Ethan Wilde: Welcome, everybody. We're here today with, SRJC alum, Boston Freeman, who's gone on, to, four-year experience after being here in Santa Rosa for some time, and,
Ethan Wilde: Boston enrolled in, University of Southern California.
Ethan Wilde: And, we've got a chance today to, to hear about their experience, moving from, our school out to the, the big leagues, USC…
Ethan Wilde: is, is ranked nationally as a top-tier university in every regard. They are deeply connected to the world of games. They have a dedicated games program, they have a lot of other
Ethan Wilde: opportunities in their educational pathways for connecting, and I think today we'll hear a little bit from Boston about their journey and where they're at now. Welcome! Thank you for being here, Boston.
Boston Freeman: Hello, great to be here. Yeah, like you were saying, USC, great for games, if you ever get the chance to go, I recommend it.
Boston Freeman: I'm kinda here to explain what that's like. I mean…
Boston Freeman: Like you said, I was at the JC, but it was more so coinciding with, like, my high school experience, and, I actually got.
Ethan Wilde: Right.
Boston Freeman: classes when I was in middle school. So, you remember me from when I was a little kid.
Boston Freeman: But…
Ethan Wilde: Absolutely.
Boston Freeman: Hmm.
Boston Freeman: A lot has changed since then. I've learned that,
Boston Freeman: College is kind of good for, like, learning what you want to do, and I always knew I wanted to be in games, from when I was in middle school.
Boston Freeman: But… my goalpost kind of shifted. I…
Boston Freeman: wanted to be in CS. I actually got into USC for CS games, which is kind of a hard program to get into. They have… they have basically a major for every profession in games. They have games art.
Boston Freeman: Some… some are, like, a minor, like, the minor I'm taking right now is video game production. Regardless, I went in as CS Games, and I, ended up changing, after my freshman year, because I realized I didn't like computer science. It wasn't my thing, and…
Boston Freeman: I switched to, a different major that's kinda unrelated.
Boston Freeman: But I did that so I could get the minor of video game production, because I wanted to go into more of that production role.
Boston Freeman: And yeah, that's kind of where I'm at right now.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, I mean, I can go over more of the… what we do at USC when it comes to games, like, what programs and stuff we do.
Boston Freeman: Whatever, whatever you like.
Ethan Wilde: That would be really interesting. I know USC…
Ethan Wilde: is known for really interesting, collaborative, cross-discipline projects. And, like you said, they have a bunch of different majors, kind of, that specialize in different aspects of game development, game production, game marketing. Can you talk a little bit about what it's like to work in that environment, where there's
Ethan Wilde: So many different roles, and there's teams, and all of that.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so it's called AGP. We do have a master's version, which is called MFA, but in AGP, the goal is to kind of, like, experience what it's like to be in a real development studio.
Boston Freeman: So, what we'll do is,
Boston Freeman: everyone can pitch a game if they want to, and the faculty, which is… they have basically one person that has been in industry, in charge of each of the professions. So, like, there's, like, a marketing faculty member, there's…
Boston Freeman: Excuse me, there's a,
Boston Freeman: playtesting, faculty member, just stuff like that. And, what we do is we pitch a bunch of games, they select the 7 that they want to see worked on, whether that be, like.
Boston Freeman: they think it will look good on the portfolio, or they like the team, whatever. And then…
Boston Freeman: All the rest of the people in the games program get assigned to one of those projects, and it ends up being anywhere from, like, 30 to 50 people on a team.
Boston Freeman: And… it's basically, like…
Boston Freeman: Free, it's free labor for a game that you want to make, if you are the one that pitched.
Boston Freeman: Cause what other… what other time are you gonna have 50 people working for free on your idea?
Boston Freeman: So yeah, there… you can do almost any role. Obviously, the team will… oh, my cat opened my door.
Boston Freeman: Hello, dude. Yeah, obviously you can,
Boston Freeman: do what you want. Like, on my first project, I worked as a producer on a game called, Duo Q, and it's on Steam right now. All the games that you make will be uploaded on Steam.
Boston Freeman: And…
Boston Freeman: They… or Epic Games Store as well. So the goal is to kind of, like, make a game and launch it by the end of the year.
