Résumé

Dylan Matthias | dylan_matthias[AT]thecdm.ca | Twitter: @dy_matthias

I want to find the best way to tell stories. That means collaborating with others, studying new writing craft, and exploring innovative ways of developing IP. I work with video games, transmedia, and books and am as comfortable writing backstory and barks as I am leading story brainstorms and managing editing pipelines.

You can find out more about why I’m interested in games here.


Experience:

Colchester – Musq. Valley Electoral District Assoc. | April 2017 – August 2021

Campaign Manager and Digital Consultant

  • Increased party vote share in target polls 3.9% despite 3.1% drop in overall share during this election
  • Created and managed $15,000+ campaign budget, and set goals and targets based on local strengths and weaknesses in coordination with party office and local team
  • Conducted analysis of the riding’s past three elections to inform future planning
  • Planned local messaging and outreach, built campaign team, and managed office and schedule; maintained multiple databases and recorded canvassing data

Independent Game Developer | March 2015 – present

Incl. narrative design for Particle Rush and “The Blocker Mod” for Stellaris

  • Designed and built mod for Paradox Interactive’s Stellaris that expands the game’s core loop by presenting the player with new decisions and systems; integrated into existing gameplay and AI
  • Integrated new narratives into existing game design and systems on multiple projects
  • Managed production tasks for myself and remote teams to maintain scope and pipeline
  • Built and tested prototype level and systems in Unreal Engine 4 (have also used Unity).
  • (The Blocker Mod is currently in beta but can be viewed and played at https://github.com/dymatthias/the_blocker_mod)

The Merchant Sailor | September 2018 – June 2023

Creator and Blogger

  • Created and operated themerchantsailor.com covering the Canadian Premier League and local university soccer from an Atlantic Canadian perspective
  • Writing semi-regular news, analysis, and opinion content for hundreds of readings
  • Covering live events and press conferences, particularly during the university season

Soccer Nova Scotia | April 2010 – Present

District Referee in Halifax – Dartmouth Referees’ Association

  • Officiating approx. 100 soccer matches each year, from youth to adult to masters’,
  • Working with team of officials to create fair, positive environment in accordance with Soccer NS instruction
  • Recent highlights include officiating at the 2023 North American Indigenous Games, refereeing the 2023 U15 Girls AA provincial bronze medal match, refereeing the 2022 U18 Girls A provincial semi-final, and acting as assistant referee for the 2022 U18 Boys A provincial gold medal match, and officiating at the 2018 Atlantic Championships

Centre for Digital Media | September 2014 – December 2014

Instructional assistant for Dr. Kim Voll’s “Foundations of Game Design” course

  • Advised student teams on project work, practical design challenges, and GDD creation
  • Helped students understand fundamentals of game design, including balancing, challenge and reward arcs, immediacy vs. immersion, mechanics and dynamics
  • Graded approx. 25 essays bi-weekly, providing feedback on presentation, pitches, and course concepts

Crystal CG | May 2014 – August 2014 (Centre for Digital Media industry project)

Writer for “Bridge”, a short film for the Youth Olympic Museum in Nanjing

  • Wrote initial screenplay and story treatment for film, which premiered positively to the president of China at the opening of the Youth Olympic Museum
  • Researched and developed story concept based on local Nanjing history
  • Pitched story outline and weekly storyboards to Crystal-CG producers and directors via translation, helped manage clients through several iterations on storyboard concepts
  • Led CDM IDEA-X cohort to produce a tie-in game concept

String Theory Entertainment | January 2014 – April 2014 (Centre for Digital Media industry project)

Project Manager on “Anthymn” project, a music-based MMORPG by String Theory Entertainment

  • Managed a seven-person on-site team and several off-site client-side contractors to rapidly prototype a first playable proof-of-concept in 12 weeks
  • Led most daily Scrums, tracked sprints, and maintained project schedule
  • Created and maintained project TDD and tracked pitch and team feedback, adapting milestones and working within team to scope according to evolving client needs
  • Facilitated client brainstorming sessions to help integrate music, RPG combat, and existing lore

