How did I get a job in the video game industry?

The short answer of that is: persistence, persistence, persistence….oh, and that part about the texture artist job on Monster.com (wait, wait, wait...Jesse you are an audio guy how is that possible?) Oh, my friend it is quite the story:

The longer answer to that question actually starts with “why, did I try to get a job in the game industry?”. The year was 2001, I actually had a really great job as the chief audio engineer for the Denver Center of Performing Arts. I had been working in television and documentary films as an audio engineer for a number of years and I was completing a documentary about a Native American basketball team that we mixed at Skywalker Sound in California. I was completely beside myself in excitement with the opportunity to go hang out at Skywalker Sound. As a sound designer I always dreamed of working on those huge epic films and being able to create fantastic sounds like Ben Burtt or Gary Rydstrom. As fantastic as Skywalker Sound was as a facility the common struggles I faced of cleaning up bad dialogue, tight time schedules, and limited opportunities for creative sound design echoed in the voices of the two engineers I met at the facility. In short, the experience was kind of like climbing to the top of Mount Everest only to discover a 7-Eleven there. The flight back to Colorado was perhaps the longest ever; to some degree my dream had been shattered.

(Above) Some photos from my time at Skywalker Sound

I spent the next few weeks really re-evaluating my chosen career. I decided that if I really wanted to be challenged as sound designer there were only two industries to go into and that would be animated film or video games. In both of these types of productions there would be no original sounds; everything has to be created from scratch, offering much more creative potential.

Over the next few months I would send out resumes every week to all known video game companies and any animations studios I could find an address for. Late in 2001 the worst happened with the 911 incident in New York City. The job market seemed to come to an abrupt stop. My email box was filling up with nothing but rejection letters week after week.

(above) My home studio in 2001

My entrance to my job at Electronic Arts came in the form of a listing for a “texture artist” on Monster.com. Well if you see a door to get in then you better knock right? Essentially what my cover letter to my resume said was that I wasn't a texture artist but rather an audio artist who had a huge love for sound design, fast cars and the EA video game “Need for Speed”. After all it was likely the same recruiter for all departments would likely read it.

A couple days went by then suddenly the phone rang; a recruiter from Electronic Arts asked me a bunch of questions about my work with recording cars. It just so happened that I had been recently interviewed by the local newspaper about a documentary film that I was making on the import tuner scene and I told the recruiter that I would send them this newspaper clipping along with a current demo reel. I really thought at this point that I had an in and it was going to happen. Several weeks later I had a brief phone interview with one of the producers at Electronic Arts. The producer asked me a small set of questions and about 15 minutes later said his goodbyes. My only lucky break was that he had sent a “thank you” email to my address and now I had his and the recruiters.

In the age before Facebook or LinkedIn I did something that was very forward-thinking, every time I had a major accomplishment in either in the film I was working on or other audio production I would send a little professional update letter to my friends at Electronic Arts. In these letters I wasn't pestering from them for a job as much as I was showing them what I could do, month after month, after month. I also gave EA feedback on the latest games I was playing and how I might do something different with the sound on them. I rarely heard anything back from the staff and it was hard to keep the faith.

4 months later the phone rang, it was the production coordinator from Electronic Arts with flight info to come out for an interview. Interview day was quite intense with producer after producer asked me a slew of questions. I even had an interview with the general manager of EA; he asked me the hilarious question “How many sounds could I produce in a day?” I replied “I guess it depends what I had for lunch” and fortunately he had a sense of humor. While I was there they gave me a tour of the audio department; back then a simple room with a computer, speakers and a small mixer. At the end of the day they said “thanks” and sent me home without an offer. The flight back to Colorado was perhaps the second longest flight ever.

I returned to Colorado and there was nothing but silence, so once again I started sending my email updates month after month. Every week both professionally and personally I would take on greater and greater audio projects basically to give me something to write about. My efforts to gain experience and knowledge were starting to pay off. Not only did I have something to write about, I was discovering that I was becoming a much better audio engineer and my clients were starting to take notice. I had also gotten through three quarters of my self-funded automotive documentary and sent my friends at EA a DVD of some of the final edits.

I'll never forget that night in September when I returned home after a day of recording a tribute album to Irving Berlin with a big band orchestra; there on my front porch was a FedEx envelope and inside of it was a job offer (a full year had passed since I applied). The letter inside said that there was an opening for a sound designer who had an expertise with automobiles to help create the sound for the next NASCAR video game and by overwhelming response the production crew had brought up my name again and again. You can only imagine the happiness that I felt, not only that I got the job but that I had fought so hard and won the opportunity. What I in fact had done was create an identity and marketing strategy to sell myself. I set a goal, and let nothing on earth stop me.

By the end of this year I will celebrate being a part of 50 video games from Electronic Arts (including two opportunities I had to work on my beloved Need for Speed)

(Above) Need For Speed Pro Street - Sound Designers John Fasel, Yours truly, Watson Wu and Charles Deenen

My advice for any of those who wish to follow in my footsteps are five simple steps:

Become a master of your craft and strive to learn more

Set a goal of where you want to work and what you wish to become

Network (and remain in contact)

Never be afraid to show all that you have to offer

Never, ever, ever, ever give up!

Bonus tip: as for the online job hunt part...if your dream job posts any opening, by all means apply. If you see a door to get in then you better knock right? Someday it may just open.