The
Future of
Entertainment


For the second time in a row, UNWRAP. brings together the entertainment industry to explore the future of games, music, film, media and -moreover- the untapped potential of their crossovers.
A two-day festival with speakers from various backgrounds painting their picture for the future of entertainment.
Tracks
Conference Be amazed and inspired by international speakers at the forefront of the entertainment industry: intimate sessions or keynotes? You choose.
Career Fair A dating place for highly skilled talent and companies on the lookout for employees & interns.
Investor Track A curated selection of startups pitch to a select group of investors and industry captains.
Festival Play games, have a beer, enjoy music performances, discover the craziest projects and most inspiring entrepreneurs out there.


HIghlights
& FIRST SPEAKERS

Creative Director at Moment Factory
As Creative Director, Catherine Turp is responsible for guiding the team and maintaining the artistic integrity of every project she works on. Her breadth of experience allows her to conceptualize and design exciting multimedia experiences, ensuring that they stand on solid technical understanding.
Friday 14.10

Dutch independent video game developer and spokesperson
Rami Ismail is a Dutch-Egyptian industry ambassador & independent games developer with over 20 titles across PC, console, web, and mobile. His development of tools like the industry-standard dopresskit.com, his prolific & popular public speaking, and highly-regarded consultancy and insights have helped shape industry opportunities for game communities & independent game developers of any kind, in any situation, and anywhere.
Thursday 13.10

Ethics Coordinator at Digital Arts & Entertainment
As Ethics Coordinator, Allie finds it both mentally-stimulating and extremely meaningful to examine the intersections of the technical world of digital entertainment and socially-relevant, ethically-relevant themes. Allie is the producer and host of the ‘Game for Thought’ livestream series streamed monthly from DAE’s campus The Level, tackling ethically-charged topics in the game & digital entertainment industries on a monthly basis.
Friday 14.10

Head of Production at Larian Studios
After graduating as a language teacher, David Walgrave taught teenagers Dutch and English for two years. After that, he worked as a programmer for a small company, and then found Larian. What started out as a temporary QA/Jack of all Trades job, has defined David's career: 18 years later, he still hasn't found the exit.
Friday 14.10

Program & Relationship Manager at DAE Studios
Jill packs a serious punch with expertise in UX and game design. She's the program manager at DAE Studios coordinating the incubator and accelerator program. Sam is responsible to expand the DAE Studios' network on a global scale as well as actively coach the studios in their go-to-market strategy.
Thursday 13.10

Project Manager at VAF
In 2019, Naomi joined VAF as junior project manager, supporting both Gamefund and Film-/Mediafund. Since mid-2022 she’s been working fulltime at VAF/Gamefund as a project manager.
Thursday 13.10

Lead Systems Designer at Larian Studios
Nick Pechenin is leading a team of game systems designers that strives to provide players with the feeling of ultimate freedom by building game systems that promote player choice, systemic reactivity, character progression and cooperative play.
Thursday 13.10

Senior Xbox Game Studios Accessibility Lead
Tara is currently the Senior Xbox Game Studios Accessibility Lead. In this role, she conceptualizes strategic programs and spearheads development initiatives to establish and promote a superior yet accessible gaming experience across all Xbox Game Studios titles.
Friday 14.10

The beautiful trailers and richly decorated stages are known by many people. But, who or what is behind all of this? For once, we ignore ‘keep the magic secret’ and give you an exclusive look into the world of Tomorrowland.
Thursday 13.10

Cofounder and CEO of Ristband
Anne is cofounder and CEO of web3 experience platform Ristband. Create experiences, play games, and hang out with friends in Ristband. Get the tools and insights you need to launch campaigns, monitor results, discover new talent and apply your skills to defining the next era of interactive entertainment.
Friday 14.10

Co-founder of Happy Volcano
Jeroen Janssen is one of the founders of Happy Volcano. As CEO he takes care of the daily management and biz dev for the studio. They closed a VC round with Sir Ian Livingstone's Hiro Capital in 2021 and recently successfully launched You Suck at Parking, the only racing game where the goal is to stop, on Xbox and PC Game Pass and Steam.
Friday 14.10

Award-winning producer, writer and director, founder of MacInnes Studios
Award-winning producer, writer and director, founder of MacInnes Studios, working in movies, games, and XR for the likes of Activision, HTC Vive, Verizon, Sony, Netflix and the US Department of Defense. John first gained recognition as a screenwriter, writing CALL OF DUTY, ADVANCED WARFARE, the biggest selling video game of 2014. He is currently working on a feature film made entirely in the Unreal game engine.
Friday 14.10

Founder & Creative Director at Granstudio
After his graduation, Lowie joined Pininfarina, where he contributed to the design of many successful cars and prototypes. In 2011 he decided to found Granstudio in Turin and expand his activities beyond automotive design into the broader field of mobility. Today Granstudio is an internationally recognised mobility design consultancy with a team of 60 designers, engineers and mobility experts that work on a wide variety of mobility projects for internationally renowned clients.
Friday 14.10

