Wayne Parsons VIDEO GAME DESIGNER / SCREENWRITER

Sheffield UK [email protected] VIDEO GAME DESIGNER -- Strong Design & Technical Background:

10+ years industry experience contributing to the creation and development of product titles for a range of consoles and handhelds as well as PC. 9 titles shipped to date.

Experience of product design and development — from concept and preproduction, through full production and build, to submission, backend polish and testing — as an internal, external and freelance resource.

Creative and innovative designer capable of creating and crafting original scenarios, mechanics and game concepts individually or as part of a team. Consistently assigned this role.

Genre preference/specialisation: narrative-led action/adventure; platform and puzzle. don’t claim to be a ‘Jack of All Games’ and firmly believe designers should be encouraged to specialise.

Experience

Design Manager , UK Sep 2011 - Present Devils Details Ltd Composition, maintanence and implementation of design materials for numerous titles for PS Vita and PC.

Development of original properties. Script Reader / Editor / Screenwriter Sheffield, UK Nov 2009 - Present Freelance I am currently acting as unpaid script reader, editor and screenwriter for a number of writers, directors and producers developing screenplays and film projects.

I am also continuing to develop my own feature-length and feature-for-animation screenplays.

Extra Sheffield, UK Feb 2012 - Feb 2012 Safehouse Pictures UK Zombie extra during shooting of "The Eschatrilody"

Designer Sheffield, UK Aug 2010 - Aug 2011 Devil's Details Ltd Composition, maintanence and implementation of design materials for Top Darts.

Development of original properties. Facilities resource.

Scriptwriter Sheffield, UK Jun 2010 - Jul 2010 Devil's Details Ltd Composition of VO / dialogue scripts for an as-yet unannounced title for release via PSN.

Video Game Designer Sheffield, UK May 2010 - Jun 2010 Devil's Details Ltd Composition of design and product support materials for an as- yet unannounced title for release via PSN. Story Writer / Senior Designer Dubai, UAE Jun 2009 - Nov 2009 Vertex Studios AE I was extremely fortunate to be invited to join the Middle East’s first developer of Next Gen games.

My responsibilities primarily involved fashioning the team’s existing ideas into a coherent and marketable whole, although I was also involved in the design and construction of a 20 minute playable demo employing the Cry Engine.

This position unfortunately ended in redundancy due to lack of funding.

The management and team were more than happy with the design and story proposals I made.

The playable demo was well-received at the Dubai Video Game Trade Show, 2008.

TIMELESS: Chronicles of Atlantis has been shelved while completion funds are sought. Writer (Contributor) London, UK May 2009 - Jun 2009 "The Man-Eating Beast of Wimbledon Common" The Man-Eating Beast of Winmbledon Common. Short Film: Mockumentary. Dir: D Stinton.

The film is currently in post-production but will hopefully play the festival circuit during 2010.

I contributed a number of the roving headlines that play throughout.

Actor (Extra) Bournemouth, UK Mar 2009 - Apr 2009 "The Boy of the House" Boy of the House. Short Film: Drama. Dir: A Sheldrake.

I appear briefly as 'Milkman'.

Actor / Writer (Minor Contributor) Bournemouth, UK Jan 2009 - Feb 2009 "Bricking It" Bricking It. Short Film: Drama. Dir: A Sheldrake.

I appear as 'Kerry' and made minor contributions to my own dialogue. Bookseller Bournemouth, UK Nov 2008 - Apr 2009 Borders Whilst studying in Bournmouth I took the position of Bookseller with Borders during the store's busiest period, Xmas.

Writer / Designer , UK Nov 2007 - Jun 2008 Six By Nine Limited Hired to contribute design and narrative content to PSP product based on an existing, high-profile IP which unfortunately failed to reach completion.

Care Worker Bournemouth UK Feb 2007 - Nov 2007 April Court Assisting in the day-to-day running of a Council maintained residential home, including arranging and supervising leisure activities for 20+ residents with special needs and learning disabilities.

Co-Writer Bournemouth, UK Dec 2006 - Mar 2007 "The Journey" The Journey. Short Film: Drama / showreel, blue-screen content. Dir: C Clough.

