Blend: Film & Games 2025: A Conference Blending the Film and Gaming Industries
One of the most significant Croatian conferences connecting creative industries – Blend: Film & Games – will take place this year for the first time over two days, on October 2nd and 3rd. It is organized by the Zagreb Film Office and Games Croatia (HAVC), alongside Academic Partner Algebra Bernays University.
The conference started as PROFilm Days and, over five successful editions, has become an essential meeting point for local and international professionals from the audiovisual sector. Last year, thanks to the initiative and cooperation of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, through their Games Croatia project, the conference evolved into Blend: Film & Games. The goal is to strengthen the connection between the film and gaming industries while promoting innovation, new technologies, and collaboration between creative sectors. Last year's edition attracted over 500 participants, with 19 lectures and workshops featuring more than 80 local and international expert speakers.
This year, the conference presents an impressive list of globally renowned experts from various branches of the audiovisual industry, including:
Thierry Van Gyseghem (Belgium), a veteran of the video game industry with over sixteen years of experience in leading animation teams. He is the Animation Director for the award-winning video games Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2. His team of Spartan animators achieved an incredible feat by making it onto the long list of nominations for the 2024 BAFTA Award for "Best Animation" for the highly praised Baldur's Gate 3!
Jörg Tittel (UK), known for his innovative approach and combination of different media. His work includes films, theatre, video games, and graphic novels. He is a member of BAFTA and frequently speaks about transmedia storytelling. Currently, he is in post-production for the live-action-animated film A Winter’s Journey, starring John Malkovich, created in collaboration with PlayStation and Sony Pictures Classics. The video game The Last Worker, released in early 2023, was the only video game in competition at the 78th Venice Film Festival.
Xavier Rombaut (Belgium), a film producer with over fifteen years of experience in the film industry, founded the production company Polar Bear in 2018. His portfolio includes films such as Racer and the Jailbird (2017), Bloody Marie (2019), and Binti (2019), along with numerous awards at major international film festivals. Rombaut is a graduate of Rotterdam Lab, Maii, EAVE, EAVE+, ACE, and TAP, and is a member of VOFTP, EPC, and EFA. His company Polar Bear is part of the PSN network.
Fernando Machado, a multiple award-winning CMO and one of the most influential marketing leaders globally, gained recognition as the CMO of Burger King, where he designed some of the most awarded campaigns in history. His creative bravery brought Burger King numerous awards, including several Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival. After Burger King, Fernando took on the role of CMO at Activision Blizzard, where he successfully merged the gaming industry and marketing through innovative campaigns tied to some of the biggest titles in the video game world today – including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Candy Crush, Crash Bandicoot, and many others. Machado is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Adweek Grand Brand Genius award (2013 and 2018), the only person to achieve this, and is often recognized as one of the most innovative marketing leaders.
Pontus Rundqvist (Sweden), brand manager at the independent world-famous game publisher Raw Fury. Rundqvist currently leads marketing and branding activities for several projects, including titles like Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, Cassette Beasts, and Dome Keeper.
Open Registrations for Workshops!
Workshop: From 2D Image to 3D World
Lecturer from Algebra Bernays University’s Game Development Program, multimedia artist Ivan Šivak, will reveal the magic of transforming an ordinary 2D illustration or photograph into a dynamic 3D space – literally in the blink of an eye! Using simple techniques, Šivak will share his years of experience in comics, illustration, and animation, and explain how to enrich a static image and create an impressive 3D world. By the end of the workshop, participants will create an amazing 3D effect and bring a photograph to life by adding a camera and animating its path. To register for this free workshop, participants should send a 2D photograph or digital drawing to info@blendzagreb.eu, along with a brief explanation of why they want to bring that specific scene to life.Workshop: Project Architecture in Unity
Slow development? Fragile projects? Painful bugs?
In this workshop, you’ll learn the best practices for structuring Unity projects that lead to scalability, stability, and professional success. From scene organization and object management to working with sound and other essential systems, we’ll show you how to build projects that withstand the test of time and teamwork. The workshop leader, Andrija Zorić, is an expert in video game development with over ten years of experience in the industry. He currently runs his own studio Bad Elektron in Zagreb, where he manages teams and develops projects at the intersection of artificial intelligence and interactive worlds. He has worked on internationally successful titles such as Kingdom Two Crowns and Townscaper VR and also gained recognition as a scout for the publisher Raw Fury. To register for this free workshop, send a brief description of your favorite video game and why it resonates with you to info@blendzagreb.eu.
Blend: Film & Games Conference is organized by the Zagreb Film Office and Games Croatia (HAVC), with academic partner Algebra Bernays University, supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City Office for Culture and Civil Society, and supported by film and gaming associations. The full conference program will be published soon on the official Blend website, where you can also watch all the video lectures from previous years for free: www.blendzagreb.eu.
Conference attendance is free with registration, open until October 1st at 18:00 via this link.
Please note that panels with non-Croatian speaking panelists will be held in English, while panels with Croatian-speaking panelists will be translated into English via headsets.
All conference updates can be followed on the official conference website www.blendzagreb.eu and on the social media pages of the Zagreb Film Office, Games Croatia, and Algebra Bernays University.
