Epic Mickey creator and former Junction Point creative director Warren Spector has been confirmed to deliver the Keynote on "Leadership in the Arts" at the inaugural Captivate Conference and Expo. This first-time conference is focused on bringing "diverse and often insular communities of professionals together." Much of the discussion is centered on "how games, film, and music work together, as well as how mobile development enhances and is enhanced by game, film and music experiences."
“I’m excited to be keynoting the first Captivate Conference," Spector said. "Captivate honors the creative development community, celebrating their contributions to the digital age. What most excited me and sets Captivate apart is the focus on games as part of the larger media universe – not just a particular kind of game or worse, games as somehow less than other media.
“Captivate is the first ‘game’ conference to bring together games, movies, music and more. It’s vital that game developers, writers, musicians, mobile developers, creators of television and film productions talk about how their media are alike and different and how practitioners can work together to benefit the broader art scene. People often say ‘Keep Austin Weird.’ I say ‘Keep Austin Creative.’ And Captivate, with its many-media focus, with games at the heart of things, is ideally suited to take our creative chops – and maybe our weirdness – to a whole new level.”
Earlier this month, Spector made headlines when he wrote some harsh comments regarding the reveal of Bethesda's new game, Wolfenstein: The New Order. He issued an apology shortly after while attempting to clarify his remarks.
In terms of what Spector will talk about during his talk, he issued the following statement: "The day of individual creation in media is dead or dying, at best on life support! That puts a premium on leadership skills. But what does it mean to be a leader in a creative medium, especially in media as collaborative and interdisciplinary as Games, Film and Audio? In discussing this crucial topic, I’ll draw from personal experience, historical perspective and recent emphasis on structured education in the area of leadership, and, in that way, offer some conceptual insights as well as practical advice.”
The Captivate Conference will take place October 6-8, 2013 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas.