I wrote the script for C Clough's final student film.

Casual Sorter Bournemouth UK Nov 2006 - Jan 2007 Royal Mail Warehouse work and mail sorting over the Xmas period. Care Worker / 1-2-1 Supervisor / Tutor Bournemouth UK Feb 2006 - Sep 2006 People Matters After being made redundant from Six by Nine I was offered a fulltime position with People Matters, a non-profit organisation providing education and leisure options for young people with special needs and learning disabilities in Leeds for whom I had already undertaken a year of voluntary service. This position involved assisting with the arrangement and supervision of leisure activities for groups as well as spending significant time with individuals one-to-one. I was also involved with the company’s educational courses, assisting with the teaching of IT and cookery.

Design Manager / Writer Leeds, UK Jul 2003 - Feb 2006 Six By Nine Limited Hired primarily to collaborate on a game engine I had been designing, and to develop content to showcase the engine’s facility for constructing non-linear levels on the fly from game components. This was abandoned, however, and attention turned to developing concepts for Six By Nine’s first original title.

The chosen concept, Freques, was well-received during pitching sessions but failed to get off the ground. Following this I worked on the PC port of Colin McCrae 5 and made contributions to early designs for The Dead, a ‘zombie game’ being developed by Kuju with cult horror director George A. Romero.

The Dead was never completed.

This position unfortunately ended in redundancy due to lack of funding. Designer Haverfordwest, UK Mar 2001 - Jul 2003 Gameworld Seven Limited Recruited to generate original concepts and help develop the company’s Kite Surfing game. Two concepts were taken to pitch at ECTS (Post Haste and Prime Time); although well- received, neither found funding.

It was at this time I worked on Cubix: Race ‘n Robots (Gameboy Colour, 2001) and Project Gotham Racing 2 (Xbox, 2002) as well as making design contributions to plans for a Next Gen James Pond product, a Harry Potter Quiz Game, a Nickelodean Games Compendium and a South Park product. Although none of these were completed, Creature Labs, Universal, the creators of South Park, and representatives of JK Rowling, were more than satisfied with my contribution.

I eventually left this position to pursue other opportunities.

Senior Designer (Lead Designer) Leeds, UK Mar 1999 - Mar 2001 SONY (SCEE) Following SONY’s takeover of Psygnosis I continued to work in the Leeds studios as Senior Designer and made significant contributions to Lemmings Revolution (PC, 2000) and Colony Wars: Red Sun (PSX, 2000) as well as working on the earlier development of Wip3out (PSX, 2000).

The studio then turned its attention to the development of titles for the PS2, working on Rogue, Stunt Dudes and an unnamed first-person shooter. Unfortunately, none of these products were completed. I left the studio three months before its closure, which I saw as imminent. Senior Technical Designer (Lead Designer) Leeds, UK Sep 1996 - Mar 1999 Psygnosis When Psygnosis launched their Leeds studio in June 1996 I took the role of Senior Technical Designer and headed the design department, which quickly grew to a team of eight. I was also required to act as Lead Designer on two of the studio’s three launch titles: Retro Force, a top-down shooter rendered in 3D, and Prophecy, an innovative, narrative-led, non-linear God Game which had been my own concept.

The Design and Plan docs I composed for Retro Force and Prophecy became the company standard.

Retro Force was released for PSX in 1998; Prophecy never completed due to reduced PC development.

Writer / Lead Designer Chester, UK Sep 1995 - Sep 1996 Psygnosis Hired to write story/dialogue materials for troubled project Sentient; this required me to familiarize myself with the game’s dialogue and story engines – a task I took to so quickly that I was made Lead Designer.

Sentient was released for the PSX and PC in Nov 1997 to widespread critical acclaim.

Education

PGDip Screenwriting for Film and Television Bournemouth, UK Jun 1996 - Jun 1997 Bournemouth University I graduated with a Merit pass. BA (Hons) Humanities Nottingham, UK Sep 1995 - Jul 1996 Nottingham Trent University Majored in English Literature with Psychology, Sociology, Creative Writing and Women's Studies.

I graduated with a 2:1 pass.

Safehouse Pictures

Wayne Parsons [email protected]