from movies, television, books and other traditional media. In addition, Warren will discuss what games can, can't and shouldn't learn from those media.
New Mexico Above-the-Line Four-Part Series: Actors Panel (4 of 4)
The New Mexico Film Foundation, in partnership with The Stagecoach Foundation, is proud to present the New Mexico Above-the-Line virtual conversation series for 2021. This is the fourth of four, in-depth Zoom discussions with noted New Mexico producers, directors, writers, and actors. Whether you are a filmmaker, or want to be, listen and learn as above-the-line talent from across the state share their stories about making films and television in The Land of Enchantment.
New Mexico Above-the-Line Four-Part Series: Actors Panel (4 of 4)
The New Mexico Film Foundation, in partnership with The Stagecoach Foundation, is proud to present the New Mexico Above-the-Line virtual conversation series for 2021. This is the fourth of four, in-depth Zoom discussions with noted New Mexico producers, directors, writers, and actors. Whether you are a filmmaker, or want to be, listen and learn as above-the-line talent from across the state share their stories about making films and television in The Land of Enchantment.
New Mexico Above-the-Line: Actors
May 1, 2021
10am - 11:30am
Join this in-depth conversation and lively Q&A with four successful New Mexico film and television actors. Together, we will examine craft, project selection, preparation, process, collaboration, production, and career longevity, as well as the advantages and challenges of filmmaking in New Mexico.
Morningstar Angeline (she, her, they) is an actress, director, writer, producer, and performer. She is a queer Navajo, Chippewa Cree, Blackfoot, and Latinx woman. She began acting in theatre as a child and continued studying acting and writing throughout college. In 2014 she made her feature debut as Nizhoni Smiles in Drunktown’s Finest at the Sundance Film Festival. Since then, Angeline has starred in Paramount’s Yellowstone, Netflix’s Chambers, and HBO’s This Much I Know Is True. Behind the camera, she has worked in AD, camera, casting, and locations. In 2019, she co-produced and starred in Blackhorse Lowe's feature FUKRY. She is a 2018 Sundance Indigenous Lab Fellow for her directorial and writing debut, Yá’át’ééh Abiní. She is a 2020 Vision Maker Media Shorts Fellow for her co-written script Seeds, and is a 2020 Native American Feature Film Writers Lab Fellow for her script Rowdy by Nature. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the mixed media company Tse’Nato’.
Vic Browder has been working in New Mexico film since 2003. After graduating from Southern Utah University and spending several summers performing with Utah Shakespeare Festival, Vic headed to the MFA program at FSU Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training to sharpen his skill with some of the best acting teachers in the country. He eventually landed in Albuquerque, becoming a sought-after talent in the small black box venues around town (which can be great training for film). He finally did his first screen acting for a short film called The Family Sausage. Since then, he has been a part of dozens of short films helping young filmmakers tell their story, and has been in over 30 feature films and 25 television shows including Sicario, Waco, The Magnificent Seven, and Godless. He is a founding member of the professional Mother Road Theatre Company where he acts, directs, designs, builds and produces some of the best theatre in the Southwest.
Peter Diseth is a New Mexico-based actor. With dual degrees in Theatrical Performance and Directing from Southern Oregon University, Peter began his career on stage, working with a number of companies across the U.S. After acting with a nationally touring children’s production for two years, he and his wife moved to Albuquerque. A career in stage-acting turned to one on-camera when he joined SAG AFTRA in 2014. Since then, he’s appeared in a number of television shows, films, and web series including recurring roles on Better Call Saul, Roswell, New Mexico, Chambers and many more. His most recent role is in the forthcoming Netflix film Surrounded, starring Letitia Wright and Michael K. Williams.
Amber Midthunder recently shot the female lead opposite Liam Neeson in The Ice Road for director Jonathan Hensleigh. She can also be seen on the small screen series regular on The CW reboot of Roswell, New Mexico, and the Marvel series, Legion for FX. On the big screen she recently landed the lead role in the indie drama Centurion the Dancing Stallion. She was part of the cast in the Oscar-nominated film Hell or High Water, opposite Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine, as well as in Priceless, opposite David Koechner. Amber can also be seen in the sequel to the horror Thriller 13 Cameras helmed by Seth Fuller and Scott Hussion and the feature Highway alongside Josh Hartnett. Previously, she recurred on Cinemax’s Banshee and A&E’S Longmire in Season 3.