Boston Freeman: It's just the… it's just the queue.
Boston Freeman: There's… No, no, no, it's…
Ethan Wilde: No, and just the letter Q.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, right there on the top one, yep.
Boston Freeman: I mean…
Boston Freeman: It was kind of a cool concept. I came on a little late in the project, if you want me to talk about my game specifically.
Ethan Wilde: Sure, that would be super.
Boston Freeman: Pulling this up.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so, I mean, I can go over what I did on this project,
Boston Freeman: So, like I said, I was a assistant producer, I wasn't the lead producer.
Boston Freeman: Kind of what a producer does is, you know, managing the team from, like, the back end, making sure everything gets done on time and on schedule, and there's no blockers.
Boston Freeman: And, yeah, that's kinda… that's kinda the role of a producer. Lead producer kinda has to, like.
Boston Freeman: think more broadly and, like, make sure the whole project will go smooth. Like, we have… you have a calendar from, you know.0, or, like, from day zero all the way to the launch, and you have, like, each individual task, like, make this…
Boston Freeman: tree to the art team on week 15. It's, like, it's, like, super down to, like, the T.
Boston Freeman: that's kind of what production is. But I came on as assistant producer because, you know, I was a sophomore, and I just learned a lot. The person who I was working under, the lead producer, he's currently working at Blizzard. He worked at… he had an internship at Disney.
Boston Freeman: He was a great person,
Boston Freeman: And you learn a lot from the people you work with. So… yeah, I mean, I… I didn't do too much with Duo Q, because production, you already don't really work on the game, and then…
Boston Freeman: persistent production, I was kind of just, like, doing menial things, like making sure… like, asking people on the team, oh.
Boston Freeman: Is there a reason you can't get this in? Because it says blocked on the task sheet? Stuff like that.
Boston Freeman: So yeah, it's basically, like.
Ethan Wilde: For all of us.
Boston Freeman: kind of, like, communication, yeah. I learned that either… I want to do either production or marketing in games, so,
Boston Freeman: the… when it comes to production, this was my experience. And currently, I am working on a game called, Stitchlings, which,
Boston Freeman: Which, it's not on Steam yet, or social media, we haven't started posting, but I am actually the marketing lead on that, so, I have a lot of content lined up that I want to post on social media.
Boston Freeman: You can follow that account if you want, anyone who's watching. It's called Stitchlings Game or something, and
Boston Freeman: Yeah, you can pull it up. It's on any social media,
Boston Freeman: Yeah, it might not… it might not pop up, because we have, like, no… yeah, it's not that.
Boston Freeman: No.
Boston Freeman: None of yeah, we don't have any posts or anything, it's just… we will start posting.
Ethan Wilde: Gotcha.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, and I'm super excited to start rolling stuff out.
Boston Freeman: But, there's our LinkedIn page.
Boston Freeman: But… Regardless.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, that's our game. Is it here? Yep, couch co-op, top-down.
Boston Freeman: It's like, basically you play as, like, two little plushies, it's you and a friend, and you go… you go around fighting, like, people that are, like, made out of, like, knickknacks, like, thumb… thumb…
Boston Freeman: packs, stuff like that. And when you… when you kill an enemy, you can take their weapon and start fighting with it. And it's supposed to be, like.
Boston Freeman: customizability and stuff like that, and just a fun little adventure. So yeah, that's… that's the game I'm currently working on.
Boston Freeman: There's quite a few other games that look pretty cool this year. Next year, I… my… one of my friends is gonna be a director on a game, so I can basically get whatever role I want on that, if I… if I join and ask for it, so… so yeah.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, I mean…
Ethan Wilde: system that they organize. Like you said, there's… there's dozens of people on a team. It's like a… it's like an indie studio, but you've got advisors, you've got faculty who've worked in the field.
Ethan Wilde: And like you said, on the last game, Duo Q, where you were the, assisting on production, the lead producer, at that time, they were a student, right? But then they went on to go intern at Disney and get a job at Blizzard afterwards?
Boston Freeman: Yep, yep.
