ENSEMBLE
MEET THE 2019 ENSEMBLE
Anisa is a UI/UX designer at Hutch Games in London, with credits on indie games and triple-A titles including Planet Coaster and Elite: Dangerous. She is a tireless advocate for inclusivity in the games industry and is passionate about encouraging young people to consider UI/UX as a career.
Brenden is a freelance Game and Narrative Designer who has worked on projects ranging from adventure puzzle game Last Day of June to augmented reality games for kids. As well as commercial projects he creates experimental works including a rap battle game using Google’s Speech to Text and an interactive short animation controlled by laser pointers.
Luciana is a 2D artist who originally hails from Brazil. She worked on various indie and educational games and developed the art style for Wargroove by London studio Chucklefish before co-founding indie studio Bunnyhug Games.
Mal is a Creative Producer and founder of the Biome Collective – a creative studio and co-working space producing experimental games projects such as Shpeel, an immersive interactive installation that encourages young people to talk about mental health.
Quang came to the UK as a refugee Vietnamese Boat Person in the 70s and taught himself to program in BASIC at home, ending up with a job coding games for the GameBoy Color. After a short time away from the industry he has returned to games, founding his own micro studio Asobi.tech.
Ranjani is a former stock trader turned Games Producer. She interned at London studio Six To Start in 2016 and never left, and her recent work includes transforming the bestselling Zombies Run into an app-assisted board game.
Shay started out as a runner in media production before stepping in front of the camera as an Xbox Interactive Streamer. As well as playing games and engaging a wide-ranging audience she has hosted a BAFTA Games Masterclass and set up LeveL Up Link Up, an initiative helping people of African and Caribbean heritage get into the games industry.
Zi is a Level Designer for independent game developers Sumo Digital, having found his niche after playing a variety of roles in game design at major UK studios such as Codemasters and Frontier Developments. and has worked in triple-A titles including the bestselling Hitman series which is renowned for its unique approach to level design.
THE EXHIBITION
Ensemble is a touring exhibition that highlights the outstanding creative talent in UK games. The 2019 edition debuted at London Games Festival HUB at Somerset House from 2 to 3 April 2019. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, opened the show and met with the stars.
The exhibition has also featured at Walthamstow London Borough of Culture as part of Ensemble: How To Get A Job in Games, Develop Conference in Brighton and Interactive Futures in Leamington Spa. If you would like to feature Ensemble at your event or exhibition space contact roz.tuplin@games.london
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Sharna Jackson is Artistic Director at Site Gallery, Sheffield. She has a wealth of experience in digital initiatives within arts and culture, and has held roles at Tate, Design Museum, The Broad in LA and the Royal Collection Trust and consulted for National Maritime Museum, Museum of Childhood, V&A and Science Museum.
She is a trustee at Sheffield Doc Fest, New Writing North and Upswing, and a non-exec director at Bright Little Labs.
The Ensemble Steering Group guide the exhibition’s content and ethos. These include Jackson, representatives from the 2018 Ensemble and games and creative industry leaders (clockwise from top left): Adrian Hon (Six to Start), Chella Ramanan (3Fold Games), Des Gayle (Altered Gene), Jade Leamcharaskul (Sound Designer), Jodie Azhar (Teazel Cat Games), Kish Hirani (BAME in Games, formerly Sony), Moo Yu (Foam Sword Games) Nadir Miheisi (Funky Gorilla), Nahrein Kemp (Film London), Nainita Desai (leading UK composer for BBC, HBO, ITV and more), Wei Xing Yong (Lead Animator)
