By Intern Natasia Gascon

IndieCade, the International Festival of Independent Games, returns for its second year in Culver City. The festival is the country’s only stand-alone festival for independent games open to the public. Thousands of creators, developers, thinkers, players and fans from around the world are expected to attend, turning the “Heart of Screenland” into the premiere independent game exhibition.

“The City Council has always encouraged new arts and technology industries, and interactive entertainment is one of the fastest growing sectors that the city is looking to attract,” said Culver City City Manager John Nachbar. “The IndieCade Festival adds to the synergy that already exists with the many creative businesses that make Culver City their home.”

The three-day festival will be hosted by several venues in and around downtown Culver City and will feature a number of activities, including talks, panel discussions, informal conversations, interactive gallery displays and a game walk with hands-on, playable exhibits.

“The game industry is at a point in its evolution not dissimilar from the film industry during the 1930s, where it’s being controlled by the publishing studios,” said

IndieCade Festival Chair Celia Pearce, assistant professor of digital media at Georgia Tech.

“Independent games are really the heart and soul of innovation right now, similar to independent film and music, where the developers are really driven by creative vision rather than marketing statistics.”

IndieCade was formed by Creative Media Collaborative in 2005. The first festival was held in Bellevue, Wash. and moved to Culver City in 2009 after a happy coincidence. Stephanie Barish, the founder and CEO of IndieCade, met with Scott Malsin, former mayor of Culver City, at a birthday party.

“[Malsin] asked me about my T-shirt, which was an IndieCade T-shirt,” said Barish. “I explained what we did, what the festival was about and that we had been hosting the festival in the Seattle area.”

Malsin saw the potential of IndieCade and worked with Barish and the city’s Cultural Affairs Committee to bring the festival to town.

“It was really just a perfect fit,” said Barish. “We love downtown Culver City. There’s no other festival like this in the game industry at all, so having the support from a city invested in culture, art and technology is a big deal.”

Pearce added, “The fact that it is a nice little walk-able downtown and so dense with shops and restaurants makes it perfect. We liked the idea of spreading it out among different venues; people walking around from place to place and having a sense of a community forum at the time of the festival.”

Steven Rose, the president and CEO of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce, feels that the inclusion of

IndieCade fits with the city’s history of perpetuating the arts and supporting the entertainment industries. He said the event is “central to the entertainment business,” and is “one of many ways to remain ahead of the curve” and “to be at the center of the next generation.”

With the support of the city and the people of Culver City, Barish expects IndieCade to continue to return to Culver City.

“We hope to have a very long partnership with Culver City,” she said.

For more information about IndieCade, including event schedules, a list of featured games and to purchase tickets, visit indiecade.com.