Video Game Design and Careers in Film, TV, Tech, Gaming and Comics! Don’t Miss These Two Comic-Con San Diego 2023 Panels

Comic-Con San Diego 2023 is right around the corner! I am thrilled to moderate two educational panels featuring a fantastic group of eclectic artists representing the comic, technology, film, television, cartoon, and gaming worlds.

A big thank you to Clydene Nee and Eddie, Tommy, Laura, Adam, Michelle, and Amy (The Comic-Con Programming Department) for all the awesome work you all do to make this event happen and programs all year round. Always a pleasure. Thank you for having me back this year.

If you are attending Comic-Con San Diego 2023, please let me know. I’d love to see you there and have you attend our talks on:

How to make video games & designs more inclusive & accessible

Friday, 7/21/23, 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM, Room 3

iAsia Brown (Storyteller and Producer, Xbox Game Studios), Chloe Condon (Developer Advocate, Google), Maria Ramos (Executive Producer and Head of Developer Media Studios, Google), & Jordan Schuetz (Organizer of SF Game Development) will share stories of designing more accessible, inclusive and welcoming video games to a wider audience. Moderated by Heather Cook (Community Success, Microsoft). Inclusive and accessible video game design enhances the gaming experience for everyone, creating a more diverse and inclusive gaming community. Let’s talk design! Game on!

How to use your voice in games film, tv, and tech - a career chat

Sunday, 7/23/23, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM, Room 3

Lorran Garrison (School psychologist, Co-Founder Little Brainstorm, co-author Brainboy and Bob series), Melanie Ho (Founder, Strategic Imagination), Mary Jane Gibson (Freelance writer, actor, and playwright), & Jason J Lewis (Actor, Voice Actor) will share stories of how they got from here to there in their careers. If you are just starting out or looking to switch careers, come learn how the panelists got into the business, where they got their training, and how they have continued to build their careers. Panelists will share origin stories, tips, tricks, and more. Let’s network! Moderated by Heather Cook (Community Success, Microsoft).

How to make video games & designs more inclusive & accessible panelist bios

iAsia Brown also known as “The Tech Picasso” is an eccentrically prodigious humanist, she is a globally recognized Storyteller, commissioned artist, host of upcoming "The Butterfly Revolutions " Podcast all while enjoying her day job as a Data & AI Specialist at Microsoft. Always investing in human capital, “People First,” she has the unique ability to advance people by helping them to understand their value and apply it to their lives.

Having grown up in the concrete jungle of Queens, New York, and traveling the world selflessly serving both in the United States Air Force and Marine Corps, she developed an intellectual acuity that allows her to relate, assess, adapt, and conquer anything she applies herself to. She is an “ARTIST” of many mediums. Self-proclaimed, “Coolest Nerd You’ll Ever Meet”.  Her approachability, ambition, accountability, and integrity has allowed her to advance in the Tech World full throttle.

iAsia speaks at conferences worldwide about her experiences with PTSD, Anxiety, Diversity Equity & Inclusion all while on roller-skates, she loves to bring people along and devotes a lot of her time helping veterans and transitioning service members career switch into tech. iAsia is already a global influencer having tapped into her multipotentiality and it can only be assumed that anything she touches will be taken to the next level, with all that she knows she is nothing without family, her wife & child, and of course her sister circle group chat.

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Maria Ramos is a creative executive with over 15 years of experience in film, commercials, and award shows. She is currently the Head of Studio at Google, where she oversees the development and production of original content for Google's video platforms.

Ramos began her career as a production assistant on feature films and commercials. She quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a production manager and then a producer. In 2008, she was hired by Google to help launch Google Cloud Developer YouTube's content program.

In her role as Head of Studio, Ramos is responsible for overseeing the development and production of original content for Google's video platforms. She works with a team of creative professionals to develop ideas, produce content, and distribute it to audiences around the world.

Ramos is passionate about creating content that is both entertaining and educational. She believes that video can be a powerful tool for learning and for making a positive impact on the world. She is also a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the media industry.

In her free time, Ramos enjoys traveling, creating miniatures, and spending time with her family. 

LinkedIn |Instagram

Chloe Condon is a Bay Area-based Cloud Advocate for Microsoft. Previously, she worked at Sentry.io where she created the award-winning Sentry Scouts program (a camp themed meet-up ft. patches, s’mores, giant squirrel costumes, and hot chocolate), and was featured in the Grace Hopper Conference 2018 gallery featuring 15 influential women in STEM by AnitaB.org.

Her projects and work with Azure have ranged from fake boyfriend alerts to Mario Kart 'astrology', and have been featured in VICE, The New York Times, as well as SmashMouth's Twitter account. Chloe holds a BA in Drama from San Francisco State University and is a graduate of Hackbright Academy. She prides herself on being a non-traditional background engineer and is likely one of the only engineers who has played an ogre, crayon, and the back end of a cow on a professional stage.

She hopes to bring more artists into tech, and more engineers into the arts. Chloe is currently on a personal break from her career, she’s writing a book! And she is the co-host of the Salute Your Skorts Podcast, a show about 90s entertainment & nostalgia. 