Ethan Wilde: Amazing. So, USC has this huge alumni presence in the game industry, basically, right?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, yeah, if you look at companies like Riot or Blizzard or,
Boston Freeman: just anything, like, any company in Southern California, the majority of the people there, or, like, the highest presence from a college will be USC, usually.
Boston Freeman: And I'm sure we're kind of, like, 1 and 2 with NYU when it comes to the games program, so I'm sure companies in New York
Boston Freeman: Yeah. Oh, hey, you have us beat there. Yeah, in 2025.
Boston Freeman: 2026… it's looking… it's looking like the other way right now, but I… it's all arbitrary.
Ethan Wilde: It is. This is… I don't even know if this is a…
Boston Freeman: Yeah.
Ethan Wilde: a major review site. I think, Princeton Review puts you guys in.
Boston Freeman: Princeton.
Boston Freeman: Princeton did number 2 this year, I think, and it's just… it's whatever. It's funny, I mean…
Boston Freeman: We all complain about faculty, but that's… I feel like that's everywhere. That's every… every student organization complains about the higher-ups.
Boston Freeman: And it kind of gives you that whole, like, feeling of being a development studio, and the publisher is, like, talking down to you, and you're like, no, but if only we could do this, that, and the other, and the publisher's like, no.
Boston Freeman: Because in the real games industry, you know, you have,
Boston Freeman: the studio, and then the publisher that pays the studio, and basically whatever the person with the money says goes, so you kind of have to, like.
Boston Freeman: I don't want to be crass, but penned over for them, and I feel like this is a similar, a similar experience in, this, where it's like, whatever the faculty says goes, even though
Boston Freeman: On the down-low, we do have a couple things that are being worked on that they don't know about.
Boston Freeman: But…
Ethan Wilde: Secret projects, wonderful.
Boston Freeman: But regardless, yeah.
Ethan Wilde: How big is the community? Like, how many different games are running with those 30 to 50 people in a semester or in a year?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so they're yearly projects, and we usually start with about, like, 30-ish.
Boston Freeman: Maybe a little less?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, I would say about 30. And then we,
Boston Freeman: Like, and then at the midpoint, like, after winter break, when we go into the second semester, usually we'll get more people, because people… it's like a class people can sign up for as well, and they kind of have to get assigned to a project.
Boston Freeman: And it was like, even if we, like…
Boston Freeman: We don't need any more people, we can't handle any more people on our project, because, like, sometimes it's a little too big for the… too many people to, like, assign to things.
Boston Freeman: like, the faculty are just like, no, you need to… you need to find someplace for them, and it's like, okay.
Boston Freeman: But yeah, so… That's amazing. That's kind of the process.
Boston Freeman: So…
Ethan Wilde: Can you tell everybody a little bit about how you ended up at USC? Did you have other schools you were thinking about?
Ethan Wilde: And, what was it like when you first got there?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, okay, so, when I was…
Boston Freeman: trying to… or when I was applying to colleges,
Boston Freeman: I… my goal was actually Irvine, and I thought that was, like, a reasonable, like, I would probably get into Irvine, because…
Boston Freeman: I had pretty good grades in high school, and in, I had a lot of, like, extracurricular… I took a lot of college classes, for example, with you, and I… I was like, you know, I think I have a good chance at Irvine.
Boston Freeman: And I actually didn't end up getting in. And the thing is, USC and UCLA and all these schools, they… they give their,
Boston Freeman: nonsense way later, and I was so sure I was not getting in to USC or UCLA, so I thought I was… I had… the only option that, like,
Boston Freeman: had a good, like, computer science program, because this is when I still wanted to be computer science, was, Santa Cruz.
