The call for submissions for GDC 2025’s VFX Summit is officially open, and we’re excited to curate more of the incredible insights from this community! If you’ve found yourself thinking “I should really make a quick presentation about this”, we would love to give you the stage!
Below is a quick breakdown of details, but please ask any follow up questions and we’ll do our best to assist! The application window is closing soon, so please submit your ideas by September 26th!
Your 2025 Friendly Neighborhood GDC VFX Advisors,
@Paulina, @letsmakefx (Bryan), @Bryanna, and @Keith
Tl;dr
- GDC 2025 will be held from March 17th to the 21st in San Francisco, CA, with the VFX Summit either on Monday or Tuesday of that week.
- Submit your proposal here by the 26th of September: https://gdconf.com/call-for-submissions/summits-and-gcs (Click “Submit Summits Proposal”)
- Proposals at this stage only need to be an outline of the topic you’d like to share - we’ll review all submission outlines and filter them / follow up based on the info you provide, and if you’re selected, work with you up to the Summit to perfect your presentation.
- Presentation lengths can be 15 minutes (as a part of a bigger group, which we can help build) 30 minutes, or 60 minutes.
- Summit speakers are given a full access pass to the entire conference
- There is a Speaker Support Program to provide financial assistance, though we’re awaiting more details.
When and Where is GDC?
GDC will be held from March 17-21, 2024 in San Francisco, CA. The Summit is typically held on Monday or Tuesday of that week, but is yet to be confirmed.
What type of presentations are you looking for?
The VFX Summit is allowed to be focused more on craft and less on big flashy presentations, this means that we want to focus on allowing voices from all across our wonderful community share their inspirations - technique, craft, technology, cool tricks, project retrospectives, we want to see it all! If you would enjoy teaching an audience something they’d walk away remembering, please consider submitting your proposal.
What format of presentations are you looking for?
We are attempting to organize 6 hours of content in the forms of 60, 30 presentations and ~10 minute “Rapid Talk” panel presentations. If you have an idea for what to share, but you’re not sure which format is best suited for it - submit it anyway and we’ll help shape it into something special with you!
When are Submissions Due?
The Call for Submissions ends September 26th. Note that we don’t need a finalized presentation - just submit your idea and we’ll work together to perfect it over the coming weeks!
Will I need to be there in person to present?
Unfortunately, yes. GDC is a magical place for networking and community, which unfortunately, requires in person attendance. GDC does have a Speaker Support program, which we’re attempting to get more information on. In the meantime, they have has told us the following:
“Every year, the Game Developers Conference accepts over 800 speakers for the non-sponsored program. The conference organizers have implemented a Speaker Support Program to provide financial and/or hotel assistance to as many speakers who may need financial aid as possible. Speakers can apply for speaker support upon notification of acceptance or phase 2 conditional acceptance into the GDC program. Applying for speaker support does not have any impact on final decisions for official acceptance into the program.”
Speaker Expectations according to GDC:
GDC attendees are very intelligent. They are looking for material that is not obvious and expect excellence from GDC speakers. After your presentation, they will evaluate it based on delivery, knowledge of the topic and the visuals presented.
Preparation is one of the most important factors in delivering a successful talk at GDC. Please keep the following in mind when you propose to speak:
- The proposed outline you submit now must match the talk you present at the Summit. Consider the talk’s duration and submit content accordingly.
- Plan to commit AT LEAST 25 HOURS to prepare for your session.
- Rehearse the delivery of your session to be more effective; preferably in front of your peers and/or record yourself speaking then review it. Both are great ways to practice pacing and timing. Your presentation materials must be completed and submitted four weeks before GDC.
- Please note the Summit Advisors and content team are here to help. If you have ANY additional questions reach out to Bryan, Bryanna, Paulina or I
For the full FAQ provided by GDC, please see: https://gdconf.com/call-for-submissions/FAQ
If you have even a vague idea that you’d like to vet with us, please reach out, or go ahead and submit your idea, then we’ll work with you to curate it into something truly special![