Carina Soares and Marc Espinola Berestein - Lab42 Games

 


This industry talk was by Carina Soares (Environment Artist) and Marc Espinola Berestein (Senior Animator) from Lab42 Games.


Unlike other groups who talked independently, this talk was made by both Carina and Marc at the same time. This was much more of an informal talk compared to some of the other that we've had. Both of them talked to us about their journeys into the industry and their experiences during their time in the industry.

Marc talked about how hard it was for him to get in the industry, coming from a country that at the time had a very small game development industry. One interesting thing he mentioned was that he had applied over 100 times before finally getting his chance in the industry. This showed us just how hard it can be to get into the industry. Marc also talked about the many different things he used to try network and gain access to the industry (even sneaking into a gaming conference). His biggest tip for us was to pick what we want to specialise in and really focus on that. This was because he decided to try what he could to get into the industry and tried many different paths which split his attention so that he couldn't get more proficient with one thing.

Carina told us about her entrance to the industry and how it was an opportunity from a friend who was already in the industry. Carina was a lot more focused in the art industry and that was how she made a living, not even knowing that the gaming industry was a possibility for her. That was until her friend, who was in the industry already, brought an opportunity to her attention. Carina mentioned that it was a big jump but those that she worked with were supportive of her transition to the industry and helped learn how to transfer her skills into the industry.

Some tips I took away from this talk were:

1. Networking and making friends within the industry go a long way when trying to enter the industry.

2. Finding your 'niche' and applying your efforts there to learn will help a lot more than spreading your attention to multiple.

3. Effort, Patience and Perseverance go a long way when trying to enter the industry.

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