Boston Freeman: And so I was a little scared. I was like, okay, I don't really want to go to Santa Cruz, I'm not trying to live in the trees, but but this is how it is. And then, two weeks later, USC Decisions came out, and I got in. I was shocked, but,
Boston Freeman: Yeah, it's kind of, how I… how I… what I did to get in. Like I said, a lot of… like, USC, I feel like, is very personality-based, which, like, sounds weird. Like, obviously, you have to have good grades and, do a lot of, like…
Boston Freeman: important things, but I think…
Boston Freeman: more than, like, UCLA or something, they care more about, like, personality and, like, kind of individualism. So I… I had… I did a lot of extracurriculars, I had a lot of, like,
Boston Freeman: random things I would do, like…
Boston Freeman: something like Civil Air Patrol, which is, like, Boy Scouts, but for the Air Force, and I…
Boston Freeman: I showed that, like, I stuck with the program and, like, continued on until I was, like, one of the higher ranks, and just stuff like that, just…
Boston Freeman: showing that you have other things in life that you enjoy, I know that that's, like, a weird thing to say, but I think… I think they do take that into account, and then also your cover letter, or…
Boston Freeman: I forget what it's called, I think it's called a cover letter.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, like, make sure you show your personality through that, because I do think they… they look into that.
Boston Freeman: But, I mean, nowadays, it's kind of… I don't want to get anyone's hopes down, but it's kind of like a… a lottery system, with a lot of, like, the UCs, for example, Irvine, like.
Boston Freeman: a friend got in, and I didn't, and that made me confused. But, stuff like that. So… Yeah.
Boston Freeman: Anyways.
Ethan Wilde: That's great to hear that experience. Do you… is there any other advice you'd give folks at SRJC who might be thinking about, trying to plot a similar path to get into a four-year school and have some relationship to making games?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so… you're saying more so, like, you… you're at SOJC as undergrad for, like, 2 years, trying to transfer into… Probably.
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, something like that.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so I know the… the transfer program's a lot, a lot more likely than it go… than it is from going straight to high… from high school to, to college.
Boston Freeman: Obviously, keep your grades up, that's always important when it comes to going to a school like that, or going to a school like this. It's important to keep your grades up, but like I said, be interesting, do interesting things, and make it come across in your application.
Boston Freeman: And if you are trying to make games.
Boston Freeman: Like, and you have made a couple, or…
Boston Freeman: worked on a couple of things. If you throw that together in, like, some portfolio, or some, like, something like that… it's funny I'm saying this, because I…
Boston Freeman: haven't made a portfolio, even though I should. I need to make, like, a website soon. I've been meaning to do that. Anyways, yeah. If you throw it together in a way that, like, oh yeah, I made this, that, and the other, like, the… the… it will show through, your work will show through.
Boston Freeman: So yeah, that's kind of, like, my main pointers, is…
Boston Freeman: If you're trying to be in the games program, make games, and…
Boston Freeman: people will see that. So, yeah.
Boston Freeman: just be talented, I guess, at what you're doing, at what you're doing. Not that I really made a lot of games, but, yeah, it just… I feel like it was more so a lottery.
Boston Freeman: Which, which, which is, which is not the most encouraging, but,
Boston Freeman: I think there's a lot of things you can do to help your chances.
Ethan Wilde: That's important.
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, that's a good perspective. It's a lottery amongst really highly qualified people that demonstrate themselves, right?
Boston Freeman: Joe.
Ethan Wilde: That's the challenge, that's the challenge. So, next year, your senior year?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, unfortunately.
Boston Freeman: I know.
Ethan Wilde: So, do you…
Ethan Wilde: Can you tell us a little bit about how the school helps students as they get to the end of their school career, get into the field, and have you thought about what you want to do when you get out and
Ethan Wilde: Where you want to be in the world, physically, and also kind of what roles you want to have.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so…
Boston Freeman: A lot of people get internships from junior to senior year, and some even get it from, like, sophomore to junior year.
Boston Freeman: But internships in the, like, the gaming industry, I'm not… I don't want to shoot down anyone's parade, but it's really hard right now to get into anything in the gaming industry right now, with, like.
Boston Freeman: epic laying off 3,000 people, stuff like that, it's really… yeah, it's… it's a little sad and disheartening going into the games industry right now for me, because this is, like, the year I need to, like, break in.
Boston Freeman: Regardless, so I think…
Boston Freeman: I mean, I mean, I still have the best step up I could have asked for going to USC. Like…
Boston Freeman: it is, like, the top 1% of applications, like, people, like, companies will be like, oh, USC, yeah, like, I will read their application.
