As we ended the last decade we were collating/archiving assets from the LAMP site and think it important to recognise the people that made LAMP the Australian icon in effective emerging media development.

Many of the mentors and participants were beginning their own journey on these workshops and residentials and are now leading the industry in Australia and abroad. We hope these ‘retrospective’ posts serve as a record for that which follows LAMP.

LAMP 2005-2009 was:

A selection of the more than 50 mentors from the past four years (in first name alphabetical)

Andrew Apostola	Anthony Eden	Catherine Gleeson	Christy Dena
David Court	David Gurney	David Jensen	Duane Varan
Gary Hayes	Jackie Turnure	Jennifer Wilson	Jim Shomos
John Banks	John Buchanan	Jonathan Marshall	Keren Flavell
Laurel Papworth	Lisa Romano	Malcolm Long	Marc Walker
Mark Meadows	Mark Pesce	Matt Costello	Paul Bennun
Peter Giles	Rachel Dixon	Raffi Krikorian	Ric Holland
Shiralee Saul	Sohail Dahdal	Tony Walsh	William Cooper

Some of the residential participants attached to over seventy 6 day – 6 month projects

A selection of key speakers who presented at ‘non-project based’ LAMP run seminars

Over 150 high level industry guests visited LAMP residentials

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Title: What If? – NSW

Tagline: Breathes life into literature, taking classic narratives to new realms of possibility.

Project Description: What if? is Shakespeare and other literary texts taught in a virtual interactive world. It is a curriculum module for teachers and students, 13-18 years old. Users become the characters and journey through the story world of the text constructing and creatively destroying the narrative utilizing virtual world technologies.

Target Media: Virtual worlds, Second Life, Broadband PC, Play station 3, X Box

Team Members ©: Kereen Ely-Harper, Nicole Johnson, Neroli Wesley. Strict COPYRIGHT 2007

Guardian Mentor: John Banks

LAMP Lab: Couran Cove, Queensland, November 2007

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A stellar line-up of mentors from all over Australia and a few internationals have been confirmed for the 7th Live-in-lab (LAMP: Story of the Future) on South Stradbrooke Island, Queensland Nov 07. They can be seen on the mentors page or copied below.

GUARDIAN MENTORS

MATT COSTELLO – Writer and Games Designer, Polar Productions
Matt Costello is based in New York, London and LA and has written ground-breaking and award-winning novels, games, and television. Matt has scripted dozens of best-selling games and of one Time Magazine said, “The story is delivered with unusual art.” He wrote the groundbreaking Pirates of the Caribbean 3 game across all platforms and has been commissioned to do the fourth in the series.

Since writing the critically acclaimed classic game The 7th Guest, he has scripted dozens of best-selling games such as Shellshock-Nam ‘67 (Guerrilla Games and Eidos), Bad Boys 2 (Empire) and 2005’s Doom 3 winner of an unprecedented five awards at E3 including the Game Critics Award: Best of E3. Just Cause, co-written for Eidos, debuted as the #1 game for Xbox 360 in the UK. Named ‘Best Adventure Game’ at the 2006 E3, it premiered on the US best-seller lists as the #2 Xbox 360 game.

He has written a major new game for Eidos and Rage a new game for ID Software and other notable games include:

• Hercules, for Disney Interactive
• The Dark Half, for MGM.
• Derelict, for The Sci-Fi Channel
• Fatal Illusion -The Clue Chronicles – for Hasbro
• Barbie’s Riding Adventure–for Mattel
• Clifford’s Reading– for Scholastic
• Starsky & Hutch – for Empire
• The Italian Job – Eidos

Matt also specialises in the kid’s genre and has created many award-winning games for children. Several years ago he co-created one of the first major experiments in ‘two-way TV’, called ZoogDisney. Branded as ‘TV you do’ – for two years the ZoogDisney weekend bloc re-shaped the Disney channel, bringing it squarely into the interactive and ‘tweens world. He has written a kids book series for Scholastic , The Kids of Einstein Elementary, which blends adventure and math and also scripted episodes of the award-winning PBS animated series, Cyberchase. Other awards include the landmark Aladdin’s Mathquest with math expert Marilyn Burns for Disney, as well as A Cartoon History of the Universe (Putnam).

