women | Polygamer

Polygamer #41: Adelle Lin of the Code Liberation Foundation

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Ken Gagne

The Code Liberation Foundation is a New York City-based non-profit that offers free game programming workshops to those who identify as women. The organization was founded in 2013 by Catt Small, Kay, Jane Friedhoff, Nina Freeman, Phoenix Perry, and Kaira Villanueva, seeking to change the female-to-male ratio in video game development. By creating a safe space free of the pressures often found in a mixed-gender environment, the CLF provides students the opportunities to develop their skills and confidence at no cost to them.

CLF directing member Adelle Lin joins Polygamer this week to discuss how the Code Liberation Foundation prepares students to enter a workforce that is traditionally male-dominated and how to address that issue early in the pipeline; the resources that students need that aren’t always available in more traditional academic settings; why students are taught to make games and not another genre of software, and why p5.js is one of the languages of choice for these classes; how the Code Liberation Foundation is unique from other gender-oriented academic programs or even social organizations; and how the group has evolved in its first three years.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Polygamer #23: GTFO director Shannon Sun-Higginson

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Ken Gagne

GTFO is a documentary about women, discrimination, and misogyny in video games. Featuring interviews with Brianna Wu, Maddy Myers, Courtney Stanton, Jenny Haniver, and more, the film examines gamers’ experiences as developers, journalists, competitors, academics, and community organizers. Filming began in 2012 and concluded in mid-2014, months before GamerGate broke, demonstrating that these issues are systemic, extending beyond a few high-profile incidences.

In this interview with director Shannon Sun-Higginson, we discuss what prompted her to make gaming the subject of her debut film; how being a casual gamer helped rather than hinder her approach to this topic; pursuing funding on Kickstarter; how she incorporated GamerGate into the film’s coda; who the film’s target audience is; how she hopes the film will change perception of the gaming industry; and her experiences as a woman director showing GTFO on the film circuit.

Co-hosting this episode of Polygamer is Monica Castillo — film critic for International Business Times, co-founder of the Boston Online Film Critics Association, co-host of the Cinema Fix podcast, and feminist who introduced me to Anita Sarkeesian. You can find Monica on Twitter and Tumblr.

GTFO released on June 9, 2015, for streaming via multiple outlets, including Vimeo and Apple Podcasts. Monica saw GTFO at SXSW, while Ken was comped a ticket to its Boston Independent Film Festival screening by Women in Games Boston co-organizer Nina Huntemann.

Download the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 53:27 — 25.3MB) | Embed

Polygamer #16: Fiona Cherbak on hiring and retaining women, GDC & BostonFIG

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Fiona Cherbak is a human resources and staffing specialist with a storied career in the entertainment and games industries. At this year’s Game Developers Conference, she will moderate the panel "Turning the Tide: Hiring and Retaining Women in the Games Industry". In this exclusive preview with Polygamer, Cherbak discusses how and where in the pipeline to effect change in the industry’s gender diversity; how to create work environments that are appealing and safe for women; and whether changing an industry’s gender ratio is "disruptive".

Cherbak is also one of the founders of the annual Boston Festival of Indie Games, or BostonFIG, and shares her motivations to start this event and how it’s grown since its 2012 inception.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 49:43 — 25.8MB) | Embed