Boston Freeman: So, it gives you a step up, but at the same time, it's like…
Boston Freeman: you have everyone at USC competing over one, like, production position at some random company in LA, and that's just, like, that's where it is, that's how it is everywhere.
Boston Freeman: Regardless.
Boston Freeman: The goal is to get an internship this summer. A lot of interviews have fell through for me, but I know a lot of people that have gotten, gone through and gotten
Boston Freeman: a internship for the summer. Like, I already mentioned one of my friends is working at Blizzard, but, one of my close friends is actually… got an internship at Blizzard for this summer as well, so,
Boston Freeman: Hey, I have a lot of people that can nepo me in, I guess. That's what the… that's one of the…
Ethan Wilde: We have a network.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, exactly. That's one of the good things about USC, is you have a lot of, you have a lot of,
Boston Freeman: like, connections to people that will make it, and… like, they always say, when they're doing presentations at USC for games, it's like, look to your left, look to your right, you'll be working for or with these people in the future, and it's like, that's low-key true, because…
Boston Freeman: all of my… a lot of my friends have gotten into cool jobs, like, someone else I know is working at Activision Blizzard right now, or… yeah, not Activision. On the Activision side for Call of Duty.
Boston Freeman: So, yeah, I have a lot of friends that are making it, and, you know.
Boston Freeman: I think… I think it will translate to, you know, me, hopefully, in the future.
Boston Freeman: having that connection, and it going somewhere with that. Regardless, what was I saying?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, I don't know, it's just…
Boston Freeman: That's kind of that. And then the goal for me is…
Boston Freeman: to, you know, either make it in production or marketing, and whichever one life takes me on, I'm happy to go down that path.
Boston Freeman: It's good to have, like, one… one profession or one, like.
Boston Freeman: thing you're going for, and I've been told that, it's, like, either pick one profession, like, pick just production, pick just marketing, and, like, be really good at it.
Boston Freeman: But, like…
Boston Freeman: for me, I think the goal is to, like, shotgun blast my… my talent, and just see whatever sticks, and whatever sticks I'll go with.
Boston Freeman: And lean into. So… so yeah, that's kinda… that's kinda what it is.
Boston Freeman: Would…
Ethan Wilde: Oh, sorry, go ahead, Boston.
Boston Freeman: Oh, I was just reading off the question, oh, yeah.
Boston Freeman: Yeah.
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, go for it.
Boston Freeman: What drew me to the marketing aspect of games? So… I don't know, I just…
Boston Freeman: somehow landed the role as the lead marketer on Stitchlings, the game I'm currently working on, and…
Boston Freeman: It just kind of…
Boston Freeman: drew me in more and more as the year went on. I was like, you know what, this is actually something I'm, like, excited to do, and that's kind of… that's kind of the goal in working in games, right? You want to do something that, like, makes you… that's fun to do.
Boston Freeman: And… when I, when I was, like…
Boston Freeman: brainstorming of ideas and stuff like that for all the marketing assets, and I… it's something that I like doing. Like, when I was a kid, I made, like, a TikTok account, and, like, made, like, edits and stuff like that, and, like, grew that following, and I… so I kind of know what that was like, and, like, managing an account.
Boston Freeman: And it's basically what you do in marketing.
Boston Freeman: you just have to follow trends and stuff like that, so, like, kind of your… part of your job is, like, watching social media and stuff, but,
Boston Freeman: It… it does… it just is, like, a fun aspect to be still working on a game, but,
Boston Freeman: You know…
Boston Freeman: Like, being able to just do what you want with… with it, without having to have the skill to, like, code.
Boston Freeman: But still being creative, and working on a game.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, I don't know, I also enjoy, like, managing an account, like I said, so that's just… that's fun to me.
Boston Freeman: And I also… I also think I have pretty good insights, because, like, I play a lot of games, I know what it's like to be a frustrated… a frustrated person when it comes to, like, seeing how a game is marketed.
Boston Freeman: And…
Boston Freeman: thinking, yeah, I could have done that better. Maybe that's a little… maybe that's a little, pretentious of me, but that's… that's the way I see it, and that's why I think, it would be a good fit for me.
Boston Freeman: Regardless, we'll see if it sticks. And unless I get production, then I get production.
