About
JASON SURIANO started his career in the interactive industry as a production manager in 2003, after graduating from the University of Alberta with a Master of Arts Degree in Humanities Computing. He was the first graduate of the new program which converged technology with literature, philosophy, project management, content development and writing. His resulting thesis, “The Sign-ificant Body: Finding Corporal Meaning in Literature, Film and Cyberspace” led to employment with Athabasca University as a technology research assistant and a stint as a Faculty of Arts technology mentor at the University of Alberta’s Technologies for Learning Centre.
In 2003, Jason was hired by the Heritage Community Foundation. During his time with the non-profit organization, Jason successfully initiated and launched several products and programs. “Edukits” was a series of interactive learning resources that explored topics such as the Aboriginal Youth Identity series, The Famous 5, Women of Aspenland, Alberta Naturally and Alberta’s Petrolium Heritage. In his first six months with the program, he raised over $1M in production financing through public and private sources.
In 2004, Jason joined forces with Ken Bautista at Hotrocket to produce and direct several interactive projects. They have worked with partners such as the TELUS World of Science, Science Alberta Foundation, Government of Alberta, Telefilm Canada, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Blister Entertainment, HIP Architects, and FOG Studios.
These productions include “Step Into the Trades”, a game that introduces young kids to the building trades and apprentice; “StreetSmarts”, an online game focused on traffic and street safety; and most recently, “The Central Institute for Exploration (CIE)”, a cross-platform game that uses websites, mobile phones and real-world locations to engage kids in the world of a secret agency dedicated to exploring the past, present and future.
In 2007, Jason and Ken were selected to pitch CIE to a jury of senior industry executives in front of the entire conference delegation at the 8th annual KidScreen Summit in New York. The project won both “Best Pitch” and “Most Viable Property”. CIE was also 1 of only 2 projects in Canada to be supported by the TELUS Innovation Fund, which invests in new forms of original and ground-breaking interactive entertainment content. CIE also led to the company being recognized as “Most Promising Company of the Year” at the annual Canadian New Media Awards.