This series is moderated by Steve Graham, a producer, writer, director, and co-founder of the Santa Fe production company Goodwest Productions. Since 2005, he has produced 111 episodes of television and worked on more than a dozen films. He was co-executive producer for five seasons on the television series Z Nation (Syfy) and was co-executive producer on Netflix’s Black Summer. Recently, he produced the awardwinning punk puppet musical The Love That Would Not Die and is producing the New Mexico-based drama The Penny and the horror comedy Hermanos Muertos.
Above the line Series Part 3 of 4: Screenwriters
The New Mexico Film Foundation, in partnership with The Stagecoach Foundation, is proud to present the New Mexico Above-the-Line virtual conversation series for 2021. This is the third of four, in-depth Zoom discussions with noted New Mexico producers, directors, writers, and actors. Whether you are a filmmaker, or want to be, listen and learn as above-the-line talent from across the state share their stories about making films and television in The Land of Enchantment.
New Mexico Above-the-Line: Writers
April 3, 2021
10am - 11:30am
Join this in-depth conversation and lively Q&A with four successful New Mexico film and television writers. Together, we will examine project selection, development, writing process, production, post, and distribution, as well as the advantages and challenges of filmmaking in New Mexico.
Razelle Benally is an Oglala Lakota/Diné film director and writer who holds a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and MFA candidate at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She was a 2015 Sundance Institute NativeLab Short Film Production Fellow with her first short narrative I am Thy Weapon. In 2017, her two-hundred dollar thesis film Raven traveled the international film festival circuit. In 2018, she directed a PSA promoting the Indigenous Vote featuring Mark Ruffalo, Tonia Jo Hall, and Shailene Woodley. Her latest short narrative Ókiya was funded by Academy Award Winner Spike Lee. She is in development of two feature-length narratives: Winter in Black Mesa (2022), and War Cries (2023). She received support from Sundance Institute's 2018 Creative Producing Summit and was supported through the 2020 Sundance Institute Feature Film Program as part of the Screenwriters Intensive track.
Robert Dean is a native to the sprawling New Mexico landscape and has been working professionally in the state film business for the past nine years in several facets of production, from writing to directing to production managing (Dead of Night, Wander). He has written several screenplays and is currently in development on multiple projects. Witnessing first-hand the many pitfalls that independent filmmakers face, Robert and Buffalo 8 joined forces to create Buffalo 8 New Mexico, a full-service division that will serve producers, projects and companies looking to shoot within the state of New Mexico.
Melinda Snodgrass studied opera at the Conservatory of Vienna, graduated from UNM. with a degree in history, and went on to Law School. After three years as a lawyer, she realized she hated lawyers and turned to writing. In 1988, she accepted a job on Star Trek: The Next Generation and began her Hollywood career where she has worked on staff on numerous shows and has written television pilots and feature films. Most recently working as an executive producer on Wild Cards for Universal Pictures. In the prose world she writes for and co-edits Wild Cards with George R. R. Martin. She has completed the fifth book in her five book Space Opera series Imperials and is working on a fourth novel in the Carolingian series. For fun she rides her dressage horses, plays video games, and spends a lot of time in the gym
Lee Zlotoff is an award-winning writer, producer and director of film and television. Among his more than 100 hours of television credits, he was the creator of the original hit series MacGyver as well as the writer and director of the independent film Spitfire Grill, which won the coveted Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition, he is the director of the MacGyver Foundation and author of the Amazon best-selling book, The MacGyver Secret: Connect to Your Inner MacGyver & Solve Anything. Zlotoff is also the co-founder of the Santa Fe Network (SFN), a New Mexico based digital entertainment network launched in 2017. Zlotoff was born and raised in New York and is a graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, where he has served for over a decade on the board of directors. After a long sojourn in the Los Angeles area where he helped raise four children who have since blessed him with four grandchildren, Zlotoff now resides in Santa Fe, with his wife, artist Dayna Matlin
This series is moderated by Steve Graham, a producer, writer, director, and co-founder of the Santa Fe production company Goodwest Productions. Since 2005, he has produced 111 episodes of television and worked on more than a dozen films. He was co-executive producer for five seasons on the television series Z Nation (Syfy) and was co-executive producer on Netflix’s Black Summer. Recently, he produced the award-winning punk puppet musical The Love That Would Not Die and is producing the New Mexico based drama The Penny and the horror comedy Hermanos Muertos
Above the Line Series Part 3 of 4: Screenwriters
The New Mexico Film Foundation, in partnership with The Stagecoach Foundation, is proud to present the New Mexico Above-the-Line virtual conversation series for 2021. This is the third of four, in-depth Zoom discussions with noted New Mexico producers, directors, writers, and actors. Whether you are a filmmaker, or want to be, listen and learn as above-the-line talent from across the state share their stories about making films and television in The Land of Enchantment.
