PRESS RELEASE
FTI is very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kate Raynes-Goldie to the position of “Director of Interactive Programs”. This role will see Kate developing new FTI initiatives and opportunities for Western Australian games, interactive media and app developers.
Kate comes to FTI with extensive experience as an educator and game designer. Kate has been working on cutting edge interactive and online media projects since 2002 and is the co-founder of Atmosphere Industries, an international award winning non-profit which creates experimental and pervasive games that blur the boundaries of the physical and the digital. In 2007, Kate co-created Perth’s first pervasive game, Ghost Town, as part of the ByteMe! Festival.
Kate has a strong research and teaching background which both informs and draws on her creative practice. She has been researching the Internet and social media since 2003 and is currently a Research Associate at Curtin University's Centre for Sport and Recreation Research, where she is researching the use of games and art for wellness outcomes. In 2011 and 2012, Kate co-lead an action research project with Ryerson University's EDGE Lab (Canada), which was funded by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to co-develop a privacy literacy game with a group of children aged 8-10.
She has taught at a university level both online and in the classroom for over 5 years, including as a Lecturer in Internet Studies at Curtin University (Australia), Open Universities Australia and as a Faculty Member at the CFC Media Lab (Canada), where she is also a graduate.
Kate has presented at a wide variety of industry and academic conferences, including TEDxPerth and SXSW Interactive and has appeared on MTV, NPR, the ABC and in ELLE magazine. She has published in First Monday, The Globe and Mail (Canada) and in the MacArthur Foundation book series on Digital Media and Learning.
The new position is the first of its kind for any non-government Australian screen resource association and reflects the imperative contained in FTI’s Strategic Plan 2013 -15 to embrace the local games, interactive and app communities, alongside our traditional role in film and TV, as we seek to enhance the vibrancy of the Western Australian Screen Sector.
FTI has been increasingly active in this space including the inclusion of “Best Game” and “Best Interactive” award categories within the 25th WA Screen Awards, a Pop-Up Games Arcade in the Perth Cultural Centre, the FringeWorld Festival award winning “Get Into Film” interactive exhibit as well as providing support for the “Let’s Make Games – WA Games Showcase” in 2012 and 2013. With the appointment of Director of Interactive Programs it is expected that FTI’s engagement with the WA games, interactive and app communities, will continue to accelerate.