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Jordan Schuetz paid his way through college as an indie game developer and founded San Francisco's largest game development meetup group called SF Game Development. With over 10 years of experience in the game development industry, Jordan is a gaming community leader and is a seasoned marketer and has developed best-selling titles for the Nintendo Wii U, the B&N Nook, and the PS4. He is also Sr Product Marketing Manager, Solutions at HashiCorp.

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How to use your voice in games film, tv, and tech - a career chat panelists

Lorran “Lorraine” Garrison (she/her) grew up on the island of Guam and is a school psychologist in San Diego.  She is the co-founder of Little Brainstorm, a media company that brings joy and builds brains.  She is also the co-author of the Brainboy and Bob series and regularly speaks on the topics of neurodiversity, disability, and BIPOC needs at ComicCon International, California Association of School Psychologists, Gender Spectrum Symposium, TAGGS, and others. 

Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram

Melanie Ho (she/her) is an award-winning author, feminist webcomic artist, and professional speaker who has been described by Film Daily as “one of the most empowering authors and visual artists right now.”  As founder of Strategic Imagination, she aims to combine her 20 years of leadership and business experience with her perspective as an artist and multi-media storyteller. In addition to drawing thought-provoking comics about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, Melanie leads unique interactive workshops and keynotes to help audiences unlock the power of drawing to reflect on bias and design creative solutions to improve equity at work.  

Her recent book, Beyond Leaning In: Gender Equity and What Organizations are Up Against, received a silver medal in the 2022 Axiom Awards recognizing the world’s best business books. She started her career teaching literature and visual culture at UCLA, where she received her Ph.D. in English.   

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Mary Jane Gibson, former culture editor at High Times, is a prominent female voice in one of the largest emerging industries and worldwide cultural shifts in modern times, traveling the world tracking the legalization of medical marijuana, adult-use cannabis and CBD with integral public figures, brands and personalities since 2007. She’s also the co-host of the top-rated Weed+Grub podcast alongside fellow actor/comedian Mike Glazer.

Mary Jane's unique perspective in cannabis and world culture has earned her work with numerous media outlets, including Rolling Stone, Playboy and PBS, and the title “one of the 15 most powerful women in the weed industry” by Complex Magazine. She has conducted in-depth celebrity interviews with Margaret Cho, Melissa Etheridge, Awkwafina, Charlie Sheen, Jim Belushi, LaGanja Estranja, the Super Troopers and more. Mary Jane is also an award-winning playwright and actor.

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Jason J Lewis is a native of Southern California, Jason is a graduate of Biola University and has been working as an actor on stage, film, and behind the mic for over twenty years.  Currently, he can be heard on an upcoming episode of “Housebroken” on Fox. He is known for voicing Superman and several other characters on the hit show Justice League Action. He has voice-matched numerous actors for film and TV and is an official match for ‘Rex the Dinosaur’ from Toy Story, ‘Donkey’ from Shrek, and ‘Fear’ from Inside Out. You can hear him in many video games as well, Halo 5, and Disney Infinity 3.0, and was part of the VGA-nominated cast of Saints Row; as well as several characters for the beloved radio series, Adventures in Odyssey.

On camera, you can see Jason on several episodes of the PopTV series Impress Me, and as the bumbling Texas Sheriff in the sci-fi thriller Sightings, co-starring Dante Basco, and Kevin Sizemore. Jason has also in many theatres throughout Southern California, winning awards for his work as ‘Sam’ in A Few Good Men, ‘Seymour’ in Little Shop of Horrors, and ‘Nick’ in Over the River and Through the Woods, and recently made his debut at St George Musical Theater as ‘Hanratty’ in the musical Catch Me if you Can.

Jason has also consulted on the development of shows and experiences with Universal Studios, Disneyland, and Dreamworks and his voice can be heard on attractions worldwide. Jason now calls St George home with his wife Annie, and 4 children, Marigold, Kenaniah, Jesiah, and Lavender.

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Moderator

Heather Cook serves as Principal PM Manager for the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Community Success Engineering Team, Business Applications and Platform Group at Microsoft. She leads a charter of engagement, evangelism, and growth by building strategy, programs, and connections for our community members with Microsoft. Heather is a former Microsoft MVP for Microsoft 365 Apps and Services. Over the past twenty-two years, Heather has been a marketing executive for multiple tech companies and Head Maven and Founder of her impact consultancy, Creative Maven. As a consultant, executive event producer, and fractional Chief Marketing Officer, Heather has produced thousands of events, campaigns, and experiences in the high-tech and entertainment industries. She is also a corporate and community keynote speaker who hosts and moderates in-person and online events and company meetings. Heather loves sharing stories and interviewing people. Her sassy podcast, Mavens Do It Better, features extraordinary experts who light a spark in our world and will get a reboot in 2023.  Heather is a published playwright, theatre actor, director, and graduate of the University of Washington School of Drama, Seattle, Washington. Heather is originally from Michigan and Illinois and lives in Marina del Rey, California, close to LAX, so she can continue to travel and speak around the world about healthy workplaces, leveling up one's power skills, community, and diversity & inclusion. She has also recently changed her name from Newman back to her maiden name Cook. 

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