Ambrowskii Presents:
GDC & Me (Part 2 of 3)
✨️Pt 2 Black Fest &
The Gordon Bellamy Quest
First I'd like to thank Trinidad Black & sponsors for hosting the #blackfest2025: A special event where people like me could be celebrated and become stronger together.
Our team Borderless Studios featured a new demo of our horror visual novel Clock Out at 2! I watched with Timothy Staton-Davis & Ashley Phipps 🔜 GDC as players gave us feedback like “Ya’ll could use this [game] in therapy”, and even “It's Get Out meets Severance!”
As the panels began, I got a chance to soak up some of the wisdom. I caught the end of the second to last talk, then took a break before the final one. When I returned and saw the next screen of speakers I saw a familiar name & photo: Gordon Bellamy. To hear he and the other black game dev luminaries in person was mind blowing!
As I listened, I realized something: I first heard about Gordon on the Netflix series High Score, at the beginning of the pandemic. It planted a seed in my mind: “Game players can be game developers.” That seed grew & sprouted into my application to the IGDA Foundation mentorship in ‘21. Then, it blossomed into a scholarship to Indie Game Academy Level 3 program in ‘23. It began to grow fruit as I joined Melanated Game Kitchen & my team in '24. Finally, I was chosen for #gdcscholarimpact by IGDAF.
I connected those dots while listening and teared up, overwhelmed with a surreal feeling of divine alignment. I shared my revelation to new acquaintance Elana Congress, who said my story was special & encouraged me to share it.
Quest Accepted: Talk to Gordon
I tried to talk before returning to our table, but he skedaddled🚶🏾♂️💨 before I got the chance. He invited our new generation of black devs to connect with him on LinkedIn and, though it wouldn't be the same, I resolved to send a message.
On Thursday, I was contacted by Eric T Elder for an interview. Only on my way there do I realize that this Eric was the same Eric on stage with Gordon! During our talk, I recount my journey, highlighting that Gordon & the series were a big part of it. Eric commends me for consistently seeking and positioning myself to find support as a game dev, and also recommended I talk to Gordon.
Later that day, I attend Queer Professionals Fireside talk, and guess who's there?! I realize this is my 2nd chance, and I am meant to talk to him. I tell him my story, and he says that it’s gonna make him tear up too! 🥲 I get to give him not only a business card, but also some of my own stickers! (Thanks Nine Levitzki for the assist!!) I also meet his amazing students Ben Elliot and Noah Elliot, and have lovely conversations with them too!
Quest Complete!
All of this story to say: please follow your heart, your intuition, your North Stars. You'll never know where you will end up, who will assist you along the way, and who you will become on your way there.💖
Tomorrow will be the finale:
Pt 3 What to say about my takeaways✨️
