Evaluation Juries

An economist by training, Carl Frédéric De Celles has worked in the digital field for more than 25 years. In addition to his daily life as an executive in iXmédia, Kabane, Septembre Éditeur and Acronyme Conseils, he also chairs the boards of directors of Québec Numérique, the Théâtre du Trident, and sits as a director on the boards of the MT Lab, the BTLF and Éditions Alto. All of these projects bring together people who are passionate about digital technology, culture, education and the entrepreneurial reflex.

Over the past few years, thanks to the work of the Québec Numérique team, and the commitment of numerous public and private partners, he has contributed to the establishment of 42 Québec, the first Canadian subsidiary of the famous Parisian school. Through this project, more than 600 people will benefit from a different learning of digital technologies over the next 5 years, an innovative approach to counter the shortage of manpower and to bring out digital talents.

François Dominic Laramée has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of video game and television development, as a producer, artificial intelligence specialist and actor. He has published four books about the industry and game design, some of which were translated into Korean, Polish and Russian. Holding a doctorate in history, since 2017 he has been teaching digital arts and humanities at the university level.

Jennifer Lufau is actively engaged with inclusivity topics in the video game world. With her Afrogameuses association, she works for better professional integration and visibility of within the sector. Also a content creation expert, she is a Social Media Manager at Ubisoft and has strong experience in managing international communities.

Nick Fortugno is a game designer and entrepreneur of digital and real-world games based in New York City, and a founder of Playmatics, a game development company. Playmatics has created a variety of digital and real-world games for organization including Red Bull, AMC (such as the CableFAX award winning Breaking Bad: The Interrogation), Disney, American Museum of Natural History, the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Red Cross/Red Crescent. For the past ten years, Fortugno has been a designer, writer and project manager on dozens of commercial and serious games, and served as lead designer on the downloadable blockbuster Diner Dash and the award-winning serious game Ayiti: The Cost of Life. Nick is also a co-founder of the Come Out and Play street games festival hosted in New York City and Amsterdam since 2006, and co-creator of the Big Urban Game for Minneapolis/St. Paul in 2003. Nick teaches game design and interactive narrative design at Parsons The New School of Design, and has participated in the construction of the school’s game design curriculum. He holds a BA in Literature and Philosophy from Purchase College and is currently completing his MFA in Design and Technology. Some of Nick’s writing about games can be found in the anthology Well-Played 1.0: Video Game, Value, and Meaning, published by ETC-Press.

Rachel Noonan has 14 years of experience in strategy development, integrated consumer brand marketing and insight development in the entertainment and media industries. She has worked in film, fashion, technology and music; leading efforts for brands such as Pony Footwear, The Canadian Film Centre, Worldwide Short Film Festival, Alliance (now eOne), Rdio/Vdio, Samsung and Microsoft. She has also consulted for organizations such as the CRTC and Dine Alone Records; providing intelligence about the digital media business landscape and advising on consumer engagement planning. Rachel has launched two brands during her career, re-launched a heritage brand, developed first-to-market API integration partnerships and helped build a hybrid technology/music brand from the ground up. She has a Masters of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University, and has spoken on numerous panels about arts, innovation, and how to engage audiences with authenticity. She is currently the Director of Audience Development at the Toronto International Film Festival.