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 Graduate students visit Klaus Entertainment By Aram Cookson Savannah College Art and Design graduate mentor Marie Belisle recently planned a special field trip for graduate students in the interactive design and game development, illustration, animation and sequential art departments. The destination was Klaus Entertainment, an innovator and key company in the Internet game development and entertainment industry, located in Atlanta. A special surprise awaited the SCAD delegation as their bus pulled up to the meticulously landscaped entrance to the Klaus Entertainment building. The executive producer of Klaus Entertainment, Fred Tanzella, greeted the students. Two recent SCAD graduates — Soren Tan and Eric Evans — also greeted the group, along with other members of the Klaus development team. Belisle said, “It was a remarkable experience for our graduate students to be in the midst of a group of young, brilliant designers, engineers and digital design innovators, most of whom were the ages of our students.” It just kept getting better. There to officially welcome the group was CEO of Klaus Entertainment, Christopher Klaus. Klaus and his professional team shared with the SCAD students a presentation about the Klaus progressive marketing plan for what they called the “Kaneva” environment. “Kaneva” is a means by which people can sell and distribute entertainment content over the Internet. Content can range from music to movies to video games. As a part of this development, the Klaus team has written an entire video game engine that they will release for free, allowing game artists and designers, such as those from SCAD, to develop high-quality games that can be published on the www.kaneva.com Web site. Students listened intently as the Klaus team explained that, while Klaus will run the technical side of things, such as distribution, tech support and server maintenance, it would be the contributors (students) who create the content. This innovation will allow aspiring designers the freedom to focus only on their work and the ability to promote their designs. Tan and Evans also spoke to students. Conversing with SCAD graduates in the work force who are just months removed from college can provide good insight. Animation Master of Fine Arts candidate Suresh Narayanas said, “[It was] a great opportunity for job-seeking graduate students.” After the presentation, tour and photo opportunities, the group loaded up the bus to visit the SCAD-Atlanta facility, 1600 Peachtree St. in midtown Atlanta. To recognize that there are broadening career opportunities and to see the innovations that are being made by a pioneer company such as Klaus Entertainment can only give encouragement and validation to SCAD students. “The hosts, Fred Tanzella and Christopher Klaus, could not have been more generous with their time and shared experience,” said Belisle. Cookson is professor of interactive design and game development at SCAD. |
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