Ethan Wilde: No, it makes a lot of sense. You get to evangelize games, you get to get out there, and
Ethan Wilde: And really get people engaged in them, that's a really cool…
Boston Freeman: Run the good word.
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, the tech evangelist thing is something I remember when I was younger, kind of the start of personal computers, those were, like, new marketing roles where they'd go out and really hype up and get everybody excited about things.
Ethan Wilde: Gamers.
Ethan Wilde: Gamers have passion.
Ethan Wilde: That is for sure.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, yeah, 100%. You will get eaten alive if… if you make some slight mistake.
Ethan Wilde: Are there, are there… are there any… I mean, you're… you're in SoCal, it's like the heart… the global heart of the entertainment industry across all kinds of different media, from games to film to TV. Are there… are there other kind of parallel worlds that you could pivot to if you,
Ethan Wilde: if you decide you want to take your marketing expertise in other directions in LA.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so…
Ethan Wilde: in.
Boston Freeman: So, I mean, like, because of how, like, bad it's been looking for getting internship in games and stuff, I started, like, applying to, like, random things, like, Monster Energy or something like that, just to, like, as a marketer, as a marketing intern, because…
Boston Freeman: The thing is, I think my application for, like, companies like that might be a little bit, like, put to the side, because I don't… I'm not, like, in the marketing school, I'm not, like, taking a major that's, like, focused towards marketing, and I feel like the people going for those jobs are more just, like, straight marketers, versus,
Boston Freeman: in games, I feel like is very specific, because, you know, every… every sphere is kind of like its own thing when it comes to that.
Boston Freeman: But I wanted to, yeah, I think it can translate with other things, and same with production.
Ethan Wilde: Right.
Boston Freeman: Every, every project…
Boston Freeman: needs someone who's, like, keeping track of timelines and being in charge. So, I… I think… I think a lot of things…
Boston Freeman: apply over to other jobs, and especially in LA, there's a lot of opportunities, but at the same time, there's a lot of people that want to take those opportunities, so…
Ethan Wilde: Right, right, that is the heart of the industry. Everybody's there to get in on it. Do you have any perspective on esports? Do you see a future… that seems to be a big, growing field still.
Boston Freeman: It does, except for the fact that it's losing money, like, every…
Ethan Wilde: Yeah.
Boston Freeman: NA Sports loses money, so… Right.
Boston Freeman: But, yeah, I mean, I love esports. I would love to work on anything esports-related, but,
Boston Freeman: I, like, I have a couple friends, like, USC is very, like, tapped into a lot of, like, esports teams and stuff. I have a friend who's, you know, working as, like, a cameraman for, I think… where did he get the internship to, Jordan?
Boston Freeman: Is Edward Jordan Clark, ready to get the internship to?
Boston Freeman: Evil Geniuses, an esports team. He's currently working there as, like, marketing, I think, or something like that. And,
Boston Freeman: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of, like, events, like…
Boston Freeman: The League of Legends Cloud9 team came to campus one day. We have our own esports teams that we run big events on, and, like, being able to work on those events is a thing you can do, if that's what you want to do.
Boston Freeman: Yeah.
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so… Actually, one of my friends was,
Boston Freeman: Was able to go to… the last, major… the last…
Boston Freeman: World Finals for League of Legends was in China, and they speak Chinese, and they were able to go to China to,
Boston Freeman: to translate, like, as a translator on the screen, on the big screen. So that was pretty cool. It was pretty cool seeing that, like, oh, I know that person. And you'll get that a lot, like…
Boston Freeman: You'll just randomly, you'll be watching something, like, games-related, and then you'll just see someone on… from your class, like, walking up on stage, and you'll just be like, oh, what the heck?
Boston Freeman: But those are the people you're competing against in the games industry that are out there doing that stuff, so your goal is to be that person.
Ethan Wilde: Right.
Boston Freeman: Yo.
Ethan Wilde: Right. Well, it's good, it's good to rub elbows with them, too, like you, like you.
Boston Freeman: Yeah.
Ethan Wilde: connections network. Exactly. I think James had a couple other questions in the text chat.
