MEIM Newsletter Winter 2024
Alumni Highlight: 8 Questions with MEIM ’12 Lisa Ohanian
by Devyn Hinkle (MEIM 2022)
For this issue, MEIMLAND caught up with Video Game Producer, Lisa Ohanian (2012) who is the Production Director at Fantastic Pixel Castle. Lisa was recently interviewed on a livestream panel talking about Prototyping in game development.
What follows is a Q&A between Lisa and MEIM ’22 graduate, Devyn Hinkle.
1. How would you describe what you do at Fantastic Pixel Castle?
As the first producer within our development team, my primary job is to help us figure out how to work together efficiently. I also help us interface with our publisher [NetEase], since we’re going through a new publishing pipeline which is trying to capture a more global audience. Since I joined the team a few months ago, I've been helping us prepare for our next big milestone. A lot of what I'm doing now is aligning on expectations between NetEase and key stakeholders within our studio, and prototyping planning with the individual contributors on our team.
2. What are the favorite parts of your job? What are the most challenging?
I love this job because I like working with people. When I was still a MEIM one of my early mentors said to me, “tact is the ability to tell someone that their baby is ugly and have them thank you for it” which helped me really internalize the importance of framing your messages from an early stage. There's also a lot of strategizing which I like. I love strategy games, and sometimes planning can feel like playing a strategy game.
3. Can you talk about the path to your recent position at Fantastic Pixel Castle?
I've had a circuitous journey, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I was lucky to intern at some great companies while I was still a MEIM - I started my career on the publisher side, which gave me a perspective on how games are put out into the world as a product. After a few years I ended up going into development, which means focusing on the game itself, or what goes on the actual disc when you buy a box product. I had worked on a lot of different games at this point, some of the bigger ones being Call of Duty, God of War 2018, Valorant, and I even worked on the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game. Working across so many different genres with different technological needs really taught me how to approach the needs of any new game from the ground up, and not make any assumptions.
4. What is it like working in the video game industry?
It's a young industry so sometimes things are less standardized compared to TV or film. I remember in one of my classes, a professor said that tent pole films were often formulaic. Games will always be less like that, partially because most games these days are a live service - unlike movies, which you can only re-watch so much, you play them ongoing. If you’re trying to make a game that too closely follows the formula of another game, then you’re going to be actively competing with something that already exists, which usually put you at a disadvantage. Instead, you need to focus on what is unique about your game - what niche it fits into, or what unmet need it might serve.
5. What opportunities did you gain from the MEIM program that helped you succeed in the industry?
Number one is absolutely how the MEIM program gives you good internship opportunities. The game industry, just like film and TV, is super competitive. You need a way to get in the door to prove yourself, and internships can help you do that. There's also a lot of things I took from the classes themselves - I love the negotiation workshop, and thankfully most of the professors would let me do projects about video games instead of films since that was my focus..
6. Are you happy with video games being turned into film and TV shows?
It kind of runs the gamut. As you're in a different medium, you're going to have to tell a story in a different way. Earlier this year the Dungeons & Dragons movie came out and there were a few times the filmmakers broke official rules as they were written in the Player’s Handbook. But [people] weren't too angry about it because they told a good story. As long as you realize things aren't going to present the same way, things can work.
7. How is AI affecting the gaming world in general?
AI is a pretty dicey topic in games right now. A lot of the criticism with AI, which is valid, is that it's done unethically. It's become a dirty word for a lot of people, especially artists, in the game industry, so companies are being cautious about the best way to utilize it.
8. What advice would you give to someone looking to be in gaming?
The The best advice I have is to try to get different experiences early in your career - for example, it was helpful for me to work in publishing as an intern before I decided to go into development. If you want to be an implementer of any variety, just make stuff, even if it’s bad, to go through the stages. For someone looking to get into production, try to learn about how teams work. Learn about project management methodologies [like agile or scrum]. Having a baseline understanding goes a long way. Go to networking events [like the Game Developers Conference in March]. Do not to be afraid to reach out to people. For example, if you write something to me and it’s well-worded and it shows you're respectful of my time, I will respond and want to help you succeed. Be someone that people will be excited to work with.