The National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) has announced 10 winners in its inaugural playWRITE contest. The winners are: Jeffrey Campbell; Amanda Doiron; Ryan FitzGerald; Caley Gibson; Calvin Leung; Susan Patrick; Rebecca Schneidereit; Kate Tremills; James Wigmore; and Jennifer Lynne Young – all students in Canada, in accordance with contest rules.
The competition is presented by NSI and Telefilm Canada in association with Zeros 2 Heroes. This new program trains developing writers to become narrative designers in the game industry and provides them with the chance to earn an internship with a Canadian game design studio.
The winners will all be sent to boot camp-style training, which will be held in late May at Vidfest, the Vancouver International Digital Festival. Then, the Canadian students will return home to design their own game concepts over a two-month period, under the mentorship of video game industry experts. Participants that qualify at the end of this period will then receive an internship at a prestigious Canadian game design studio.
Several professional game industry sponsors, including Radical Entertainment and Next Level Games, are supporting the initiative.
