January 2019 – The Pixel Mill

The Pixel Mill 2019/20 – Now accepting applications

Posted on January 15, 2019February 22, 2019 by Owen

Northern Ireland Screen is inviting applications from companies to take part in The Pixel Mill’s 2019/20 programme.

Successful applicants will receive support to build their teams, market their capabilities and navigate third party relations.

KEY AIMS OF THE PIXEL MILL:

Support a sustainable screen industry in Northern Ireland.
Provide games business with the support to access external finance.
Prepare teams for taking their concepts through to production and to release.
Develop high quality teams and projects that are aligned to opportunities.

WHAT YOU GET:

Up to 12 months free access to incubation space and facilities.
Weekly coaching to address Business, Marketing, Operating and Partner milestones.
Invitation to apply to the Northern Ireland Screen Fund to develop projects that support agreed business goals.
Pitch for platform, tech and marketing support.
Access to extensive user testing facilities to gather feedback for projects.
Opportunity to pitch for production funding of £100k through the Assembler programme.
Invitation to UK/EU market trade delegations.

Companies going through this programme will be encouraged to attract additional finance to their project either through revenue, crowd sourcing or investment.

APPLICATION

To support the development of application materials, Northern Ireland Screen is hosting a series of short pre-start taster sessions at The Ormeau Baths, 18 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast BT2 8HS, Northern Ireland, and applicants are strongly encouraged to attend.

Date	Detail	Time
31 January 2019	Introduction to Working with Publishers	10 am to noon
4 February 2019	Introduction to Commercial Game Development	2:00pm to 4pm
14 February 2019	Introduction to Marketing for Games	10 am to noon
25 February 2019	Introduction to Operations	10.00am to noon
4 March 2019	Closing deadline for receipt of applications	9.00am
8 March 2019	Successful applicants notified and contracted
8 April 2019	2019/20 cohort move and start date

The deadline for receipt of applications to The Pixel Mill is Monday 4th March at 9am. For further information, including application details, please click here.

Introducing the first ever Jamfuser

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Owen

Jamfuser is a game jam that feeds into Tranzfuser (a UK wide talent development programme for graduates looking to break in to the video games development industry). Northern Ireland Screen acts as a regional hub for Tranzfuser in Northern Ireland, offering an inspirational central space and focal point for Tranzfuser teams to locate in or meet periodically whilst working elsewhere; providing a dynamic learning environment that cultivates this diverse community, acting as a hot house for innovative games IP development and resulting in high level of achievement over a short period of time.

Jamfuser will

Support team self-selection opportunities, encouraging mixed institute/more diverse teams
Enable teams to work together in a free form environment with a shared goal, that encourages skills development and fosters positive team relationships
Gives teams the opportunity to test and explore their game idea in a short development cycle
Share information regarding the Tranzfuser 2019 application process and criteria for selection
Provide further support with the promotion of Tranzfuser
Develop the Tranzfuser community
Engage Tranzfuser Alumni to act as mentors during the jam

Jamfuser is ” just for fun”. So as such there is no physical or cash prizes for taking part and ‘winners’ will not be selected. Your prize is your product. There is, however, a community voting system in place and all Jamfuser teams can vote for their ‘favourite’ game(s) based on the Jamfuser criteria (see below). Each team is encouraged to use the final votes on their game as early feedback on their project, making adjustments where necessary.

So to sum it all up… If you’re thinking of applying to Tranzfuser 2019, Jamfuser is a fantastic opportunity to start exploring your team’s dynamics, honing your technical skills and being creative.

Who can participate?

Team members should be undergraduate / masters or post graduates who have or will graduate between 2017-2019
Team size between 4-6 people
Teams with a residential address in the UK
Team who have submitted their Jamfuser Team Registration Form

All teams wishing to participate on Jamfuser are required to fill in the Jamfuser Team Registration Form (see link below). This will ensure that:

Your team is included in all communications from the Jamfuser organiser (this includes gaining access to our Jamfuser 2019 Discord Channel)
Your team is assigned a mentor
Where possible, your team is connected with one of the participating Local Hubs.

Should your team wish to vote on the Jamfuser theme please ensure you have submitted this form by Friday 1st March 2019. Following this, guidance on how to vote on the theme will then be emailed.

The FINAL DATE for teams to submit their Teams Registration Form is Tuesday 5th March 2019 (your team will be unable to vote on the theme at the point).

Link to Jamfuser Registration Form

Further information on Jamfuser can be found here.

Belfast – Ukie Hub Crawl: Getting Investment Ready

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Owen

The Hub Crawl is back! Come and join fellow games developers and publishers and identify new opportunities and strategies to support the growth of your business.

This years Hub Crawl will focus on helping games business get investment ready. This will consist of a series of free events, located all around the UK, bringing games businesses together to learn about types of investment, with practical guidance on business planning, pitching and growth.

Each event features a series of short, informative sessions from industry experts and this will be followed by a games panel featuring companies from the local area. Content will change at each event so make sure you check out all the events in your region.

After each session there’ll be a chance to network and share ideas with your peers.

This is a free event open to anyone involved in the games industry. Please feel free to invite your colleagues, friends and associates.

Speakers to be announced soon.

Please register here.

Other Hub Crawl Locations (dates tbc):

London – 22nd January
Brighton – 23rd January (Date TBC)
Manchester – (Date TBC)
Liverpool – (Date TBC)
Leeds – 5th February (Date TBC)
Edinburgh – (Date TBC)
Guildford – 12th February
Cardiff – (Date TBC)
Portsmouth / Southampton – (Date TBC)
Ipswich – 19th February
Cambridge – 20th February (Date TBC)
Belfast – 21st February
Bristol – 28th February (Date TBC)
Newcastle – 27th February
Nottingham – (Date TBC)
Leamington Spa – (Date TBC)

There are still opportunities to get involved through sponsorship of the Hub Crawl. Speak to Leon or Sam for more details.