GAME ON: Women of game dev

Aotearoa punches above its weight in the game development industry, with over half a billion dollars in revenue brought in by games in the 23/24 financial year. We have fantastic creative and technical talent and innovative studios.
At this fireside chat event, we will hear from industry leading wāhine in game development, including Chantelle Cole, Jessica Manins and Jenn Sandercock. The panel will be facilitated by Rick Stemm. We’ll hear about how our speakers broke into the industry and what it’s like working in game development in Aotearoa.

More about our speakers
Chantelle Cole is a forward-thinking leader in the games industry, currently driving growth and diversity as Programme Director for the NZ Game Development Sector Rebate at NZ On Air. Previously, as CEO of Dinosaur Polo Club, she helped build an inclusive, award-winning studio known for its commitment to equity and creativity. Celebrated by Apple and the NZ International Business Awards for her leadership, Chantelle is recognised for her advocacy and dedication to sustainable, supportive pathways in game development. Beyond work, she’s an adventurer at heart, juggling hobbies like pottery and white-water rafting alongside her two Flemish Giant rabbits.

Jessica Manins is dedicated to making virtual worlds social, inclusive, and fun. As Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Beyond, she leads a talented team that pushes creative and technical boundaries to develop immersive virtual experiences.
Beyond's debut game, Oddball, premiered as a world-first multiplayer free-roam LBVR game at Two Bit Circus in LA in 2020, earning five-star reviews on TripAdvisor. Their latest mixed reality game, Runaways, was showcased on screen at the WWDC24 keynote.
Jessica was instrumental in establishing The New Zealand VR/AR Association and was a 2017 finalist for the Wellingtonian of The Year in the Science and Technology category.
Jessica is passionate about empowering creatives, making bold moves in the gaming industry, and finding the fun!

Jenn Sandercock excels at bringing structure to chaos when helping creative teams realise their vision on time, on budget, and with happy/fulfilled people. Jenn is multi-talented and has taken on many game development roles from game design, to programming, to production and more. During her 15+ years in the games industry in Australia, US, and New Zealand, she has shipped 30 small games and 8 large commercial games (including LA Noire, Thimbleweed Park, and Return to Monkey Island). In 2019 she released the genre-bending Edible Games Cookbook containing 13 diverse tabletop games that you have to actually eat to play. Jenn currently thrives as a production consultant for small to medium teams during all development stages with her company JennSand Consulting.

More about our facilitator
Rick Stemm is Design Manager and Narrative Director at PikPok (New Zealand's largest and oldest game developer), two roles he originated. A writer, designer, transmedia artist, and speaker, Rick takes most pride in his community presence, connecting with fellow game devs, leaders, students, academics, artists, and more, helping to uplift the growing New Zealand games and creative industry.

Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Creative HQ, a huge thank you to our speakers and also End Game for hosting us.

Schedule

• 5:00pm - Kick off and networking
• 5:30pm - Fireside chat with panellists
• 6:15pm - 6:30pm Q&A with panellists
• 6.30 - 7:00pm - Networking

Additional event info and FAQs

• This is an in person only event.
• Everyone is welcome, you do not need to identify as a woman to attend
• We expect respectful and inclusive behaviour from all attendees of our events
• For the safety of our members, please do not attend if you are experiencing symptoms of covid-19 or are otherwise unwell.