Game Changer: Talent & Production Coordinator Becky Dodd on Working at Naughty Dog & Having the Courage to Pursue Your Career
Welcome to the fourth installment in our new series, Game Changer! Because it’s important to signal boost the work of women in the games industry (especially lately), we’ll be interviewing the awesome, brave, and talented women who bring their voices to indie and mainstream game development. Check out previous entries: Jill Murray, Anna Megill, and Brie Code.
This week we sat down with Becky Dodd (@thebeckydodd), Talent & Production Coordinator at Naughty Dog, who has also worked as a VO Talent Agent and Voice Director with voice actors like Troy Baker and Jennifer Hale.
Emma Fissenden (TMS): Can you tell me a bit about your journey? How did you end up where you are today? What prompted your initial entry into the gaming industry?
Becky Dodd: My route into games was definitely non-traditional, as my original background is in live theatre production and administration. I actually have a Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre management and arts administration, but when I moved to California it was to become a casting director or a talent agent. After paying some dues as an assistant at a talent agency, I shifted into voice directing actors for a few years, which is something I still love doing; but I still wanted to be an agent, so I switched desks to work for the animation voiceover agent to learn more and grow. She also happened to cover video games, saw my enthusiasm for them, and actively encouraged me to develop those relationships. Soon I was handling that aspect of the department with her guidance.
When I was promoted and became a talent agent, I was lucky enough that she let me keep the interactive voiceover work that I loved. That lead to me fostering our talent’s presence in the gaming VO world, and helping some of the finest voice actors (in my very biased opinion) develop and manage their work in video games. After about five years as a talent agent, I had realized most of my professional goals and, while I was happy working with our incredible actors, I missed being a part of a team that was making an actual creative product.
So, I began quietly exploring what the best path might be to jump into the production side of video games. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson were both my clients and I felt very invested in The Last of Us, even though I didn’t work directly for Naughty Dog. Neil Druckmann and the entire team at Naughty Dog had been very welcoming and open to my shoot visits and answering any questions I might have. So, right when The Last of Us was finishing production, I finally managed to snag a few hours with Neil to take him to lunch and ask his advice. We had a long conversation, and that lunch turned out to be perfect timing, because he and Amy Hennig were looking to bring someone into Naughty Dog full time. I went in for a more formal interview and landed the job. I was delighted to start my career in gaming at Naughty Dog working with some of the best in the business.
TMS: Can you describe what your role as Talent & Production Coordinator at Naughty Dog involves? What’s an average kind of day for you?
Dodd: My work at the studio has a few facets. First, I function as a casting director and assist the creative teams in finding the right actors and stunt performers for work in our games. Once we have our performers cast, I coordinate all of the various calendars, schedules, and teams to come up with dates and a plan for motion capture shoots and recording sessions. Last but not least, I work with our other production coordinator to make sure information is flowing through the studio as needed and everyone stays as informed as we can keep them. My focus is anything involving actors, stunt people, and cinematic scenes in our games.
One of the things I love about my job is that the days can vary so much. One day I might be on set as we shoot with actors for Uncharted 4, and the next I’ll be back at my desk listening to over two hundred voiceover auditions before making a shortlist of recommendations to the creative team. There’s a fair amount of e-mail, getting up to go talk to people face to face (which is preferred, when possible, at the studio), as well as reading the trades online and keeping up with which actors are where. I review a lot of materials that agents and actors send me to make general notes to reference later when we are casting specific roles. Luckily I have a pretty good memory, which helps me keep track of all the information and details, but I keep a running notebook of a “To Do” list, as well.
TMS: Can you comment on your plans for your own future, and also where you hope the future of the gaming industry might be headed?
Dodd: Presently, I’m just in the midst of my second year at the studio, so I am just hitting my stride. I’m really finding where I can help the team, so my immediate hope for the future is to continue down that path. It sounds cheesy, I know, but ultimately I just want to do my best to help everyone make an awesome game while maintaining and growing Naughty Dog’s relationship with the acting and stunt community. If the opportunity arises and I’m the right fit, I might try to explore voice directing again. If I had the right spark of inspiration, who knows, I might even want to try writing a book.
As for the future of the gaming industry, the growth in storytelling and narrative in games just in the past decade alone makes me very excited for our future. Personally, I’d love it if more medium-budget projects were able to thrive and develop. It seems like we are in a similar boat to the film industry where there are block busters and indie budgets and very little in between.
TMS: Do you have any advice for people—especially women—who might be considering a career in games? What’s one thing you wished the younger you would have known?
Dodd: Apply for the job! HR statistics show that men traditionally are more willing to apply for a job even if they don’t meet 100% of the qualifications than women. If you meet most of the qualifications and are passionate about it, apply for the job. And though it can be an intimidating process, build relationships and connections. Talk to the strangers sitting near you on the bench at GDC or E3. The worst that can happen is they’ll brush you off, which is never really about you. The best thing that can happen is you’ll meet someone awesome and new, and hey, they can eventually be the referral you want next year when that great new job opens up at their company.
The one thing I wish I knew when I was younger would have been that it’s okay to walk away for a breath of fresh air when things are getting hairy. It will actually make you better able to focus and complete the workload, if you take those few moments of rest to center and rejuvenate yourself.
TMS: Can you talk about anything really difficult you’ve had to overcome both as a coordinator and as a woman in the games industry?
Dodd: Luckily, I can’t think of anything specific that I’ve had to overcome as a woman in the game industry, because I’ve found all of my colleagues here at Naughty Dog to be incredibly supportive and encouraging. That’s not to say there aren’t times when they have a different opinion or disagree, but I haven’t ever felt like my work wasn’t valued or treated as equally as any of my co-workers.
Generally, throughout my career in various coordination and assistant positions in past jobs, I’ve encountered some rather traditionally sexist moments, like being asked to make coffee because I’m the female assistant. But thankfully, there weren’t too many, and hopefully that breed of attitude in a boss is dying out.
TMS: Quick fire questions! Favourite game you’ve worked on?
Dodd: The Last of Us
TMS: Three favourite games of the past year?
Dodd: Monument Valley (so beautiful); The Last of Us: Left Behind (Ashley and Yaani make me weep at the end every time); Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition on PS4 (it’s the only game I’ve played so much of—hundreds of hours. I have all the trophies. Love it.)
TMS: Of all time?
Dodd: Gauntlet Legends, the arcade version that was my stress relief throughout grad school and ate many of my quarters.
TMS: Most frustrating sequence you’ve played in a game?
Dodd:I can never quite tell where I’m going to land when I jump in the early Lego games, so likely the Lego Star Wars chapter where Anakin has to jump through a lava field, I think? I died… a lot.
TMS: Favourite character?
Dodd: I have a soft spot for Mario.
TMS: Favourite character of yours from a game you’ve worked on and why?
Dodd:This is really like asking me who’s your favorite child, you know!?! I’ve been privileged to work with incredible talent that bring hundreds of great roles to life, but if you force me to just name a few, I’m going with a three-way tie of three that I’m most proud in having a hand in: Female Commander Shepard (played by the incomparable Jennifer Hale); Joel (played by the fantastic Troy Baker); and Ellie (played by the amazing Ashley Johnson).
TMS: First game you played?
Dodd: Q*bert, I think… or Frogger.
TMS: Coffee or Tea?
Dodd: I try not to drink caffeine, so neither, but when I am drinking caffeine, it’d be iced tea.
Emma Fissenden is a writer of all trades. When she’s not pushing through her next rewrite, she’s playing too many games and editing fiction at @noblegasqrtly. You can find her on Twitter @efissenden, or check out her other series for TMS, Bad Gamer.
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