Boys' Toys?

Boys' Toys? is a documentary in which we explore whether an increasing number of women in the video game industry will change both the treatment and the archetype of the weak, hypersexualized female in video games. You can contact Elke & Eef: [email protected]

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Vic Bassey has written an article about Boy's Toys? and one of our participants, Anna Jenelius. Check it out!

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We are excited to finally share "Boys' Toys?" with you! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. We hope you enjoy.

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Here we are presenting "Boys' Toys?" for the first time at the European Women in Games Conference in London on September 10, 2014. Many thanks to Women in Games Jobs Group for inviting us to show the documentary and share it with about 140 people.

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Wenda Zonnefeld is our other fabulous composer. She has worked on numerous projects and won multiple awards. It has been a pleasure working together and we are very grateful to have Wenda's expertise, humor, and talent contributing to 'Boys' Toys?' Thanks so much!

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Leila Milki is one of our composers for the documentary. She's working on creating us an original song and we are so excited to hear what her final product will be. Check our Leila's soundcloud; she has an incredible voice! Western Sky is one of her originals.

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Presenting: our participants!

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Meet Edie, a self proclaimed unicorn (as a feminine programmer, people think she's not supposed to exist). Edie gave us her perspectives on GDC, gender in the games industry, and what it was like to be one of the few female programmers in her major. Many thanks to Edie and her team at Dragon Army in Atlanta for helping us recording this interview!

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We interviewed Joseph Carr, Technical Instructor in Media Technology at Oxford Brookes University. We talked about his experiences as a teacher but also about his opinion as a gamer, touching on topics such as work ethic, attitudes, prejudices, change, STEM and employment. Also we spoke about the ‘escapism’ of games, the difference between media and video games and the portrayal of not only women in video games but also how men are being portrayed. Thank you so much Joe for your time and expertise.

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We are so thrilled and honored to announce that our documentary will screen at the European Women in Games Conference in London on September 10th!

Big thanks to Women in Games Jobs for including us. You can get more information about the event here.

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A few days ago we interviewed Tracey McGarrigan, PR Manager at Green Man Gaming in London. We talked about her experiences both in the industry, and as a gamer. Prior to working at Green Man Gaming, she worked in the press within the industry. She gave us a lot of great information to ponder, particularly regarding the future of the dynamic video game industry. Representation of gender (both in games themselves and in employment) is a tough topic to tackle. Tracey discussed the progress that has been made, but also recognized that more can be done as a variety of people contribute to the conversation. It was a delight to spend the afternoon with Tracey and we are glad to include her in the documentary.

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Some of the fabulous participants of our documentary are across the pond in the US. Today we had a Skype interview with Lisa Brunette - Author & games writer. We largely focused on the need for more diverse narratives and characters in games and how this impacts players' experiences. Thanks for your time, Lisa!

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On the 16th of July we interviewed Catharina Mallet, Head of London Studio for King. We talked about social games, diversity in both games and the industry, and more. Thanks, Catharina!

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On the 9th of July we went to the ‘Develop Games Conference’ in Brighton. We also joined the WIGJ networking lunch. Our aim of the day: to interview Hope Caton, the writer of Tomb Raider IV!  Hope Caton works at Kingston University and is working with students to develop serious games for education and health. It was fascinating to talk to her. Apart from Hope Caton we also spoke to Karen Cham, associate professor of Digital Media at Kingston. She runs a postgrad master’s program. It is great to be able to include Karen in our documentary. We interviewed David Smith, founder of ‘Women in Games Jobs’. ‘Women in Games Jobs’ works to “recruit, retain and support the progression of women in the games industry by positively and actively promoting female role models and giving encouragement and information to those women seeking to work in games”. It was a pleasure to talk to him. Thanks for your time David.  During the lunch Caroline Miller of Indigo PR, one of the top 100 most influential people in the UK games industry, spoke about the importance of mentoring and how to best work with PR. Right after her speech we interviewed Heather Stark, Game Analyst for ‘Splash damage’. We also met Shannon Henry, Sr. Staffing Manager from Microsoft Studios, XBOX and Marta Beck, Talent Sources Microsoft Studios, Program Manager. It was great to talk to you both! During lunch we ran into Helana Santos from ‘Arch Creatives’ and at the expo of the conference we met also Dan and Steve. We had a quick interview with Anna Marsh, Design Director of ‘Lady Shutgun’. Anna has 16 years of experience in the games industry as a games designer in both development and publishing. Oh and of course the wonderful Tracey! Just before leaving we had a chat with Tracey McGarrigan, PR Manager of ‘Green Man Gaming’. We will interview her at the end of this week and we look forward to it! Thanks everybody for participating and for the great lunch!

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Yesterday we interviewed Professor Pam Kato at the Serious Games Institute in Coventry. Her impressive career path is an inspiration for lots of women. We spoke about several topics such as female characters within Serious Games and the awareness of them, leadership within the game industry, female role models and the difference between US and Europe. Also we investigated the effects on children playing video games and the difference between reality and fantasy. Our conversation was really refreshing and we enjoyed speaking to her. Thank you so much for this interview. We look forward to editing! 

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On July 1st we'll be heading to Coventry University to interview Professor Pam Kato of the Serious Games Institute.

Professor Kato is an expert on serious games for health. She played a pivotal role in developing Re-Mission, a game for young cancer patients. Study results published in the medical journal Pediatrics showed that playing Re-Mission significantly improved key behavioral and psychological factors associated with successful cancer treatment."

Serious games, like indie games, are up and coming. More and more research is being done on the benefits serious games can provide to a wide demographic.

We will be speaking with Professor Kato about the psychological effects of games which include both a dearth of and weak, hypersexualized female characters. How can serious games change how women are represented in video games?

Stay posted for an update after the interview!

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On Monday the 9th of June we went to film at ‘The Arch Creatives’, an organisation that runs a co-working space for game developers and other digital creatives in Leamington Spa, UK. We spoke to Steve Stopps, Helana Santos, Ollie Clarke and Dan Walters. We definitely gained a lot from hearing from these game developers and their experiences and opinions on the game industry. The discussion was very interesting and informative: we have a lot of footage! It was great of Steve, Ollie, Dan and Helana for taking out time to speak with us! Also great big thanks to Neal and Ben for helping us out as part of the crew. Thank you so much.

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Next week we are heading to Leamington Spa to film interviews with designers and developers in the games industry.

To prepare, we are organizing and checking the equipment we'll need. We have many options for recording audio and are testing which ones will work best for a 1 on 1 interview versus a group discussion. Sound is said to be the most important part of a film, even more important than the visuals. So we have to make sure we get it right!

Until then, we are researching and coming up with questions and discussion points. We will interview 3 women and 3 men, all of whom have distinct backgrounds in the games industry.