Dissatisfied with the game spaces and opportunities provided for women, queer, and neurodivergent folks in Montreal’s game scene, Gina Hara and Charlotte Fisher created GAMERella in 2013. Since then GAMERella has worked with many amazing organizers and volunteers.
2024’s team includes:
GINA HARA (she/her)
Co-Founder, Co-Director
Gina is a nerdy filmmaker and artist. She co-founded GAMERella in 2013 and run the jam since. Check out some of Gina’s short films and her Minecraft webseries on Youtube. You can also watch her documentary, Geek Girls, exploring the hidden half of nerd culture free at your local library.
Gina currently works and lives in Toronto, where she is the Advocacy Manager at Pink Triangle Press.
COURTNEY BLAMEY (she/her)
Co-Director
Courtney Blamey is the Co-Director of GAMERella, a non-profit focused on creating inclusive and supportive spaces for marginalised game makers, with an annual game jam and workshop series – and more on the way! She is also a PhD Candidate in Communication and game designer at Concordia University, Montreal. Her doctoral research concentrates on meaning-making in games involving emotional game design and exploring the relationship between player and designer in her critical game design process. She is currently developing a “dating” sim about our inner selves.
Owen Hellum
(he/him)
Co-Organizer & Workshop Coordinator
Owen Hellum is an indie game designer, programmer, and 3D artist based in Montréal, Québec. Throwing himself wholly into both the technical and artistic sides of game and interactive design, he has worked on various independent, collaborative, and professional game projects. His interests lie on the intersection between whimsicality and technicality in games and other interactive media. He adores exploring rich narratives, manipulating player agency, and designing things that come together just right. He works as a programmer at Studio Imugi and is a co-founder of the Kokolo Game/Art Collective.
Katelyn Campbell (she/her)
Social Media Manager & Graphic Designer
Katelyn is a Game Designer and Video Editor based in Montreal. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Media Production from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Game Design from George Brown College. Her favourite projects to work on and play are small, light-hearted games with strong narratives. She is interested in video game history and creating inclusive communities in and around video games.
Myloe Martel-Perry
(they/them)
Support Worker
Myloe works as the Youth and Community Engagement Coordinator for the Canadian Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity, creating programming for Queer and Trans youth. They are nerdy about plants, popular education, harm reduction and collective care!
AJ Daclag
(all pronouns)
Support Worker
AJ has spent many years working for various 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations with a particular focus on creating safer more adapted spaces for folks who are queer and neurodivergent. AJ is a second generation filipino canadian, who brings a decolonial perspective onto all their trauma informed support work. They love discovering how games, in their interactive story telling design, can indirectly be places for reflection, healing, emotional processing and growth. Conversely, AJ also enjoys absolute absurdism in games that feel like “brain can turn off now” time. AJ has a big orange cat that can sometimes account for half their personality.