Hear from designers and producers who create gaming experiences that transport players to imaginary virtual worlds. Learn the skills needed to create cutting-edge visuals and interactive environments that combine game flow, fully developed storylines, and realistic settings.
Justin Ghio, Senior Manager, Talent Sourcing, Take-Two Interactive, 2K Games & Zynga
Justin Ghio is a talent sourcing and talent acquisition leader with 10+ years of experience in the gaming industry. He is passionate about building world-class teams that create the games millions love. His career spans leading talent organizations and building titles from scratch at industry powerhouses including Activision Blizzard, Amazon, and most recently as Senior Manager, Talent Sourcing at Zynga, where he’s building a high-performance Talent Sourcing organization from the ground up.
-
Justin specializes in connecting visionary leaders with exceptional talent across development, design, engineering, and business functions. His approach is data-driven and relationship-focused—he believes the best teams are built by understanding both the strategic needs of organizations and the career aspirations of talented individuals. With proven success hiring hundreds of professionals for billion-dollar franchises including World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Diablo, Candy Crush, and more, he has consistently reduced time-to-fill metrics while maintaining high-quality placements.
Beyond traditional recruiting, he has a track record of process improvement deliverables and he is an automation innovator who's authored and deployed solutions that save thousands of hours across talent functions. He thrives on building communities, fostering genuine connections, and helping talented people land in roles where they can do their best work.
Evan Hernandez, Founder, Vibe XP; Creative Director, The Coldest Winter
Evan Hernandez is the Founder of Vibe XP and Creative Director of The Coldest Winter, with over 10 years of experience in game development. He builds emotionally resonant games that blend psychological storytelling with bold, stylized direction.
He founded Vibe XP to create original interactive experiences while opening doors for collaborators who have often been overlooked in the industry. His work centers on vulnerability, identity, and human connection, grounded in the belief that games can be a powerful space for empathy and connection. He is passionate about building a studio empowered by new voices that really give a shit.
Mitu Khandaker, Game Designer & Engineer; Associate Professor, NYU Game Center; Director, NYU Game Design Future Lab
Mitu Khandaker is a game designer, engineer, scholar, and entrepreneur. She is an Associate Arts Professor at the NYU Game Center, where she teaches game design and development, as well as Director of the NYU Game Design Future Lab, helping to incubate NYC-based games and creative tech startups and build durable companies right here in the city. She was also CEO and co-founder at Glow Up Games, a game studio centering diverse audiences and stories about Black and brown joy, that operated from 2019-2024, and made Insecure: The Come Up Game, a tie-in to the popular HBO TV show.
She holds a PhD in designing games for immersive interfaces such as VR and AR and has a background in computer engineering. She was previously on the founding team at Spirit AI, a game-related AI tools company, and launched a location-based games startup.
She also worked in the indie game space on titles such as the social simulation game Redshirt. She has received several international accolades, including a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit in 2013 and the Creative English Trailblazer Award in 2014. Mitu has served on the advisory board for the Advocacy Track at the Game Developers’ Conference since 2014.
Vassiliki Khonsari, Producer, Director & Writer, iNK Stories
Vassiliki Khonsari is an award-winning director, producer and writer. She co-founded iNK Stories, a New York City studio acclaimed for bold, cinematic storytelling across video games, film, and immersive. Her original titles have earned industry top honors, including BAFTA, Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Meta's Game of the Year, Video Game Awards, and more. A fellow of the Sundance Institute and winner of the Sundance Imagination Award, Khonsari has a background in visual anthropology and began her career at New York Times Television, making documentaries. Her work bridges culture and technology to craft emotionally resonant, impact forward narratives.
-
Khonsari mentors and advises creatives across the globe through institutions including the United Nations, Sundance Institute, CPH:LABS, North West at Qatar, Australian International Film Festival, Venice Biennale College and Thessaloniki Film Festival. She is a founding member of the Rolling Stone Culture Council and an Ambassador for Women in Games, and recently served on the juries for the Tribeca and Cannes Film Festivals.
Her current collaborations include Lili, a neo-noir adaptation of Macbeth set in contemporary Iran, developed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Alambic Productions, and starring Academy Award nominee and Cannes Best Actor Zar Amir. The project premiered its prequel in competition at Cannes and the Venice Film Festival in 2025.
Moderator: Elaine Gómez, Founder and Game Director, Midnight Hour Games; President, Latinx in Gaming
Elaine Gómez a Puerto Rican and Dominican game designer with nearly a decade of experience in game design and development. She is an enrolled tribal member of Higuayagua Taino of the Caribbean. In January 2023, she founded independent game studio, Midnight Hour Games, and went on to develop and direct the award-winning mobile game, Blink Land, in collaboration with the American Optometric Association. The studio is currently developing its second fully-funded title. Elaine is also co-founder and President of Latinx in Gaming, an award-winning non-profit organization dedicated to increasing representation, building community and providing resources to Latin American game developers, creators and students across the US, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Presented with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and SVA Theatre
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
The Center's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Accessibility: Center for Communication provides reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Requests for accommodations for Center for Communication events should be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the accommodation need. Please email community@centerforcommunication.org for assistance.
Have we helped you on your career journey?
In an effort to measure the impact of our work, we are reaching out to those of you who have engaged with the Center in some way and ask that you please take a moment to respond to our survey.
Upon completing the survey, you will be eligible to win one of several Amazon gift cards worth $50.