The Dalhousie Gazette | May 2010 – April 2012

Editor-in-chief & Sports Editor at one of Canada’s largest campus papers

  • Led 15 employees to produce weekly print and daily web editions reaching 3,000+ readers
  • Set company’s $100,000+ annual budget, setting priorities and negotiating contracts
  • Produced 25 issues of content for student and local audiences, beating competitor publications to several major stories, including Occupy and a faculty strike vote
  • Overhauled publication’s web strategy and oversaw launch of a new website (since retired)
  • Hired and mentored writing personnel and rebuilt company’s internal culture to be collaborative and professional, more than doubling student volunteers year-over-year

The Musquodoboit Valley Bicentennial Theatre | January 2009 – September 2011

Head Writer for Musquodoboit Valley Script Project and Office Assistant for theatre

  • Pitched a response to a grant agency RFP to the board of directors and local stakeholders
  • Led a team of student writers in developing, iterating on, and producing a story concept and stageplay about rural employment, LGBTQ+ issues, and local culture
  • Assisted with production planning, writing reports and pitch documents
  • Helped run front-of-house for weekly productions; organized, supervised, and cleaned the theatre for various other events

Skills

  • Managing content using tools including Excel, Confluence, Asana, and others
  • Designing play consistent with game and story worlds
  • Writing clear prose to deadline and style; also comfortable with collaborative story development
  • Managing Agile, Scrum and Waterfall pipelines in journalism, transmedia, and games
  • Building team culture in collaborative settings; leading interdisciplinary and international teams
  • Editing prose in non-fiction, fiction, screen and interactive form
  • Articulating creative vision in oral and written pitches, presentations, and proposals
  • Turning complex research into relatable story
  • Comfortable with audio workstations, familiar with basic voice direction and foley recording
  • Capable with basic Apple and Microsoft products, WordPress, basic Unity and Unreal design tools, basic SVN/Git, database interfaces, and social media platforms; quick technical learner

Education and Courses

Master’s of Digital Media at The Centre for Digital Media (Simon Fraser University, Univ. British Columbia, Emily Carr Univ. of Art+Design, BCIT)

Graduated April 2015 with a cumulative GPA of 4.03 (A).

    • Advanced Game Design | Dr. Kim Voll and Prof. Andy Moore | Grade: A+
      • Applied design principles in a high-paced game pipeline, focusing heavily on publication processes for indie developers. The expectation is that students develop and publish a game.
      • Projects: Spin Your Way Home and Snake and Bun
    • Advanced Narrative | Prof. George Johnson and Dr. Krystina Madej | Grade: Audit
      • An intensive examination of storytelling techniques in almost every medium, focusing on genre structures and applying narrative analysis to interactive storytelling.
    • Foundations of Game Design | Dr. Kim Voll | Grade: A+
      • Examining game design principles through a cognitive perspective to determine how users are affected at play.
      • Projects: Garden
    • The Visual Story | Prof. George Johnson | Grade: A
      • Rapid prototyping and collaborative development of interactive narrative
      • Projects: Awake and Apples.
    • Foundations of Digital Media | Dr. Richard Smith, Dr. Jon Festinger and Prof. Rory Holland | Grade: B+
      • A general analysis of trends in digital media production, business, and law focusing on communications and legal history.
      • Projects: ChowTime
    • Interdisciplinary Improvisation | Prof. Patrick Pennefather | Grade: A+
      • Developing collaborative and team best practices through play and instinctual learning.
    • Projects 1, 2 and 3 | Profs. Larry Bafia, Dr. Patrick Pennefather and Dr. Kim Voll | Grade: A
      • Applying and deconstructing Agile and Scrum-based best practices to design a course learning tool. Students create the company and team culture.
      • Projects: ENSŌ

Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) at The University of King’s College

Graduated April 2012 with a cumulative GPA of 3.73 (A-)

    • Online Journalism Workshop | Prof. Tim Currie | Grade: A-
      • Production of Unews.ca, practical application of journalism skills in a daily online publication environment; team management.
      • Projects: AUS Hockey’s Headshot Problem and Dal Instructor Shares the Student Experience
    • Advanced Fiction | Prof. Shashi Bhat | Grade: A
      • Critique and development of prose feedback with weekly deadlines and feedback.
    • Narrative Non-Fiction Workshop | Prof. Stephen Kimber | Grade: B+
      • Analysis and development of long and short-form documentary and non-fiction narratives.

References

References available upon request. Additional project notes at dylanmatthias.net

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