Tony Walsh: Biography
Tony Walsh has been playing, modifying, and developing games for over 30 years. He has helped plan and execute story-driven interactive projects since the early 1990s, including four award-winning extended-TV games. A multi-disciplined creative, Walsh has become internationally recognized for his work at the intersection of games and culture.
In 2008, Walsh founded Phantom Compass, a Toronto-based game production company. He leads the company in providing products and services to broadcasters and media producers in Canada, the US and UK.
With Phantom Compass, Walsh co-wrote the interactive component of BBC Three series “Spooks: Code 9,” created an Alternate Reality Game in support of Hollywood B-movie “Bangkok Dangerous” and co-produced a suite of Flash games for CBC TV series “Breakout!” He is currently producing and directing “Dionysian Dream,” an original Phantom Compass game designed to teach teens and adults about classical Greek drama.
As a consultant, speaker, and mentor, Walsh shares his experience with organizations and institutions around the world. He developed and taught game design courses for George Brown College and Centennial College in Canada. He has coached film, television, and interactive producers in Canada, Australia, the USA, and UK. He is a professional associate of the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School, the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and Screenburn at SXSW in Texas.
Walsh appeared in the 2008 game culture documentary "Second Skin," is a games commentator on Canadian TV, and has been cited in such publications as Wired, Discover, Utne, and the Harvard Business Review. He has presented to international audiences on such topics as the intersection of sex and gaming, the role of marketing in virtual worlds, and the relationships between factual films and “Alternate Reality” games.
View Tony's production credits on his Phantom Compass bio page, or view his LinkedIn profile for career details.
Speaking Engagements
| 2009 | Documentary Games: Playing With The Truth? Group session produced by Tony Walsh (Phantom Compass) in association with Doc/Fest, chaired by Adrian Hon (Six to Start), speakers included Cindy Poremba (Concordia University), Ashley York (Take Action Games), Matt Adams (Blast Theory) and Tony Walsh. We already know games to be powerful storytelling and teaching tools, but can games be truly documentary in nature? What is a documentary game? How is this blended genre bringing filmmakers and game-makers together, and how does the truth present itself in a designed multimedia system comprising fact, story, and rules? A cross-disciplinary panel of experts discusses the theory and practice of documentary game-making, including financing, research, production and distribution. Additionally, the social impact and ethics of documentary games will be explored.
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2009 |
Documentary Games: Playing With The Truth? Tony presents case-studies from the intersection of games and documentary media, including Alternate Reality Games, Serious Games, and games based on documentary films. Practical documentary game design, development, cross-industry collaboration and funding models.
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2009 |
Are Social Virtual Worlds a Broadcast Killer? The success of the social online game genre is undeniable. Audiences worldwide are becoming participants and collaborators in collective interactive media experiences. Virtual worlds and alternate realities have become a proven method of extending worlds formerly limited to one-way broadcasts. Our panel of gaming experts will present case-studies of social games, sharing their views and predictions for the continuing cross-pollination of games and television.
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2009 |
Changing the Game Tony Walsh, CEO of Canadian game design firm Phantom Compass, and Ken Eklund, developer of the award-winning ARG World Without Oil unpack some of the most successful social change games and related creative experiments and provide a blueprint for filmmakers looking to get into "game space."
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2009 |
Serious Games And Factual Content Panel looked at games as a means of more deeply engaging an audience in documentaries.
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2009 |
Game Theory
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2008 |
Docs and ARGs How documentary films and Alternate Reality Games intersect.
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2008 |
In conversation with Jill Golick Phantom Compass founder Tony Walsh joined Jill Golick in conversation about writing for digital media. Part of the monthly "Writers Watching TV" discussion series presented by the Writers Guild of Canada, Tony spoke about some of his previous freelance writing projects and recent Phantom Compass projects for interactive platforms.
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2008 |
The Gaming (R)Evolution What if games that encouraged people to take action and/or solve real-world problems were developed in tandem with independent artists, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups and government agencies? When nearly 1 in 5 for-profit games fail, how can independent producers successfully create fun and meaningful play that successfully meets more than one bottom line.
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2008 |
What Can the Video Games Industry Learn From ARGs?
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2008 |
Cross-Media Cross-Pollination: Mashing Up Video Games and ARGs
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2007 |
New Media/New Meaning Multi-Platform Technology, New Media Innovation and Documentary Storytelling.
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2007 |
The Real, The Virtual, and The Mixed Tony Walsh joined Gary Hayes and Guy Gadney for an afternoon of presentations on TV and virtual worlds at the Museum of Sydney, Australia.
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2007 |
Digital Intimacy Walsh gave a brief presentation on the topic of intimacy in virtual worlds, engaging in conversation with fellow panelist Cynthia Loyst (Supervising Producer, SexTV) and attendees about how the intersections of broadcast TV and virtual worlds relate to intimacy.
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2007 |
Avatar-Based Marketing in Synthetic Worlds Synthetic, alternate worlds such as Second Life, There, and Habbo Hotel are populated by customizable, user-controlled avatars. These exciting spaces are increasingly being eyed as the next level in experiential marketing. Does a successful marketing effort target the user or the avatar? What are the best ways to capture and retain attention in a virtual world? Our panelists discuss the business, cultural, and ethical considerations of marketing to avatars.
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2006 |
ARGs and Virtual Worlds A discussion hosted inside SECOND LIFE about alternate reality games and virtual worlds
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2006 |
Productive Play Blurring the boundary between working and gaming can create productive play. This 1-hour lecture compares and contrasts tasks associated with work and play, discusses 'the grind' associated with MMO play, and presents a case-study example of how airport screeners could become not only playfully productive, but more effective.
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2006 |
The Secret Sex Lives of Video Games Come explore the sordid past, passionate present, and stimulating future of sex in video games from the inside out. Warning: Sexually-explicit language and visuals. |
2005 |
Virtually True: Journalism and Blogging About Online Worlds Journalism and blogging about online worlds such as SECOND LIFE.
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2004 |
Breaking Into Digital Interactive Storytelling Panelists and New Media professionals Alastair Jarvis, Tony Walsh, and Jos Yule explain how theatre and tabletop gaming principles are transferable to digital interactive storytelling. Activities such as Improvisational theatre, interactive theatre, LARPing, adventure design and more are discussed as they relate to creating computer-facilitated interactive stories.
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2004 |
Who's Got Game? A panel concerning contemporary and future online gaming.
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2003 |
The Culture of Gaming "Discover the world of digital gaming from development to play. With Mark Moyes, Andrew Mactavish, Peter Marshall, and Tony Walsh."
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