In the season of giving, the gaming industry supports educational institutions

The first 16 students of the “Visual effects, animation, and game art” program who enrolled in their studies this year will have even better working conditions thanks to donations from the following companies: Playrix RS, Two Desperados, Mad Head Games, Bunker VFX, and Playstudios Europe as well as the Creative Tech Serbia (CTS) supercluster led by SGA.

On this occasion, we spoke with Mina Cvetinović Pavkov, associate professor, and PARTNER of the SGA in the field of education and a woman who has been fighting for this direction from the very beginning, about how this event came to be.

Mina Cvetinović Pavkov: The wonderful people from CTS recognized our need for additional funds and suggested that we collect money in this way, and then they took over the organization, so their help and support meant a lot to us.

SGA: Part of the funds have been collected, how can those who want to join the action now, later?

Mina: Since the quality of the program is partly determined by the quality and modernity of the hardware and software that the Faculty has, there is always a need to provide the students with the most modern tools for work, so we initiated this action for that reason. The campaign continues, because part of the funds has been collected – anyone who wants to can first contact CTS, who in some way coordinates this campaign, and Kristina via e-mail at kristinajankovic@sga.rs, who will give them additional information.

SGA: Besides direct financial support (in any amount), what is the most essential thing that the industry can provide to students?

Certainly, it is the expertise that they have offered to share with our students that is really valuable to us. We have already had the pleasure of hosting several professionals from the profession, from whom the students learned and learned a lot, so such actions will be frequent in our program.

SGA: A few months have passed since the program started, what are the impressions of working with the first generation of students now?

Mina: The first generation of students is fantastic, they are extremely interested and motivated to learn and work, so we have so far implemented several extracurricular activities, one of which was the presentation of our department at Games.con. To my great satisfaction, students show interest in getting involved in the work of the department, so interested candidates can meet them and hear their experiences at the consultations that have already started and at all the department’s promotions that we organize.

SGA: How do you see the future of studies in this field and the future of the industry?

Mina: After the first entrance exam, it was clear that there was a great need for such studies in our country and that there are many talented and interested candidates, because of which we will probably have to increase the number of students we accept. Great interest was also shown by companies that are extremely interested in highly educated staff, which indicates that this area will certainly develop in the best way.

On behalf of the professors and students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, I would like to thank the companies Playrix RS, Two Desperados, Mad Head Games, Bunker VFX, and Playstudios Europe, who donated funds to us within the framework of this fundraiser and provided our students with even better working conditions. We also owe a big thank you to the Creative Tech Serbia supercluster, which, in addition to the organization, also joined the action.

SGA: Thank you, Mina! We invite all companies that have not yet done so to support the development of this program with their donation, and we will continue to support gaming education in every way we can.