Sean Millard: Creative Director

A short while ago, we were presented a talk by the Creative Director of Sumo Digital, Sean Millard. Unlike the last speaker we had, Sean, instead of going through a prepared presentation, answered questions from the students at NUCA. Instead of going through every one of his many points, I will be going through the ones I found the most interesting, useful and memorable and discuss them.
The first question he was asked was about how he got into the industry, to which he then explained that it was all by chance. Whilst doing his Masters degree, he had the choice to either write a dissertation, or get work experience. He chose work experience at a games company. A select few of the staff of this company eventually went on to form Sumo Digital, of which Sean is now Creative Director. Sean also mentioned that one of the ways Sean gets work for Sumo, which is a hired games company, is through, what Sean calls, "The Beer Net". He meets people in the pub and shares ideas over a pint. To me, at least, this suggests that, in order to get a job in the industry, I should be an open, outgoing, opportunist.

Another point he brought up was what it was like working in the industry. He described the working in the industry as being a lot of hard work, and yet "somehow" still fun, and that we will spend most of our time embellishing other people's ideas. I already expect this from a large, booming industry such as the games industry. On a film set, there are only a few people responsible for the "vision" of what the film will be with one person, the director, that vision is conducted through. Everybody else is just bringing that vision to life. This is what I expect to be doing for a large part of my career maybe one day moving my way up to being "the conductor".
 
When asked about the different types of concept artist Sumo employ, he mentioned a concept artist who worked for them that spent every minute of her time drawing. Even when she is not working she works on her own stuff. Sean used this to make the point that everyone needs a passion which they pursue constantly.
Frustratingly, my passion is still to just "make games". However, I realise that if I want a job in the industry, I will need to decide on a specific part of the team that I want to be in. I enjoy the entire process of the games development cycle, however, bar programming. Thankfully, Sean also mentioned that there is still a place for the "all-rounders" in the indie industry.