Zora is the principal designer, programmer, project manager and author of I Am This Castle. Zora’s defining characteristics are a fierce determination to leave the world better than she found it, and an uncompromising attention to detail.

Zora is an experienced technical project worker, having been an accountant for the past 8 years, developing her analytical skillset through financial auditing for more than 5 of those. Zora has been a writer all her life, and has completed two novel-writing courses at the Australian Writers Centre. Zora is a 2nd-year Programming student of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, and will finish her studies in December 2024.

Cliff is a Lecturer of Game Programming at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, and has decades of experience in programming, digital art, education and mentoring. Cliff is an Unreal Authorized Instructor partner for Epic Games, and a Game Programming Mentor at CG Spectrum College of Digital Art and Animation.

Cliff is an interactive application developer and content creator, having worked on multiple projects in Unreal Engine, and having authored and reviewed several books and courses on Unreal Engine, such as "Unreal Engine Physics Essentials" and "Game Development with Unreal Engine 5".

Sarah Pavlich is an experienced and passionate QA analyst, once described by a friend as “a lovely QA person who loves QA”. They have worked on many different types of projects, with team sizes as little as 3 and as big as 30. This year they were elected as one of the Co-Convenors for Game Workers Australia and were nominated for the Future Leader award, as part of the Games Quality awards.

Liam O'Connell is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from the ACT, where he lives and works in the local band/dj scene and writes/records with long-term collaborators and new acquaintances for his independent record album, Branch Stack Records.

Between 2001-2015 Liam lived in Melbourne and played extensively around Australia as an itinerant jazz musician, culminating in a 2008 tour of the US with The New Wolverine Jazz Orchestra. In 2008 he was awarded Best Classic Jazz Album (Bell Awards) with Cuttin' Capers by Sweet Lowdowns. Liam supported Lee Scratch Perry at the Sydney Opera House in 2009, with dub band Sine.

Mitch is a Canberra-based music producer, videographer, musician, vocalist, and all-round digital creative. Mitch has 11 years of professional experience in audiovisual roles, including digital production, including at both the Museum of Australian Democracy and the Australian National Gallery.

Mitch was previously a member of the Canberra Choral Society and has performed as a chorister in performances in Canberra, including Carmina Burana at Llewellyn Hall and Schubert Mass No. 2 in G major.

Bella Sibley is an emerging Perth-based artist and 2nd-year Game Art and Animation student of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE), where she studies 3D art and will complete her studies in December 2024.

Bella is a bright star of artistic talent, as a creator of 2D art for 6 years, and 3D art for 3 years, with a special talent for characters. Her art passions include character design and anatomy, with a profound ability for artistic output.

Daniel McKendry is an emerging Brisbane-based artist and 2nd-year Game Art and Animation student of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE), where he studies 3D art and will complete his studies in December 2024.

Daniel loves Zbrush sculpting and has a special interest in monsters and creatures, particularly from horror, fantasy and sci-fi. Daniel has a talent for creating environments, with cross-medium and workflow skills and proficiencies in Adobe Maya, Substance, Photoshop, Zbrush, Marmoset Toolbag, Unity and Unreal Engine. Some of his favourite games are Outlast, Bioshock, Skyrim, Stray and Little Nightmares.

Ylaria is a Canberra-based director, actor, dramaturge and producer with experience in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, London and Vietnam. Ylaria has collaborated with The Street Theatre, Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centre, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, National Capital Orchestra, National Capital Opera, The Hayes Theatre, Victorian College of the Arts, and The Universe (Hanoi). Across these collaborations, productions and companies, Ylaria has contributed to a significant body of new writing work as a director, actor, and more recently, dramaturg.

Ylaria was selected for The Street Theatre’s Early Phase creative development program for her piece We Are Not Alone, which aims to drive change in society’s perception of those who have suffered child sexual abuse. We Are Not Alone aims to destigmatize and release shame from conversations about child sexual abuse, and empower the voice of the survivor. We Are Not Alone’s development was supported by Arts ACT in 2022 and again in 2023, and this piece’s creative journey is now at the heart of Ylaria’s work as an artist.

Karen Vickery is a multi-award winning Canberra based actor and director with over 40 years experience. She co-founded Pigeonhole Theatre and played Mrs Betterton in their acclaimed production of Playhouse Creatures at QPAC, before touring to Mondial du Theatre Festival in Monte Carlo, followed by regional tours of NSW, Brisbane Qld, and Victoria. For Pigeonhole Theatre she directed Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, and starred in Switzerland by Joanna Murray Smith at Canberra Theatre Centre.

Karen co-founded Independent Theatre Collective, ACT Hub, and is Artistic Director of resident theatre company Chaika Theatre, which has received Canberra Critics’ Circle Awards and Ovation Awards.

Alex is a Canberra-based actor and public servant. His credits include Johnny Dowd in Pigeonhole Theatre’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (2017), Juror #7 and Perce respectively in Everyman Theatre’s Twelve Angry Men (2018) and Queers (2019; 2024), Brett in Alchemy Artistic’s debut production of The Boys (2022), and Stanley in Free Rain’s A Streetcar Named Desire (2024).

Natasha is an actor, music theatre performer and voiceover artist in Sydney and Canberra. In Sydney Natasha worked with Pinchgut Opera Company in their production of Dioclesian and Bob Ellis in The Word Before Shakespeare. She graduated from WAAPA in 2017, where her credits included Viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Liz Essendine in Present Laughter and Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera.

Natasha received the Whiddon International Artist Scholarship. Since graduating she has completed an MEAA internship on the set of ABC’s Back in Very Small Business, played Emma Goldman in director Roger Hodgman’s Assassins for Black Swan State Theatre Company, Sonya in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Little Sally in Urinetown at The Hayes Theatre Co.

Max Gambale has been an actor in Canberra for over 20 years. In that time he has worked extensively as a singer, actor, and voice actor, bringing to life such varied roles as Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q to The Artilleryman in War of the Worlds. Recent credits include Cladwell in the critically acclaimed Urinetown by Heart Strings Theatre Co, Dewey in School of Rock, Chorus in Lakespeare's Henry V, as well as a trio of roles in As You Like It, for which he won a Canberra Critics Circle award. He can be found most days developing and performing with Questacon's science theatre troupe The Excited Particles.

Michael Klose is a voiceover artist with a background in design and marketing that has led him to providing talent for commercials, corporate videos, and on-hold messaging. Having studied Radio production at AFTRS in 2019 he is merging his curiosity and talents in the voice acting space with his interest in video games.

Petronella graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2016 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre). Her previous theatre credits include: Cordelia/Fool in King Lear, Sirius in Alphabetical Sydney, Helen in The Hello Girls, Hope in Urinetown: the Musical, Tiger in Girl Running, Boy Falling, Aaron Dangerfield/Edward Ashbrook in Coram Boy, Claudia Nardi in Nine and Frau Gabor in Spring Awakening. She has participated in creative developments with The Street Theatre of Signal Makers and We Are Not Alone.

She has toured nationally with CDP Theatre Producers as Chloe in Mr Stink, Cat in Room on the Broom, Lucy in Magic Beach, Madame Know-It-All in The 91-Storey Treehouse, and Child in The Gruffalo's Child.

Petronella holds associate degrees in piano (AMEB) & classical voice (Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music). She appeared as presenter for the web series Storytime @ Koorong and has completed two Book Week tours with Perform!Education.