Oakland Program Turns Bay Area Youth into Video Game Developers

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KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Bay Area is home to a thriving video game industry, but many local kids, especially those of color, don’t see career opportunities in it. Several years ago, Damon Packwood founded Gameheads to help college students develop the skills and expertise to create their own video games and land jobs in the field. Participants in the Oakland-based program have built games that reflect their own interests and experiences including a game on Oakland sideshows and one on the slave trade in Cuba. We’ll talk with Packwood and David Brancaccio, host of the Marketplace morning report which has launched a series, “Skin in the Game,” that explores career, economics, and equity issues through the lens of video games. Guests: Damon Packwood, founder and executive director, Gameheads - an Oakland-based video game training program for young people David Brancaccio, host and senior editor, Marketplace Morning Report Camila Garcia Frausto, student, Gameheads; fourth year student and film studies major at UC Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a health resort with 85 years of wellness experience, providing summer vacations centered on well-being. Special rates on three-and-four-night August vacations include sunrise hikes, water classes, yoga, and spa therapies, all set in a backdrop of a dreamy summer sky. A six-acre organic garden provides fresh fruits and vegetables daily.
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0:42.9	From KQED.
0:59.4	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:03.0	The Bay Area is home to a large video games industry.
1:08.3	Electronic Arts, for example, was founded in Redwood City in the early 1980s before growing into one of the giants of the industry.
1:10.7	There's many more, too.
1:11.9	But does everyone in the Bay feel able to access careers in the field?
1:17.3	Several years ago, Damon Packwood founded Gameheads in Oakland to help college students
1:22.1	develop the skills and expertise to land jobs in gaming.
1:25.7	We'll talk with Packwood and David Brancaccio
1:27.7	hosted the Marketplace Morning Report, which launched a series featuring gameheads
1:31.8	called Skin in the Game, which explores all kinds of issues through the lens of
1:35.8	video games. That's all coming up next after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. This morning we're talking about opportunities in the video game industry.
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