Fernando Reyes Medina is having a breakthrough moment…
BAFTA has named its BAFTA Breakthrough participants for 2020, with the Mexican game designer among the the 34-strong list of rising talents in film, games and television from both the United States and United Kingdom.
Reyes Medina is a game designer at 343 Industries, designing and creating exciting new experiences for the upcoming Halo Infinite. Born and raised in Mexico City, he graduated with a computer science degree from Tec de Monterrey. He’s the co-founder and the LATAM director for Latinx in Gaming, a 501c3 non-profit organization focus on helping members from the Latinx community to succeed in the gaming industry.
The organization’s Breakthrough showcase was expanded earlier this year to take talent from the U.S., India and China. Applications for India open at the end of this month and China will open in 2021.
The selected talent will receive mentorship and career guidance, plus access to BAFTA networking opportunities. They’ll be showcased together in 2021.
The selection jury this year included Paapa Essiedu, Fiona Shaw, Edward Enninful and Amma Asante.
“We are thrilled to be announcing our first ever BAFTA Breakthrough participants in the USA alongside those for our seventh year in the UK,” said BAFTA’s Amanda Berry. “This year’s cohort is such a strong and inclusive list, revealing the future stars of our industries. We are delighted to be partnering with Netflix again this year, which is supporting the global expansion of Breakthrough into the USA and India. Netflix shares our vision to raise awareness of and celebrate emerging talent from an array of different backgrounds and cultures.”
Here’s a look at those being named to the Breakthrough list:
UK
Abigail Dankwa, Multi Camera Director (Love Song)
Aleem Khan, Director / Writer (After Love)
Ali Tocher, Game Audio Designer (Surgeon Simulator 2)
Amir El-Masry, Performer (Limbo)
Ben Sharrock & Irune Gurtubai, Director / Writer & Producer (Limbo)
Bethany Swan, Hair and Makeup up Designer (I May Destroy You)
Bim Ajadi, Director (Here Not Here)
Bukky Bakray, Performer (Rocks)
Catherine Unger, Artist/Co-Writer (Tangle Tower)
Chella Ramanan, Narrative Designer/Writer (Before I Forget)
Claire Bromley, External Game Producer (Sackboy: A Big Adventure)
Jordan Hogg, Director (Ackley Bridge)
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Producer (Blue Story)
Lea Schönfelder, Lead Game Designer (Assemble With Care)
Linn Waite & Kate Byers, Producers (Bait)
Rina Yang, Cinematographer (Sitting in Limbo)
Rubika Shah, Director/Writer (White Riot)
Ruka Johnson, Costume Designer (Blue Story)
Tamara Lawrance, Performer (The Long Song)
Tim Renkow, Writer/Performer (Jerk)
Youssef Kerkour, Performer (Home)
U.S.
Aadip Desai, Writer (The Goldbergs)
Arnaldo Licea, Game Designer (The Last of Us Part II)
Edson Oda, Director / Writer (Nine Days)
Ekwa Msangi, Director / Writer (Farewell Amor)
Fernando Reyes Medina, Multiplayer Designer (Halo Infinite)
Gene Back, Composer (Cowboys)
Jim LeBrecht, Co-Director (Crip Camp)
Lauren Ridloff, Performer (Eternals, The Walking Dead)
Mary Kenney, Game Writer (Spider-Man: Miles Morales)
Nicole Newnham, Co-Director (Crip Camp)
Shannon DeVido, Performer (Insatiable, Difficult People)