Story Forum Event: Narrative Innovations: Personal Storytelling in the Indie Game Landscape

Abhi (he/him) is a game designer from Toronto who recently released his first game, Venba, to a great reception. He wants to tell intimate stories with interesting mechanics and hopes to see more games made from around the world with their own unique perspectives.  

Julián Cordero is a game developer from Quito, Ecuador, now based in New York City. His latest project, DESPELOTE, is a slice-of-life adventure about childhood and the magical grip soccer held over the people of Quito in 2001. He is passionate about finding new ways to capture the world, and sees video games as the perfect vessel for that exploration.

Tim Dawson is a BAFTA winning narrative designer, game developer and co-founder of Brisbane indie game studio Witch Beam. Beginning his games career in Adelaide, Tim worked as an animator at multiple Australian game studios including Team Bondi, Pandemic and Sega Studios Australia, contributing to releases on consoles and handhelds. After co-founding his own studio in 2013, Tim helped create and release three award winning titles, including Witch Beam’s breakout success, Unpacking.

Wren Brier is a BAFTA-winning narrative designer, artist and game designer best known for the indie game UNPACKING. She has worked in the games industry for over 12 years, starting at Halfbrick and later working as a freelance artist before developing UNPACKING with Witch Beam Games. She hopes to keep making personal games that engender empathy in players.

Wren is an active member of the game development community, participating in mentorship programs and running Brisbane's Women in Games meet-up group for 8 years. She has served as a GDC Summit advisor and BAFTA jury member, curated a pixel art exhibit with the Brisbane Powerhouse, and given talks and keynote speeches at games conferences around the world.

Erica Elson is a Producer, Writer and Educator based in the mountains outside Los Angeles. Her short film, WING NIGHT, premiered at Method Fest in Los Angeles. She is the co-author of the book THE AWKWARD HUMAN SURVIVAL GUIDE and co-hosted a podcast by the same name on the 5by5 network for five years. Elson's articles have been published by HuffPost, Lifehacker, and Reader's Digest. Prior to working in education, she worked in television development and writers’ rooms such as VH1’s HINDSIGHT, where she had the chance to write for the spinoff web series PLANET SEBASTIAN.

Elson joined the Sundance Collab team in October 2021 and produces courses, Master Classes, and events in the areas of screenwriting, television writing, directing, producing, and documentary filmmaking. She has moderated conversations with Sofia Coppola, Richard Linklater, Alexander Payne, and Susannah Grant, among others.

Prior to Sundance, Elson was the Thesis Production Supervisor at the American Film Institute for five years. She oversaw several award-winning graduate thesis films, notably the 2021 BAFTA student film winner APART, TOGETHER and the 2023 Sundance Film Festival short WE WERE MEANT TO. While at AFI, Elson developed a passion for sustainable production and created the Green Film School Alliance, which includes forty schools on four continents. She holds a BA in Communication and Film Studies from Concordia University and an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute.