Gracie Arenas Strittmatter - April 1, 2022

Gracie Arenas Strittmatter (Technical Art Director, EA Sports)

When: Friday, April 1, 2022 - 2:00-3:00 pm CT
Note: Speaker sessions are subject to change based on evolving guest schedules.

This is conjunction with Dr. Lesley Willard's Video Game Industry course.

Please join us for a Q&A session where we discuss Gracie Arenas Strittmatter's career trajectory, her roles and responsibilities, and her views on the current state of the video game industry.

To RSVP, please fill out this form & we will send out the Zoom link day-of. 


Speaker Biography

Gracie Arenas Strittmatter is currently Technical Art Director at EA Sports and formerly Technical Art Director and Deputy Director of Art and Animation at BioWare, divisions of Electronic Arts (EA), in Austin, Texas. A 15-year veteran of the gaming industry and professional problem solver, she previously worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic and holds credits on AAA titles including AnthemMadden NFLNBA Live, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. She is passionate about leadership development, problem solving, programming, art tools development in Python and C#, collaborating with artists, leading distributed teams, team building, effective communication, and career management. As the first female university graduate in her family, she advocates the power of education and the value of women and minorities in tech. Gracie serves as global co-chair for EA’s Hispanic/Latino Employee Resource Group, Somos EA, and has volunteered with ACM SIGGRAPH for nearly two decades. She volunteers in the community to introduce students to careers in games and serves on the industry board for the Texas A&M Department of Visualization. She is originally from San Antonio, Texas and holds a BS in Computer Science and a MS in Visualization Sciences from Texas A&M University.

Spring 2022 MIC Speakers

March 25 - Hall Hood

Senior Writer, Aspyr Media
2:00-3:00pm CT via Zoom

April 1 - Gracie Arenas Strittmatter

Technical Art Director, Electronic Arts (EA Sports)
2:00-3:00pm CT via Zoom

April 8 - Morgan O'Brien, PhD

Quality Assurance Tester, Aspyr Media
2:00-3:00pm CT via Zoom

April 15 - Jesse Anderson

Brand Manager for BioWare, EA
2:00-3:00pm CT in DMC 1.202 & via Zoom

Fall 2021 MIC Speakers

Aug. 30 - Launching Your Career, Corporate Side (Panel)

Guests include Caterina Nasr (Senior Manager, A&R, Elektra Music), Vance Nguyen (Assistant to VP & Executive Director of Development, 20th Century Animation), Lauren Zimmer (Television Scripted Assistant at Creative Artists Agency), and Hemrani Vyas (Assistant Manager of Programming, TCM).
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 13 - Launching Your Career, Screenwriters & Agents (Panel)

Guests include Davia Carter (executive story editor, Debris), Jim Ehrich (literary agent, Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston), Kim Tran (staff writer, Space Force), Cindy McCreery (RTF faculty member, Honey Girls)
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 20 - Mark Hoffman

Chairman, CNBC
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 27 - Ginny Morris

Chair/CEO, Hubbard Radio, LLC
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 4 - Mindy Kaling

Actress, writer, producer
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 11 - Tahirah Gooden

Manager of Original Studio Films, Netflix
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 18 - Kevin Jarzynski

Senior Development Executive, Amazon Studios
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 20 - Keli Lee

Founder & President, Infinite Possibilities Enterprises
3:00–4:15 pm CT

Oct. 25 - Colby Gaines

Executive Producer and Founder, Back Roads Entertainment
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 1 - Brandt Joel

Agent & Partner, WME/Endeavor
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 3 - Brian Edwards

President of Television Operations, MGM
3:00-4:15pm CT

Nov. 8 - Lucy Huang

Senior Production Executive, Amazon Studios
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 12 - A Studio Manager's Intro to Post Production for Scripted TV

Michelle Trujillo McKibben (Manager, Original Series Post Production, Netflix)
12:00–1:30 pm CT

Nov. 15 - Maru Buendia-Senties

Senior Post Production Executive, Amazon Studios
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 22 - PJ Shapiro

Entertainment Attorney & Managing Partner, Ziffren Brittenham LLP
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 29 - Kyle Davies

Entertainment Distribution and Exhibition Consultant
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Dec. 6 - Jordan Levin

General Manager, Rooster Teeth
5:00–6:15 pm CT