Welcome to our Global Grads Presents series starring Full Sail international grads from all around the world as they reconnect to give back to YOU!

Today's panelists:

Jose Villarroel

LinkedIn

Jose Villarroel is Lead Animation Programmer at Epic Games, working remotely from Idaho. Born and raised in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, Jose pursued a Game Development degree at Full Sail University. His graduation project, Inanis, was invited to the DreamHack Anaheim Student Showcase.

After graduating, Jose fulfilled his dream of joining Epic Games, the studio behind his favorite game, Gears of War 2. He landed an internship that evolved into a full-time role.

Since 2019, he has played a key role developing animation systems in Fortnite and Unreal Engine.

Benji Pliego

Benji Pliego is a Game Design Generalist at Spaceboy. He joined Full Sail University in 2023 to pursue a Master's Degree in Game Design.

He joined CelleC Games as a part of his Degree and collaborated in the development of 4 released games. He also worked on an indie title called "Abstemius" on his own.

These efforts helped him land his role at Spaceboy where he is currently developing VR, PC, Console and Mobile games.

He also landed a freelance role as a game writer for GameCoder Studios for an upcoming AAA game called "Selene".

Since his graduation in 2024, Benji has been developing economies, stories, levels and environments for a wide variety of clients in the indie games industry.

We hope you will enjoy two gaming graduates as they share their experiences post graduation and their career trajectory.

Come along as we get to know Ivana Peña-Loyola, a Music Production graduate from the Dominican Republic. Explore her inspiring journey of pursuing her passion for music and how she carved out opportunities along the way!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_ivanaloyolamusic/

Lindkdn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivana-pena-loyola/

Join us as we learn more about Nivedita Rajasekaran, also known as Gamer Queen. She is a 2019 Game Design graduate from India. Discover her journey of navigating the challenges of finding a career during the peak of the pandemic and eventually landing her dream job working with games at Microsoft!

Join us as we talk with 4 recent graduates who share their highs and lows of finding work after graduation, navigating OPT, and even some interview nightmare stories. EEK! Yes, it happens. Our guests include:

Manav Patel, India, Game Design MFA

Instagram - Manavpatel_05

Linkedin link

Mario Rangel, Peru, Film Production MFA

LinkedIn

Instagram

https://www.mariorangelhur.com/

IMDB

Renan Souza, Brazil, Digital Arts and Design BS

LinkedIn

Lisa Fremder, Australia, Media Communications BS

INSTAGRAM

PersonalWebsite

Kaiel Eytle is a 2013 Film Graduate from Guyana, and Aryana Roberts is a 2014 Film Graduate from the Bahamas. Relax, grab your preferred beverage, and listen to how they manage their film production business. Learn about their journey after Full Sail University and the projects they worked on. This episode also celebrates Caribbean Heritage Month, which is honored in June.

Join us as we discuss an amazing career from Colombian Recording Arts graduate, Sebastian Zuleta, as he explains his career as both a music composer and film music editor. Hear his story about how his move to LA eventually led to working with the great Hans Zimmer.

You can find his body of work on IMDB and contact at [email protected].

2016 Recording Arts graduate, from Germany, shares her secret to success in the over 160 projects since graduation. You can connect with Thera here:

Mobile:

E-mail: [email protected]

Instagram

IMDb

Crew United

LinkedIn

Today's recent graduates include:

Rebecca Keenan from England, Ray Taretiya from India, Patricio Garay from Mexico, Kanmi Afolabi from Nigeria, and Fernando Augustino from Brazil.

You'll hear how they found their first jobs, and why one grad turned down his dream job to work for WWE.

2013 Entertainment Business Grad from Brazil, Cesar Munhoz shares his journey at Full Sail and his career which spans performance, composition, advertising, and optimization. Listen as he talk about making the decision on what career to pursue with an Entertainment Business Master's degree with so many options. He can be reached:

www.cesarmunhoz.com

www.mitomano.com

LinkedIn.com

In this episode, we talk with 2016 Game Art Bachelor of Science graduate, Esther Didini-James. Listen as we discuss her career with Firaxis Games, how she feels about her interview with "Asked and Answered With Women of Marvel" and what's new and exciting in her life. You can find her digital footprints here:

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherdidini/⁠ 

⁠https://www.instagram.com/esther.didini/⁠ 

⁠https://www.artstation.com/estherdidini⁠ 

⁠https://estherdidini.blogspot.com/⁠#! 

⁠https://www.marvel.com/articles/culture-lifestyle/asked-answered-women-of-marvel-midnight-suns-esther-didini-james⁠