Black History in Video Games: Joseph Saulter

The man. The scholar. Professor Joseph Saulter.

The video game industry is one of the most talent-rich industries in the world. Creators and thinkers of various backgrounds and disciplines unite to produce techno-marveling entertainment delighting audiences of all ages. There are those in the industry who work tirelessly to produce a top-quality product and others who want to ensure a consistent flow of revenue. Then there are opportunist yearning to push video games to a wider audience, not in the sense of playing the games but the idea of creating the game. For the unaware, allow me to introduce CEO, consultant, musician, chairman, designer and writer - Professor Joseph Saulter.





Moving to the beat of his own drum. Cliché but true. (picture source: Fandalism)

Saulter is one of many individuals who’ve applied their lifetime experience and various proficiencies to improving and expanding the industry of video games. With a masters of art degree in interdisciplinary/entertainment he’s spent decades working and building towards increasing inclusion in the industry. Playing drums since the tender age of 6, one his most established works is his music. Spanning over 30 years, he’s composed and played songs for the music library company Omnimusic, and as a Musical Director has an impressive catalog of works under his belt such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, I Love My Wife, and The Magic Show. He's received many accolades and praise for his musical works, being a recipient of the Drama Desk Award. Then an unfortunate injury occurred after Saulter severed most of his hand below the wrist. Luckily, he still retained the ability to use his gifts on the drums but the incident mitigated his crossover into the video game industry.

The youth today are the creators of tomorrow.

Graduating with his masters 1996, the growing success of video games began dawning on Saulter. He discovered African-Americans made up only 2% of designers and developers and the minority presence was paltry at best even though these minority groups made a large percentage of the consumer base. Saulter saw this as a myriad of untold African-American and Latino stories. This lack of diversity inspired his desire to have more minority voices heard through the growing medium so in 2002 in the same year he became Chairman of Game Design and Development Department at American InterContinental University, Saulter created the Entertainment Arts Research Inc. (EARI).

I have an 'EARI' feeling about this. Ok, no more jokes from me.

As CEO Founder and Chairman of the EARI, Saulter partnered with industry veteran Johnathan Eubanks establishing the first publicly traded 3D video game development company to be completely black owned. The objective was to foster more minority talent behind-the-scenes and create games reflecting more on diverse cultural experiences and urban lifestyle. A number of projects emerged from the company such as The Universe of Faith, Slick Shooter, Shaolin Temple, Movie Mogul, Main Street Journal, Living Dark and FireWire District 22. Though from my research, I found Bronzeville Etudes & Riffs to be the most realized out of all their announced projects. Recently the company expanded their services to include technology marketing subsidiary GoLoyal, providing other companies opportunities to strengthen and bolster customer satisfaction through marketing, surveys and social media campaigns. Also included is Sail Marketing which administers services in database design and management, informing capturing and lead services. Lastly Daily App Dream which enhances the discovery of obscured of apps. EARI of course is still focused on creating games but now spreading its reach by pushing towards career-related education and tools. Saulter was interviewed by Traders350.com remarking:

 

"We believe that interactive learning will become dominant learning method that will replace traditional instructions. All instructional products and curriculum, assessments, and professional development must be authentic, context-based, problem-based, and interactive to meet the new learning needs. We see great potentials of career-related educational products and tremendous needs of instructional materials and services in STEM and career and technical education"

 

- CEO Joseph Saulter

 

 

Saulter as featured in Ebony Magazine.

Which brings us to the formation of the Urban Video Game Academy (UVGA), an initiative Saulter created in 2011 to promote awareness of career opportunities in the video game industry. UVGA targets underrepresented, inner-city, black and minority high school aged students . The curriculum of the 5-week summer program teaches solid fundamentals in math, physics and writing - important aspects in video game development and the students learn the basics of the technology and skills needed to create their games. The academy spreads awareness of game development to these disadvantage communities helping them transform a fun hobby into a lifetime career. The program has been successful with numerous calls from 120 schools, and even gaming giants like Electronic Arts, has shown interest.

 

Music, education, Broadway, EARI and UVGA aren't Saulter's only accomplishments, he's been assigned as Chairman Diversity Advisory Board of International Game Developers Association (IGDA) since 2004, where he utilizes his experience as a game designer and professor to discuss and advance issues directly affecting the gaming industry. He uses this platform to speak about growing diversity within the industry. Being a respected figure his relationships run deep with well-known industry names like Sony, Warner Bros, Blizzard, and Microsoft Bill Gates Group, even collaborating with TV One to promote game design and development workshops domestically and internationally called the Urban Game Jam. Recently, Saulter partnered with R & B singer Usher Raymond’s non-for-profit Usher’s New Look to engage underserved children with opportunities that strengthen their digital creativity. As far as his international presence, Saulter has traveled to Kingston, Jamaica introducing the ideas and profitability of creating video games, speaking at events like the Digital Game Design and Development Conference, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, as Lindsworth Deer puts it. As an author Saulter has also written a book, Introduction to Video Game Design and Development, teaching and breaking down the concepts of video game creation.

 

Saulter speaking at GDC 2011

It’s clear Saulter wants to increase diversity in the video game industry. He’s invested so much in spreading awareness unlike anyone I can recall. Even more importantly he advocates towards the underprivileged emboldening their perception of careers in video games and technology, an industry where blacks and Latinos are underrepresented and face strong bias according to a New York Times Article.

 

Saulter finally meets Jerry Lawson before his passing weeks later.

One of my favorite moments of Saulter's was during the 2011 Game Developers Choice Awards. The committee, Blacks in Gaming, held a conference where Saulter had the pleasure of introducing the room to the late but legendary Jerry Lawson, the engineer responsible for creating the technology behind game cartridges back in the 1970’s. Lawson is the first black pioneer of video games and technology. In the video (watch here), the sense of admiration is strong between Saulter to Lawson, as if Saulter found a long lost relative. In some ways, I understand how he feels. Doing the Black History in Video Games segment has enlighten me to many black brothers and sisters whose names are rarely acknowledged but their effort are taken for granted.

I would like to post a quote from Fast Company’s interview with Joseph Saulter. I believe this encompasses Saulter’s dream of not only growth and diversity but awareness to those who are rarely addressed in these fields:

"Black children to me are like oil in the deepest part of the universe. You have to dig deep to get the oil. These kids have something so rich inside of them, but you have to dig deep"

- CEO Joseph Saulter

 

As time passes, I would love to see the increased integration of black and minorities in game development and their imagination, stories and creativity expressed through this digital medium. I would like to witness a heightened acknowledgment of Saulter's life work of broadening diversity because he's not simply teaching our youth to open the door of opportunity but enriching the skills necessary to build their own doors.