Read about how Canada is Helping More Women Make Games

Women's Success Stories

DANI CASTILLO Age 35, Latina Associate Professor, Multimedia Employed by Cañada College “Having a balanced and well-rounded team when developing games or animation content is very important. Women bring many ideas to the table that appeal more to other women and give the games and stories a greater thematic and visual depth. Women also have a different aesthetic perception that can make the games original and different from a lot of what’s already out there.”

Getting Started: In high school, Dani Castillo loved playing video games, and she gravitated toward technology. Because she also had a good eye for art and graphics, doing art on a computer seemed natural to her. She got her bachelor’s degree in her home country of Mexico, and although she attended medical school for a year, she found medicine was not a good match for her interests and personality. “I wanted to do something I loved and still be able to make a living,” says Dani.

So Dani found a job and worked for five years in a 3D animation company in Mexico, where she worked on 3D TV commercials, animation, and modeling. When she came to the United States eight years ago, she worked for Electronic Arts for a year as a video game tester and production assistant, gradually building her skill and involvement with video games, graphic design, and web design. When she started teaching at Cañada College, she also continued doing freelance contract work in graphic design and animation for a variety of companies.

Education: Once in the United States, Dani continued her education and obtained a master’s degree in Mass Media and Communications with a minor in Multimedia . She plans to complete her second master’s degree in early 2008, this time in Interactive Design and Video Game Development, through the Savannah College of Art & Design’s online program. By continuing her education over time, Dani has kept current on developing technology, trends, and theory and has developed the credibility and skill she needs to teach. In school, she had the opportunity to work on hands-on projects with similar deliverables and expectations to those you would have in a work environment. Because she learned so much in this way, Dani maintains a similar approach in the projects she assigns to her students today. Thanks to this approach and to Cañada’s close ties to industry, students get real-world experience through the program’s hands-on projects, curriculum, and field trips.

Dani has also expanded her knowledge base by teaching herself skills such as learning how to run her freelance business, digital photography, and much of the software she uses – and teaches to students – on a daily basis.

Greatest Professional Achievement: Dani considers her greatest achievement to be her teaching job at Cañada College. “It’s the best job I ever had, and I love it. It’s so good, I would never change it for anything. I’ve been offered industry jobs, but I don’t do that. I love to teach, I love my job, I love the chance to show people what I know, and troubleshoot, and also it really keeps me learning. It’s crazy how much you learn as a teacher. I’m the eternal student: I’m constantly taking classes. It keeps you humble and honest as a teacher to take classes, [and] that’s very, very important.” Dani is also proud of her college degrees.

Barriers: “I worked all through college, so it was really tough,” says Dani. She encourages students to get scholarships or student loans so they don’t have to work full-time while in school, which “can help you keep your sanity.” On the plus side, holding down a job in her field while she was in school gave her a good head start on her career.

Dani has noticed that most of the more technical programming work still gets done by guys, and she sometimes wonders if she should be learning these skills, but she has found that her career has evolved quite successfully without them. In her experience, companies have equitable hiring practices and are quite willing to hire women. “Here in the Bay Area, if a woman can prove that she’s got the skill, she gets hired, no problem,” Dani says.

Working with Men: Dani’s advice to women who work with a lot of men is to “Get better than they are at whatever it is, but don’t rub it in their face. Get very comfortable around them, because there are a lot of them in this field, but always keep it very respectful and professional.” Dani has found common ground with her male co-workers through her love of video games. “It’s easy for me to sit down and talk with a guy about them. Keep it really professional and talk to them just as you would to any other co-worker. They’re more than happy to have women working with them,” she says.

Advice for Women: “Be very persistent, and get a great portfolio,” says Dani. “It is very important. Be very assertive, you have to go after what you want. If you need to do something to get an edge over all the other applicants, just do it. Whether it is taking a course, learning a new language, just push, don’t be lazy. The women who are lazy or complacent are the ones who stay behind.”

Typical Workday/Environment: Dani teaches one or two classes on most days, at different times of day depending on the semester. She usually comes in before class to organize her work or see students. She teaches her courses in a computer lab, and she holds office hours with students in the lab, her office, or at the library. Dani also teaches twice a week at Sequoia High School, where she also mentors students who are having trouble in school. Her dress code allows her to dress in a style she describes as “fun and funky,” and which currently includes purple hair!

At the end of her school day, Dani may work on freelance design projects or chip away at the 10-15 hours of homework she has to do each week while completing her second master’s degree.

Career Ladder: Most instructors are hired first as part-time, adjunct faculty instructors, who may earn $42 to $55 per hour, sometimes fresh out of a bachelor’s or masters program (a good portfolio of work samples is critical). Achieving a full-time tenured position may take up to five years or longer, and the salary at entry level may be in the range of $42K to $46K per year for those with bachelor’s degrees, up to $70K for those with a master’s degree, and up to $80K to $90K for those with a PhD. Some people remain in part-time positions because part-time work fits their lifestyle. Full-time positions come with a generous benefit package, including medical, dental, and retirement benefits.

Professional Associations: Dani has developed affiliations with the International Game Developers Association, Women in Video Games, the International Webmasters Association, and the International Animation Association. She has found these organizations valuable for networking, making contacts in industry, staying informed about trends, and learning who is doing what in the field.

Hobbies: In her spare time Dani still loves to play video games. She also enjoys painting, crafts, cooking, baking, sewing, and hiking.