Stagecoach Foundation Fundraiser Wild Cards RPG & Online Auction
George R.R. Martin’s Stagecoach Foundation
Fundraiser Premieres at WonderCon
Santa Fe, NM - The Stagecoach Foundation, co-founded by best-selling fantasy author George R.R. Martin, is hosting an online fundraiser with events planned from Friday, March 26th through Sunday, March 28th. The fundraiser will help the Stagecoach Foundation offset losses from the COVID-19 pandemic and to support its ongoing efforts to expand access to careers in the film industry for New Mexicans.
The weekend of fundraising programming will kick off with an online auction featuring collectors’ items from George R.R. Martin’s many properties, including Game of Thrones, Nightflyers, and the Wild Cards series, which was just picked up for development as a television show. Other film-related and New Mexico-themed items will be up for auction as well, like a private balloon ride with champagne. The auction opened on March 15th, and is hosted on BidPal through the end of the fundraiser events on March 28th. The Live Auction hosted by Bernie Bregman of NerdBot will be Saturday, March 27th at 3pm Pacific Time on Legion M Twitch channel.
The fundraising programming will also feature many other exciting online events, which will stream live on the Legion M twitch stream as part of this year’s WonderCon@Home schedule. Highlights include a campaign of the tabletop Wild Cards Role Playing Game , set in the present time, featuring some of science fiction, fantasy, and horror’s most popular authors of the day, including Melinda Snodgrass, Walter Jon Williams, Max Gladstone, Caroline Specter, and Carrie Vaughn. Williams, one of the original Wild Cards authors and the creator of Ace favorite, Golden Boy, will act as the game master for the short campaign. There will also be a live AMA with the authors and a Discord AMA, as well as special messages from George R.R. Martin himself over the course of the weekend. For a more detailed schedule, please visit the Legion M page on the Stagecoach Foundation event.
Throughout the weekend, viewers will hear testimonials from the Stagecoach Foundation staff and grantees. Overall, the weekend will be an exciting celebration of fan culture, and the collaborative nature of storytelling, storytellers and the worlds we craft.
Funds raised from the event and the online auction will benefit the Stagecoach Foundation and its mission. For more information, please contact elizabeth@stagecoachfdn.org.
About Stagecoach Foundation:
Stagecoach Foundation is a non-profit foundation focusing on film-related jobs and economic development opportunities for traditionally underrepresented communities throughout New Mexico. Made possible by filmmaker/scientist David Weininger, Stagecoach Foundation is proud to support New Mexico in film, education & technology (FET). The Foundation acts as a support center to local vendors/businesses and universities/schools to help reach the common goal that we all share: economic development, job training, job creation, and job stability within these fields.
About the Wild Cards Series:
In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent of those who survived mutated into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. Wild Cards is the history of the world since then—and of the heroes among that one percent. This shared-universe science fiction series, created and edited since 1987 by New York Times #1 bestselling science fiction and fantasy author George R. R. Martin, now tells the story of a new generation of heroes, for long-time fans and new readers alike.
Originally begun in 1986, long before George R. R. Martin became a household name among fantasy readers (“The American Tolkien” ~Time Magazine), the Wild Cards series earned a reputation among connoisseurs for its smart reimagining of the superhero idea. As of March 2021, The Wild Cards series is set to be adapted for television by NBC’s streaming app, Peacock.