Electronic Music Duo at Mumbai Science
Mumbai Science Electronic Music Duo / creators of B00NKB0TS Jonas Kiesekoms and Maarten Elen have an unwavering love for the dancefloor. Recently, they created B00NKB0Ts, an NFT series focused on generative dance music.
Thursday 13.10

Studio Manager IO Interactive
As Studio Manager of IO Interactive in Sweden I’m passionate about team, project, and personal growth in our global teams. I’ve worked with teams such as Tom Clancy’s The Division 1 & 2, The Avatar Project, The Hitman Trilogy, Project 007, and multiple technologies to support these amazing IP’s.
Thursday 13.10

Engineer Director for Graphics at Epic Games
Juan Cañada is the Engineer Director for Graphics at Epic Games, where he leads ray tracing development in the Unreal Engine engineering team.
Friday 14.10

Technical director Rev Rooms
Gwenifer Raymond worked on a broad field of programming disciplines, with a special focus on audio, AI and gameplay. She is now the technical director for UK game audio development studio, Rev Rooms.
Thursday 13.10

Google Industry Manager Gaming & Apps, Northern Europe
Laura joined Google 7 years ago to partner with the largest Belgian advertisers across industries like travel and retail. Equipped with a solid understanding of data-driven marketing, she dove into the world of mobile gaming in 2019 and never looked back!
Thursday 13.10

Investor at Bitcraft Ventures & host of the Metacast
Nico is an Investor at BITKRAFT Ventures, where he works with founders at the intersection of Blockchain and Gaming. Deeply curious about how new technologies can help build great games, he founded the Future of Gaming, a DAO that explores just that. He also hosts the Metacast - a podcast exploring how emerging technologies will impact the games of tomorrow.
Thursday 13.10

Self-taught producer and singer-songwriter
A classically trained violinist, a self-taught producer and singer-songwriter: Tsar B is a one-stop-shop that combines all of her loves and talents in her work.
Thursday 13.10

Co-Founder & COO of TruePlayers
Rob Boone is Co-Founder and COO of TruePlayers Ltd, a UK based Mobile game studio that raised half a million pounds in pre seed funding in 2022. In January 2021 he started TruePlayers alongside his co-founder Adrian Ruiz and closed a publishing deal for their studio's first title UnderKnight: One Thumb Warrior, currently in early access.
Friday 14.10

Lead Programmer at The Chinese Room
Louis is lead programmer at The Chinese Room in sunny Brighton on the south coast of the UK. The game Little Orpheus , released during the pandemic in 2020, received many accolades, but specifically won the Apple Design Award for Delight And Fun and Best Mobile Game at the Develop Star awards in 2021.
Thursday 13.10

Choreographer, Artistic director at Bogaerts Productions
Marc Bogaerts was born in Belgium, lives in Berlin and is at home in the rest of the world. 10 years in New York are as much part of his artistic background as extensive creative work in over 20 countries worldwide.
Thursday 13.10

Sound Engineer at Mono Soundteam, Cofounder of Alaska Studios
Frank Voet has been working as a sound engineer for 20 years, and is creating a new music sound complex in Belgium, including an immersive mix room. The last 24 months he and his partner in crime Peter Philips have mixed the Dolby Atmos releases of Artists like Stromae/ Damso/ Charlotte Adigéry/ Selah Sue/ etc. They are deeply involved in the audio post production of the Tomorowland Digital editions.
Friday 14.10

Principal Environment Artist at The Chinese Room
Dominique Buttiens has been part of the Video Game Industry since 2015, currently working at The Chinese Room as a Principal Environment Artist. He has worked on over 10 titles including ‘For Honor’, ‘Hyperscape’, ‘Synced: Off-Planet’ and ‘Disney Infinity’.
Friday 14.10

Founder of I-Illusions
Dirk Van Welden founded the independent game studio I-Illusions ten years ago. The studio makes entertainment games where innovation, technology and gameplay always come first. Their game Space Pirate Trainer became one of the most successful VR games in the world. He is also co-founder and project lead at FoamPunch, known for Shredders, a successful next-gen snowboarding game released in March 2022.
Thursday 13.10, Friday 14.10
Schedule
PRACTICAL
When October 13-14th 2022
Where Belgium, Kortrijk, Kortrijk Weide
Accessibility 10 minutes walk from Kortrijk railway station
Parking: Parking Haven or Parking Kortrijk Weide
More info on the
UNWRAP DAE Career fair
The UNWRAP DAE Career fair is a dating place for highly skilled talent and companies on the lookout for employees & interns.
It takes place during both days of the UNWRAP festival between 9AM and 1PM.
180 graduating DAE students will be looking for their end-of-study internship ( February => June 2023). Alumni and other industry people will stop by to look at job opportunities.
To be an exhibitor at the Career Fair:
- head over to the ticket shop and get yourself a Career Fair Two-Day Ticket for Companies. In that package, you’ll get a table, chairs, wifi, electricity, name tags and flags . The package also includes 2 Conference Two-day passes.
- Fill out this form: https://bit.ly/UnwrapCareers
Portfolio information from the students will be distributed to the exhibitors October 12. You’ll then be able to book your meetings.
