Boston Festival of Indie Games proudly announces today that film and stage actor Brian O’Halloran, best known for his recurring role as "Dante" in the CLERKS films, will be the official master of ceremonies at this year’s fest, introducing featured speakers and hosting the Figgies Awards on Saturday, September 14.
O’Halloran is an avid video game and tabletop game player, in addition to performing in film and theater for over twenty years. His first film role was as ‘Dante Hicks’ in popular filmmaker Kevin Smith’s 1994 indie hit Clerks. Brian has worked with some of the film industry’s best in Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. He voiced the role of Dante for the animated series Clerks on ABC, then returned to the role of Dante in the film Clerks 2. He was recently seen in Kevin Smith’s TV show Comic Book Men on AMC, and is currently ramping up to shoot Clerks 3.
At Boston Festival of Indie Games, O’Halloran will present keynote speakers and games biz luminaries Robin Hunicke and Chris Remo, as well as featured speakers, panels, films and the Figgies Awards, in the main fest theater.
Game designer and producer Robin Hunicke is known for her role on the award-winning downloadable game Journey on Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN). Her keynote presentation, titled "Finding Meaning in Gameplay," will focus on how developers can create games that inspire new feelings, by looking inward and examining the everyday experiences of their own lives. Hunicke offers, "Speaking at Boston Festival of Indie Games is a fantastic opportunity to talk with the indie developers of tomorrow, as their ideas and ideals take shape. I’m interested in being part of that incredibly inspiring and important conversation about how we can build a diverse, sustainable and creative community."
Remo will present his keynote talk, "Specificity: The Indie’s Advantage," about creating a great game that comes with the freedom of specificity, one of the most powerful tools available to indie developers. Currently a composer, writer, and developer at Double Fine Productions in San Francisco, Remo also composes original music for indie games, including the IGF-nominated titles Thirty Flights of Loving by Blendo Games and Gone Home by The Fullbright Company. Chris is known for his game journalism work for popular independent podcast network Idle Thumbs, Gamasutra, and Shacknews, and has early game development roots at Irrational Games in Boston.
In addition to presenting Hunicke and Remo at the fest, O’Halloran will be the special guest emcee for the Figgies Awards, the official community-voted awards given to the best games at the Boston Festival of Indie Games. Awards categories include Fabulous Flow (Game Design), Lazer Kitten Award of Excellence (Technical Quality, sponsored by Becky Taylor), Awesome Aesthetic (Visual Art), Stunning Sound (Audio Design), and Epic Epic (Narrative/World Building).
Other digital game showcase awards categories, such as education, feature the Shield Student Achievement Award, sponsored by Darren Shield, Esq., and Superior Smarts (Best Learning Game), sponsored by Muzzy Lane. The tabletop game showcase category includes Indie Ideals (Best Game), Design Dazzle (Best Art) and Tiny Tesla (Best Innovation). Voting for the Figgies Awards by fest attendees is made possible on the day of the event by a special online voting app provided by Guidebook, a festival sponsor.
The 2nd annual Boston Festival of Indie Games will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at the Stratton Student Center and the Johnson Athletic Center on the MIT campus. A celebration of independent game development in a variety of media and genres, Boston Festival of Indie Games is free and open to the public. Festival attendees play video games, tabletop games and live action roleplaying (LARP) games in a casual, inclusive environment, plus attend film screenings and keynote talks. To register to attend and to receive regular festival updates, visit www.BostonFIG.com.