Boston Freeman: There.
Ethan Wilde: Can you see those?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, how fortunate would be the role that you landed? Was the one you ended up liking? Do folks, on these projects have the roles they don't like or aren't fit for? Is their personal skill set taken into account?
Boston Freeman: So, are you asking more so, like, the AGP projects that I'm working on currently? Or,
Boston Freeman: Is it more so the, like, just internships?
Boston Freeman: That you're asking. The projects? Yeah. So, you actually kind of apply for a position. Like, there's kind of like an interview process. The, director and the lead producer will usually talk to you and be like.
Boston Freeman: Hey, it's kind of like an interview, like, what makes you think you can,
Boston Freeman: more, questions why you think you can do this, right? And… I…
Boston Freeman: what should we call it? I… I did my interviews, and usually it's, like, super informal. They'll, like, ask you a couple questions, and…
Boston Freeman: I'll be like, yeah, I think this is why I'd be good for this role, and they're like, okay, yeah, I agree, you're on the team. You're doing that. You're a lead… you're a producer. And I was like, okay, great. Or, like…
Boston Freeman: Oh, yeah, you're a marketer. I'm like, okay, cool. So it's not really, like, much competition. Usually you get what you want to do,
Boston Freeman: And if there's no room for what you want to do, like, they've already selected the people, you'll usually end up being, like, a QA tester, or a, like, usability, usability person, which is basically, like, playtesting the game.
Boston Freeman: Making sure people can get through the game, stuff like that. Which is honestly, like, one of the most important jobs, but it's just, like, it's one of the easier ones, that's why, that's why a lot of people who maybe don't have the experience, or if they run out of room.
Boston Freeman: on a lot of, like, roles, like, you'll… you'll go there. But I think if you're wanting to be, like, an engineer or, like, a designer, I think they usually always have room for, like, engineers. And artists. Artists have a lot of… there's a lot of room for artists. So, yeah.
Ethan Wilde: Wow, that's great to hear that. That's amazing. It really is, like,
Ethan Wilde: A microcosm of the whole industry in your school.
Boston Freeman: Yep. Yep.
Ethan Wilde: It's really cool.
Boston Freeman: 100%.
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, that's totally amazing. Other questions, anybody? We've got this amazing opportunity to hear from Boston with this first-hand experience in the midst of
Ethan Wilde: the…
Ethan Wilde: most widely recognized school that I know. I mean, like you said, NYU, but that's the other side of the country.
Boston Freeman: Exactly.
Ethan Wilde: Far away, far away.
Ethan Wilde: Going once, going twice.
Ethan Wilde: Really, really grateful to you for taking the time.
Boston Freeman: Of course.
Ethan Wilde: schedule, Boston. It's really generous of you.
Boston Freeman: Anytime, anytime.
Ethan Wilde: experiences.
Ethan Wilde: I hope you have a great rest of the semester. What do you got, like, another month left?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, yeah. Hopefully I didn't shoot anyone's dream down, like, oh, it's so hard to get into the industry right now.
Ethan Wilde: Oh, it's reality, it's good to know.
Boston Freeman: But there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Ethan Wilde: Right.
Boston Freeman: I think we're in a down period right now, but with explosion of, like, indie games, stuff like that, a lot of little studios are gonna pop up, and…
Ethan Wilde: Totally.
Boston Freeman: your chances at something like that, if you find, like, a small studio, and you just… Also, like, just talking to people is super important in this industry.
Boston Freeman: like, I think most people just get jobs straight through connections, so I think it's super important to just be, like.
Boston Freeman: hey, I worked on this, this, and this, I thought your game…
Boston Freeman: looked great. Is it possible you have a role open for that? And, like.
Boston Freeman: That will work. It won't work.
Boston Freeman: often, but when it… it will work more than you think it will. So, just talking to people, or going and, like, meeting people, you can do that with, like, people too, just like, hey.
Boston Freeman: I saw you were on this project. I thought it was… I think it was really cool. Is it possible, like, I can talk to you for, like, a 15-minute call and stuff like that?
Boston Freeman: Yeah.
Ethan Wilde: Great advice, great advice. I think I remember, or maybe I saw on your LinkedIn, did you go to GDC this year?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, I did, I did.