About Legion M:
Legion M partners with top Hollywood creators—from independent filmmakers to big Hollywood studios—to produce a slate of movies, TV, and digital content. Legion M is also the first media company in history designed to be owned by fans, which uses disruptive new equity crowdfunding laws that allow people to invest as little as $100 to own a piece of the company.
About WonderCon:
WonderCon is the sister show to Comic-Con, embracing all the main aspects of SDCC, including comics, movies, TV, animation, the Masquerade, and more. The event has grown in all aspects over the years: more attendees, more exhibitors, more programming, and more fun. In its current Anaheim-based incarnation, WonderCon continues to be a must-attend event on the comic book convention schedule.
The SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION (Comic-Con International) is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation organized for charitable purposes and dedicated to creating the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, including participation in and support of public presentations, conventions, exhibits, museums and other public outreach activities which celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.
The Players
Melinda M. Snodgrass studied opera at the Conservatory of Vienna, graduated Magna cum Laude from U.N.M. with a degree in history, and went on to Law School. After 3 years as a lawyer she realized she hated lawyers and turned to writing.
In 1988 she accepted a job on Star Trek: The Next Generation and began her Hollywood career where she has worked on staff on numerous shows and has written television pilots and feature films. She is currently an executive producer on Wild Cards for Universal Pictures and Peacock.
In the prose world she writes for and co-edits the shared world anthology series Wild Cards with George R. R. Martin.
She has completed the fifth book in her five book Space Opera series Imperials, is working on a fourth novel in the Carolingian series and a fourth novel for her White Fang Law series. All of her books are being released on-line and in print-on-demand. Presently available -- This Case is Gonna Kill Me, Box Office Poison, The High Groun,. In Evil Times, The Hidden World and Currency of War.
For fun she rides her dressage horse, plays video games and spends a lot of time in the gym. (Or she did before there was a pandemic)
Over the past twenty-five years, Caroline Spector has published and edited numerous game modules, written three computer game hint books, published three novels in the Shadowrun/Earthdawn universe, and has been working in the Wild Cards series, appearing in INSIDE STRAIGHT, BUSTED FLUSH, SUICIDE KINGS, HIGH STAKES, TEXAS HOLD 'EM, KNAVES OVER QUEENS, and is in the to-be-released books JOKER MOON, and THREE KINGS.
Her novella, “Lies My Mother Told Me,” was published in the anthology DANGEROUS WOMEN edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin.
She was an Associate Editor at Amazing Magazine while the Earth was still cooling and lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, noted game designer Warren Spector.
Hugo-, Nebula-, and Locus Award winning author Max Gladstone’s works include Empress of Forever, the Craft Sequence of fantasy novels and games, and, with Amal El-Mohtar, the internationally bestselling This is How You Lose the Time War. His interactive projects include the XYZZY-nominated Choice of the Deathless and Deathless: The City’s Thirst, which take place in the world of the Craft Sequence. Gladstone created the Serial Box series Bookburners, and the interactive television series Wizard School Dropout.
Gladstone studied Chinese literature at Yale, and lived and taught for two years in rural Anhui province. He is a martial artist, fencer, and fiddler. Before writing full-time, he also worked as a researcher for the Berkman Center for Internet and Policy Law, a Swiss Embassy tour guide, a go-between for a Chinese auto magazine, a translator, a philosophy TA, a tech industry analyst, and an editor. He has wrecked a bicycle in Angkor Wat, sung at Carnegie Hall, and been thrown from a horse in Mongolia.Max Gladstone
Carrie Vaughn's work includes the Philip K. Dick Award winning novel Bannerless, the New York Times Bestselling Kitty Norville urban fantasy series, over twenty novels and upwards of 100 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. Her most recent work includes a pair of novellas about Robin Hood's children, The Ghosts of Sherwood and The Heirs of Locksley. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop. An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado. Visit her at www.carrievaughn.com
Walter Jon Williams is an award-winning author who has been listed on the best-seller lists of the New York Times and the Times of London. He is the author of thirty-seven novels and four collections of short fiction.
His first novel to attract serious public attention was Hardwired (1986), described by Roger Zelazny as "a tough, Walter Jon Williamssleek juggernaut of a story, punctuated by strobe-light movements, coursing to the wail of jets and the twang of steel guitars." In 2001 he won a Nebula Award for his novelette, “Daddy’s World,” and won again in 2005 for “The Green Leopard Plague.”
