The Lighter Side of Gaming: Comedy and Community
Live on Zoom - Wednesday, July 8th at 12:00PM PST
During this era of crisis, studies show that comedy is the #1 genre that viewers are consuming. As consumers seek deeper community ties and lighter topics in entertainment, similar trends are occurring in the world of gaming. While first person shooter games are one of the most widely recognized gaming genres, comedic game content is frequently overlooked; however, it’s a huge part of the gaming enthusiasts’ lifestyle. As part of the gaming ecosystem, comedy is a major gaming passion point that brings gaming fans together to bond as a community over similar sensibilities. From comedic personalities and pranks during “Let’s Plays” to major television networks like Adult Swim programming content for gaming and nerd culture, comedy and gaming are often interwoven. In this session we’ll dive into the evolving community aspects of the gaming ecosystem and how comedy is bringing this group even closer.
Discussion Topics:
- How Comedy Plays a Role in Gaming.
- Where Gamers Seeking out Comedic Content.
- Why Community is Central to the Gaming Lifestyle.
- What Brands need to know to Authentically Engage.
Hosted by
Dean Takahashi
Lead Writer for GamesBeat
VentureBeat Dean Takahashi is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist for more than 28 years, and he has covered games for 21 years. He has been at VentureBeat since 2008. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat and GamesBeat Summit conferences. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Featuring
Fiona Nova
Achievement Hunter Content Creator
Rooster Teeth
Fiona Nova is a content creator and on-screen talent for Rooster Teeth’s comedy-based gaming channel, Achievement Hunter. Fiona is a central cast member and appears in several Rooster Teeth weekly series including live stream gameplay series, podcasts and online shorts. Prior to joining Rooster Teeth, Fiona had amassed a following online for her own Twitch streams and social media content. She regularly contributed to hosting esports tournaments and other gaming content. Fiona grew up in New York City and speaks fluent French.
Jason DeMarco
Senior Vice President and Creative Director On-Air
Adult Swim Jason DeMarco is senior vice president and creative director, on-air for Adult Swim,
WarnerMedia’s network offering original and acquired animated and live action series for young adults. In this role, DeMarco is responsible for leading the creative direction, development and implementation of all facets of on-air communication, promotion, packaging and sponsorships. He also oversees the internal structure of the on-air and the sales promotion creative and production departments and works closely with the Adult Swim marketing team. In addition, DeMarco has taken on the role of development executive for anime titles for Adult Swim’s Toonami block. In 2018, he produced two new seasons of fan favorite anime series, FLCL, and is currently in production on Blade Runner: Black Lotus, an original anime series, in partnership with CrunchyRoll and Alcon Television Group. DeMarco is based in Atlanta, GA and reports to Michael Ouweleen, President of Adult Swim.
Jennifer Wiener
VP, Strategic Brand Partnerships, Fullscreen
Jennifer Wiener is the Vice President of Strategic Brand Partnerships at Fullscreen, where she works across all the company’s business units to lead the development of multi-platform, story-led marketing solutions for key Fortune 500 brand clients. With a deep content marketing and client services background, Jennifer works to establish and strengthen Fullscreen’s brand partner relationships. Prior to joining Fullscreen, she worked at Dentsu Aegis, where Jennifer and her team led award-winning branded content efforts for Microsoft and focused on business development for the agency. Jennifer began her career in Talent and Motion Picture Packaging at the Endeavor agency, now known as WME.
Nicole Nazarenus
SVP Account Director, GREY New York
Nicole currently works on the Pringles account at GREY NY. She worked on two Super Bowl campaigns for Pringles Flavor Stacking which continues to surpass benchmarks and was highlighted by trade press and entertainment as one of the favorites from SB LIII. At GREY she also works on TJX brands and spent 4+ years on P&G brands including Gillette, Always, and P&G Corporate.
Nicole earned her bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) and minored in music business. She’ll be the first to tell you she’s from the great state of Texas and like every true Texan, she loves football, Shiner Bock, and Tex-Mex food. Outside of work she volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters, loves to dance, and aspires to be a wine connoisseur.
