SMU Guildhall hosts 2013 Fall Exhibition

DALLAS (SMU) — The Guildhall at SMU will host its bi-annual graduate Exhibition showcasing video games developed by graduating students on Friday, December 20, 2013. The Exhibition will honor Cohort 18, which is composed of 25 graduate students who specialize in art creation, level design, production and software development.

The Exhibition will take place in Building 2 of the SMU-in-Plano campus, 5232 Tennyson Parkway. All of the following events are open to the public:

• 2-3 p.m. – Students will participate in an Honors Seminar, presenting works that were elected the best of Cohort 18
• 3-5 p.m. – Open play session of 2-D and 3-D games developed by Cohort 19 and 20, who will graduate in 2014 and 2015
• 5-6 p.m. – Capstone team games presentations

A reception for students graduating from The Guildhall will conclude the day’s events. This event is by invitation only.

Dan Connors, founder and chief executive officer of Telltale, Inc., will be the honorary keynote speaker at the Cohort 18 graduation reception. Connors co-founded Telltale in 2004. As CEO, he has overseen Telltale's growth over eight years by executing on the concepts and processes of reliable episodic game production and has established the company as a leader in digital publishing.  

During this time, Telltale has launched more than twenty products, working with high-quality entertainment licenses such as The Walking Dead, DC / Vertigo Comics’ FABLES, Back to the Future, Sam & Max, and more. In 2012, Telltale’s first season of The Walking Dead went on to become the first episodic gaming series to win over 90 ‘Game of the Year’ awards from multiple publications worldwide, including the Spike TV VGAs, USA Today, Yahoo!, Wired, Metacritic, and more.

Connors has worked in the video game industry since 1993, in roles including producer, director, and executive. His credits include Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, X-Wing: Alliance, and Sam & Max Hit the Road. In 2008, he was recognized by Develop magazine as one of the top 25 people reshaping the games business.

For more information about the Fall 2013 Guildhall Exhibition, contact Doug Darby at ddarby@smu.edu or (972) 473-3545.

About The Guildhall at SMU

The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University is one of the premier graduate video game education programs in the United States. Many of the school’s founders are industry icons, and classes are taught by industry veterans. Since 2003, the program has graduated more than 500 students, who now work at more than 150 video game studios around the world. SMU offers both a Master of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development degree and a Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development, with specializations in art creation, level design, production and software development. For more information, visit guildhall.smu.edu.

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