Matt is a designer of many role-playing and board games, including Dungeons and Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, Batman, Lone Wolf & Cub, and many others. He also co-wrote episodes of the BBC/Disney series Microsoap, winner of the Prix de Jeunesse and is currently creating an MMOG using Multiverse which integrates its story world with an animated Childrens BBC TV series. Penguin published his latest novel, Nowhere, in 2007.

JENNIFER WILSON – Head of Innovation, Nine MSN

Jennifer Wilson has over 20 years in interactive consumer content and information services, from first building interactive voice response systems in the UK, through voting, banking, gambling and marketing services; online and on all forms of telephone, fixed and mobile.

She was previously Managing Director of HWW, a specialist content aggregation, syndication and digital publishing company, which provides the yourTime™ products (yourMovies, yourTV etc). HWW is also a major developer of mobile sites, providing mobile publishing tools for hard-to-source content as well as building third-party mobile (and web) sites. HWW was recently purchased by ninemsn.

Jennifer holds a patent in the delivery of TV to mobile phones. She has a keen interest in social networking, digital public spaces, tribes, blogs and forums and the interesting digital world of Gen-C.

Dr. JOHN BANKS – Researcher & Games Manager

Dr John Banks is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Federation Fellowship program, ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology. His research interests focus on the emerging relations between media corporations, educational and cultural institutions, and user-led innovation and consumer co-creation in participatory culture networks. He has a particular interest in videogames.

From 2000-2005 John worked in the videogames industry for Brisbane based Auran Games as an online community manager, focusing on the development of user-led content creation networks within the context of game development projects; he has published widely on research grounded in this industry background. He was also a researcher and project leader at the Australasian CRC for Interaction Design (ACID). His background also includes research and tutoring in literary theory and cultural studies at the University of Queensland (School of English, Media Studies and Art History).

John’s current research & consultancy continues to work at the interface of game developers and gamers as they negotiate emerging co-creation relations. He is currently working with Auran Games on social network strategies for their forthcoming massively multiplayer online game, Fury. In April 2007, John gave an invited presentation to the Convergence Culture Consortium, MIT, addressing the challenges of co-creation relationships (“Navigating Co-Creator Relationships: How do you make this Damned thing Work?”) You can see John’s recent presentation on these issues for AFTRS Centre for Screen Business (User co-creation relations: Emerging social network markets) here.

MARISSA COOKE – TV, new media and advertising writer, new media producer

Marissa has worked extensively in television, cross-platform entertainment and interactive advertising over the past 10 years as a writer, creative strategist and content producer on a diverse range of innovative, award-winning cross-media projects.

As a new media content producer and senior interactive writer for Australia’s first interactive television series produced by Hoodlum Active, Fat Cow Motel (ABC, Austar), Marissa was responsible for developing an immersive, cross-platform game and producing interactive content across web, iTV, email, mobile and dial-up channels that delivered unprecedented results for the ABC becoming the most visited TV website ever for ABC Online. Marissa also worked on an innovative pre-broadcast viral media campaign delivered via print, radio, email, SMS and web. Marissa won the inaugural Australian Writers’ Guild Interactive Media Award in 2005 for her work on Fat Cow Motel.

Marissa was also a scriptwriter on the AFI award-winning first series of the Foxtel drama series Love My Way  (Southern Star), as well as the Australian-German co-production Blue Water High (Southern Star) and the SBSTV Mockumentary Series, S(truth).

Marissa’s recent work includes roles as Interactive Content Producer and co-writer for the Yahoo! 7 interactive drama series and game, PS Trixi produced by Hoodlum Active – a world-first 12 episode new media ‘event’ delivered across web, Instant Messenger, email, mobile and video platforms.