Ethan Wilde: What are the best places, if you're not in a situation like you are right now, where you're in, like, the top game school in the country? Are there other venues? How do you meet people?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, so…
Boston Freeman: GDC is great. I was only able to go for the last day, because it's, like, a week-long event.
Boston Freeman: If you don't know what it is, it's called, GDC Game Developer Conference. It's in San Francisco.
Boston Freeman: Basically, a bunch of game developers and everybody in games all over the world will come to, come to, like.
Boston Freeman: I forget where in San Francisco, but some building in San Francisco, two buildings.
Ethan Wilde: Moscone Center, Moscone Center.
Boston Freeman: Academy Center, yeah.
Ethan Wilde: Convention Center.
Boston Freeman: Exactly.
Boston Freeman: And people will go there, and people… there will be a lot of booths.
Boston Freeman: But there will be so many networking events, so many parties, there's literally, like, a website dedicated to, like, showing all the, like, outside of the GDC events, and you just go, and you kind of have to, like.
Boston Freeman: be out of your shell a little bit, and just go and introduce yourself to people, and just be like, hey, what's your name? This, that, and the other, and then your goal is to get their LinkedIn, and your goal is to,
Boston Freeman: Make a connection so they remember you, and…
Ethan Wilde: linger.
Boston Freeman: Remember what you do, so if, like, something comes across their table, and they're like, oh, I know a guy, you wanna be that guy. So…
Boston Freeman: I was only able to go for the last day, so I wouldn't say it was worth it. It's also quite kind of expensive to get a ticket to go, even as a student. They have, like, a student discount, but it's still… still… it's still a lot. And, yeah, I had a final on-the-day…
Boston Freeman: On the, like, second-to-last day. So I, like, drove down… I drove back to… to NorCal, and yeah, it was just… I got to experience one day, and it was a really fun day. I made a couple connections, but if I was there the whole week, I know it would have been way better.
Boston Freeman: So, like, stuff like that is, like, super good. And also, you don't even have to buy a ticket. You can, like…
Boston Freeman: Yeah, good luck.
Ethan Wilde: Let's go to all the other outside events, right?
Boston Freeman: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes they require a ticket.
Boston Freeman: But yeah. Right.
Ethan Wilde: Great.
Boston Freeman: You just have to be very, like, talkative, which is hard.
Ethan Wilde: Like you said, out of your shell. I think that's a great piece of advice, and we're all really lucky that it's in San Francisco every year.
Boston Freeman: Oh, 100%.
Ethan Wilde: Right down the road. Super cool.
Boston Freeman: 100%.
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, glad to hear you had a good experience there. Well, I'm gonna…
Ethan Wilde: Thank you one more time, Boston.
Boston Freeman: Of course.
Ethan Wilde: in touch with you. I hope the rest of the semester goes great. Again, a big shout of gratitude to you.
Boston Freeman: No worries, don't…
Ethan Wilde: recording up, and we've got between 3 different game classes right now, over 100 students in this semester, and I'm sure everybody's going to want to check out.
Boston Freeman: Damn. You said 100 students?
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, 3 different classes. There's… there's a…
Boston Freeman: Dang, it's good.
Ethan Wilde: Yeah, it's…
Boston Freeman: Great, that's great.
Ethan Wilde: It's all going…
Boston Freeman: My hometown's doing well.
Boston Freeman: Yeah.
Boston Freeman: Everyone wants to do it, and the higher-ups are not wanting to hire more people. Anyways…
Ethan Wilde: Exactly. I think you're right. I think there's gonna be an explosion of indie. I think indie, there's all this latent talent that got laid off from big AAA studios. They're gonna have to spin up a whole bunch of independent efforts. Could get really interesting.
Boston Freeman: I think so, yeah.
Ethan Wilde: Games that don't have to cost double-digit millions, maybe.
Boston Freeman: Let's hope, let's hope.
Ethan Wilde: Exactly.
Ethan Wilde: Take care. Have a great rest of the week and rest of the semester.
Boston Freeman: Appreciate it, have a good one.
Ethan Wilde: You too.