Gaming industry legend Tom Frisina, talent development exec at Electronic Arts (EA), will join the team at the Masters of Digital Media (MDM) Program as a part-time faculty member. Frisina will work with the graduate program's students to teach them the Business of Digital Media at the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC) Digital Media Centre.
This announcement comes on the heels of Electronic Arts recent $1 million contribution to the MDM Program.
"Tom is a real star in the gaming world," said Dr. Gerri Sinclair, exec director of the MDM Program. "He brings professional and life experience to this educational role that is inspiring, exciting and incredible. This is an experience of a lifetime for our students. Working with Tom, students will receive instruction and guidance from an individual with world-class expertise in the business of digital media. That Tom has chosen to join us is also a critical step in our ability to provide the industry with the best possible graduates to lead the evolution of digital media over the next decade."
Frisina will provide students with a comprehensive view of what it is like to work in the gaming business. He will focus on cinematic arts producer and designer job descriptions, plus all elements of game content and their resident product marketing approaches will be covered. Students will be guided to have a clear understanding of the industry and what role they are best suited to play in this growing arena. Frisina will also use his broad industry connections to bring in guest lecturers from around the globe, including producers, project managers, technical directors and creative directors, among others.
Frisina joined EA in 1997 as vp of EA's affiliated label business, then called EA Distribution (EAD). He was chartered with taking EAD from a distribution business into a world-class third party interactive publisher. From 1997-August 2003, Frisina managed the tremendous growth of this business unit. Frisina is responsible for bringing the BOND, MEDAL OF HONOR, BATTLEFIELD, VALVE HALF-LIFE DISTRIBUTION, LORD OF THE RINGS and CRYSIS franchises to EA. In November 2006, he stepped down from his role as gm into a newly created position of talent development exec. Along with his EA experience, Frisina also has extensive experience as an entrepreneur and has founded several innovative companies in the gaming and digital media areas.
The Masters of Digital Media Program (www.gnwc.ca/mdm) is an innovative, full-time professional graduate degree program that provides students with team-based experiences focused on project learning in close collaboration with B.C.'s vibrant games and digital media industry. The MDM Program is 20 months long and includes a paid internship. Graduates should have the professional skills required to be effective creators, practitioners and senior managers in this rapidly growing industry. The degree will be jointly awarded by Vancouver's four major post secondary institutions: the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
The Masters of Digital Media program's first semester begins in Sept. 2007. Approximately 200 students are expected to graduate by 2010.
GNWC (www.gnwc.ca) was established in 2001 by the British Columbia Institute of Technology, the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design, Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia to provide program and collaborative research opportunities. Finning International Inc. donated a substantial portion of the campus. This collaboration-focused campus sets new standards for post-secondary and graduate education.
