Please note the change in panelists for this program: Albert Dang and Damon Iannuzzelli will replace Austin Chang and David Surman.

Over the past two decades, video games have occupied an integral share of our visual media vocabulary. From simple moving dots (Pong) to visceral melodrama (Metal Gear Solid series), games are evolving to incorporate highly sophisticated film-like narratives. Films created through game engines and real-time graphics, known as Machinima, have emerged as an inexpensive, readily accessible way to tell stories. Likewise, popular films such as PAN’S LABRYINTH and SPEED RACER use the rapid-fire action and puzzle solving conventions so typical of video games. The panel will explore the intersections of film and video games, popular examples of their convergence, and what it means for the future of both media.

Panelists: Albert Dang is a producer at Hyper Awesome Entertainment, where he is working on launching the company's initial MMORPG. As a game designer, he has created games for online and mobile platforms, as well as big, social games for conferences and events. His game design research has been presented at the 2007 DiGRA Conference and his installation work has been shown in New York and Beijing. He also teaches at Parsons The New School for Design.

Matt Dominianni is the creative director of The Electric Sheep Co., the leading virtual-worlds developer, and the co-founder of ILL Clan Inc, an award-winning 3-D movie-making team. He recently directed machinima scenes in Second Life that appeared on CSI:NY.

Damon Iannuzzelli has been a visual artist across games for PC, console, and the web. At Turbine Inc. he labored on one of the first 3D MMOs Asheron's Call, the critically acclaimed sequel Asheron's Call 2, and Lord of the Rings Online. At Insomniac Games, he was the lead character artist for the most successful Playstation 3 launch title, Resistance: Fall of Man and contributed to the richly stylized universe of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Currently, he is a Senior Character Artist at Conduit Labs on a project called Loudcrowd that fuses social gaming with music.

Moderator: Raina Lee independently publishes 1-Up MegaZine, the only handmade print zine about gaming culture. She has written for Wired, Gamasutra.com, Computer Gaming World, and Xbox Nation, and is the author of Hit Me With Your Best Shot: The Ultimate Guide To Karaoke Domination (Chronicle Books). Lee produces “Up Up Down Down Left Right LA Start,” a commentary about gaming culture in America for One Life Left on Resonance 103.1, London.

Co-sponsored by:

Extra Lives: Intersections of Video Games and Film will take place at the Asia Society, 725 Park Ave @ 70th St.