Most recently, Marissa worked as creative strategist, concept and gameplay designer for Emmerdale Online, a new interactive, cross-platform channel and narrative-based game produced by Hoodlum Active for the hugely popular UK television series, Emmerdale. Emmerdale Online has recently been nominated for several prestigous international awards including Best Drama in the MIPCOM Mobile, Internet and CrossMedia TV Awards, and Best TV online channel for the 2007 Pixel Awards.

Marissa is currently developing several of her own cross-platform projects as well as consulting for a range of clients including television programme producers and award winning interactive advertising agency Tribal DDB as a digital content developer and copywriter across campaigns for Volkswagen, NIKE, Gatorade and McDonalds, three of which were awarded Gold Medals at the prestigious Montruex International Advertising & Multimedia Festival in 2006 & 2007.

ANDREW APOSTOLA – Creative Director Portable Content

Andrew Apostola is the co-founder and Creative Director of Portable Content, an Australian based digital studio that designs and manages innovative web applications for a range of clients in the online space.

In 2006 the company successfully launched portablefilmfestival.com, a user generated video site that distributes video to users through portable video platforms including iPods, mobile phones and laptops. In 2007 the project expanded internationally and was recently launched in the United States at the South By South-West Film and Interactive in Austin Texas.

Andrew has worked for a range of broadcasters and media providers and is well known for successfully launching the Student Youth Network alongside Portable Content co-founder Simon Goodich in Melbourne in 2003. The network is the largest youth media orgnanisation in South-East Asia, operating a full-time terrestrial radio license and broadcasting on television and the web.

As Creative Director of Portable Content Andrew follows the emerging online video sector closely and develops and implements innovative video components for the company and its clients. These include the creation of classnet, a video sharing community for educators and students and syn.org.au, an online distribution platform for independent mediamakers.

Andrew has completed a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), a Post Graduate Diploma in English Literature at the University of Melbourne and Film and Television Production at Ryerson University in Toronto.

ANTHONY EDEN – Interactive Producer and Designer

Anthony “Arse” Eden is a co-founder and director of Snepo Research, an Australian software and game development studio with a strong focus on innovation. Arse spends his time at Snepo researching new interface and software technologies as well as directing the production of public facing interactive systems. Over the last two years Snepo has cemented its place as a premier development shop, servicing customers all over the world.

Arse has co-authored books on software development and digital creativity, including New Masters of Flash and titles on 3D and Game development. He’s developed award winning educational software for Microsoft and the ICAC and his work has appeared on NBC, CBC and Channel 4. He’s run interactive game development workshops in Norway, Wales and Canada. He’s also an internationally known speaker, having presented at conferences all over the world.

His passions lie in the application of abstract mathmatic principals to the digital realm. By combinding those principals with his fascination with natural patterns and organic relationships he creates truely unique and engaging interactive experiences.

JACKIE TURNURE – Non-linear storyteller

With script editing and writing experience in both traditional and new media, Jackie Turnure brings a unique perspective to the role of narrative in cross media production. For the last 15 years she has been working across film, television, games and online production, with a particular focus on animation and children’s content.

Jackie received her Bachelor of Arts (Visual Communications) from Sydney College of the Arts and her Master of Fine Arts (Film Production) from San Francisco State University. She spent nine years in the US teaching screenwriting at New York University, Hunter College and the Academy of Arts College, San Francisco. During that time, Jackie wrote and directed eight short films and videos that have won awards and screened internationally.

After returning to Sydney, Jackie produced and directed three 3D animated kids’ games for PC, “Bananas in Pyjamas ” It’s Party Time”, “Oz – The Magical Adventure” and “Oz – The Interactive Storybook”. The games have won numerous awards and been distributed in 18 countries. Jackie lectures part time at AFTRS, was an industry mentor at the NSW Film and Television Office’s Indigenous Writers Workshop, ran a Game Design Workshop in FTI in Perth and gave a workshop on Alternative Narratives for the Australian Writer’s Guild. In addition, Jackie works as a script editor and story consultant on feature films, animated television series and animated games. She recently completed story producing and writing 3 episodes on Deadly, a half hour animated TV series based on the books by Paul Jennings and Morris Gleitzman. Jackie was the script editor and voice director on Stolen Life, an animated feature produced in Machinima, written and produced by Peter Rasmussen. She has just recently won a development award at Milia 2007 from Ogilvy and AMEX for her ARG project ‘Diamond Reef’.