He has also written for George RR Martin's Wild Cards project.
His latest work is Quillifer, a epic fantasy.
Walter has also written for comics, the screen, and for television, and has worked in the gaming field. He was a writer for the alternate reality game Last Call Poker, and has scripted the mega-hit Spore.
N.M. Above the Line Series (1 of 4)
The New Mexico Film Foundation, in partnership with The Stagecoach Foundation, is proud to present the New Mexico Above-the-Line virtual conversation series for 2021. This is the first of four in-depth Zoom discussions with noted New Mexico producers, directors, writers, and actors. Whether you are a filmmaker, or want to be, listen and learn as local above-the-line talent share their stories making films and television in our state.
NM Above the Line: Producers
February 6, 2021
10am - 11:30am
Join this in-depth conversation and lively Q&A with four successful New Mexico film and television producers. Together, we will examine development, production, post, and distribution, as well as the advantages and challenges of producing in New Mexico.
Bruce C. McKenna is an Emmy award winning New Mexico-based screenwriter and producer. He wrote on four of the 10 episodes of HBO’s iconic mini-series Band of Brothers, and created, co-wrote, and co-executive produced The Pacific, the Emmy Award-winning Miniseries for HBO, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks. Additionally, he co-wrote, executive produced, and show ran the History Channel series Six, about Navy Seal Team Six. Currently, Bruce is developing several projects, including Liberty, a Revolutionary War Limited Series for FX, and American Babylon, the origin story of Las Vegas for Dick Wolf and Showtime.
Alexandra Renzo is a maker of theater and film. She produced the documentary Meow Wolf: Origin Story, which premiered at SXSW (2018), and co-produced the indie feature Selah and the Spades, which premiered at Sundance(2019). Most recently she produced the indie feature, Soulmate(s) from Argent Pictures and Mandalay Entertainment. Alexandra has a deep love for New Mexico filmmakers, and is working hard to not only champion but produce New Mexico voices. She has two features and three short films slated to be shot in 2021 (all in NM), including Paring by director Shaz Bennett.
Michael D. Jones is a film producer with over 30 years’ experience. He executive produced the horror comedy Bit (2019) and produced the upcoming drama Violet (2021), written and directed by Justine Bateman, and starring Olivia Munn. His experience runs the gamut of filmed formats: network television, cable television, multi-camera series, reality television, music videos, industrials, film shorts, and feature films. His production company, Silver Heart Productions, is developing several projects including the feature film Pure Land and the television series The Observer. Michael lives in Albuquerque.
Andrea Meditch has produced or executive produced films that have won Oscars and Emmys; most have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, and other major festivals and have enjoyed successful theatrical, broadcast, and festival runs, including Ernie & Joe, Buck, Grizzly Man and Man on Wire. She launched and built Discovery Films before starting Back Allie Entertainment, which provides strategic, executive producing, and creative producing services to films, festivals, and media labs. She has had a life-long passion for helping people tell stories that matter, with a special focus on the shared human experience.
Moderated by Steve Graham, a producer, writer, director, and co-founder of the Santa Fe production company Goodwest Productions. Since 2005, he has produced 111 episodes of television and worked on more than a dozen films. He was co-executive producer for five seasons on the television series Z Nation (Syfy), and was co-executive producer on Netflix’s Black Summer. Recently, he produced the award-winning punk puppet musical The Love That Would Not Die, and is producing the New Mexico based drama The Penny and the horror comedy Hermanos Muertos.
NM Above the Line: 4-Part Series with New Mexico Filmmakers
The New Mexico Film Foundation, in partnership with The Stagecoach Foundation and the Santa Fe Film Network, is proud to present the New Mexico Above-the-Line virtual conversation series for 2021. The series consists of four in-depth Zoom discussions with noted New Mexico producers, directors, writers, and actors. Whether you are a filmmaker, or want to be, listen and learn as local above-the-line talent share their stories making films and television in our state.
NM Above the Line: Producers
An in-depth conversation and lively Q&A with four successful New Mexico film and television producers. Together, we will examine development, production, post, and distribution, as well as the advantages and challenges of producing in New Mexico.