GARY HAYES – Director LAMP and Head of Virtual Worlds, TPF

Gary is the Director of LAMP and the Head of Virtual Worlds with the UK ‘The Project Factory‘. He has led The Laboratory for Advanced Media Production at AFTRS since 2005 that has helped develop 54 Australian emerging media projects and run hundreds of workshops and industry seminars. As Head of Virtual Worlds at the Project Factory he has personally produced, designed and built Second Life presences for Australian brands, including Telstra, Tourism and MultiMedia Victoria, Physical TV and ABC TV. He is currently developing experience worlds for fortune 100 and other global companies.

Before coming to Australia Gary was Senior Producer at BBC Broadcast and New Media for 8 years devising and producing many of the BBC’s digital “firsts” – the first 24/7 Interactive TV service, the first live internet documentary and the first truly interactive programming for Broadband TV. He also created over 20 other enhanced TV shows, several future BBC cross-platform navigators and was part of BBC Imagineering developing early “inhabited TV”, Virtual World and TV Mixed Reality formats.

He was a driving force behind New Media training and strategy and became BBC Senior Development Manager in New Media and simultaneously chaired the Business Models for TV-Anytime (the global personalized TV standard). He moved to the US in 2004 to develop on-demand TV with broadcasters such as NBC and CBS and also line produced the Showtime’s enhanced L-Word, PVR service as part of the AFI initiative. He recently co-authored a UK Department Trade and Industry Report on Personalised TV and has been an International Interactive Emmy juror for the past two years.

Gary recently keynoted on virtual worlds at CeBit, AIMIA, Monash and presented on education and brands in virtual worlds on radio, podcasts and many seminars. He produces dramatic and corporate machinima and runs workshops in virtual Multi User Story Environments (vMUSE’s) for cinematographers, designers, and script writers – exploring the potential of shared, social online virtual worlds for collaborative production, creativity and education. He runs several popular blogs including media personalisation, digital brands, new media forms (personalizemedia), Second Life POV (justvirtual) and many others found here on his Wikipedia user profile.

PRODUCTION MENTORS

CATHERINE GLEESON – Interaction Designer

Catherine has been working as a Creative Director in print and new media since 1988. She has extensive experience in information design and visual communication. Her projects include: creative direction of visitor multimedia for the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV), Centre for Australian Art at Federation Square.

Past work includes consultation, creative direction and design on local and international projects for clients such as: the National Geographic (Washington); the Smithsonian Institute (Washington); the American Museum of Natural History (New York); Foster’s Brewing Group; Lonely Planet and ANZ.

Through her company Platform09, Catherine also maintains a separate creative practice. Past projects have included: collaborative, installation work for Experimental; motion graphics, animation and multimedia design for theatre, film and video.

PETER GILES – Head of Digital Media AFTRS & Producer LAMP

Peter has worked as the Head of the Digital Media Department since 1998 and has established Australia’s leading postgraduate and professional programs in Visual Effects, Interactive Media, Broadcast Design and Computer Animation. The Department has produced short films that have won both Australian and international awards for artistic and technical excellence.

Prior to joining the AFTRS Peter worked as Digital Media Manager for Metro Screen where he initiated programs to develop the skills of new and emerging filmmakers. He managed a wide range of innovative production workshops in partnership with organisations including the Loud Youth Festival, IBM, the Australian Film Commission, the NSW Film and Television Office, ABC Online, SBS TV, the Performance Space, the Australian Centre for Photography and the Australian Network for Art and Technology.

Peter has developed digital media curriculum and taught workshops at the University of Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney, Griffith University and the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.

Over the past 15 years Peter has produced projects for radio, television, film and interactive media. His video artwork has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. Peter is a well known commentator on digital media and is currently the Chair of the Sydney Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH, the leading computer graphics industry body.

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