Education
Master of Fine Arts — Major in Film and Media Arts
Emphasis in Game Production
University of Utah, 201 Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
2010 – 2012
Bachelor of Arts — Major in Film Studies
University of Utah, 201 Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
2003 – 2009
Employment
Octothorpe
Co-Founder & Art Director at games development studio Octothorpe
2015 – Present
The Dada Factory
Co-Founder & Director at media production company The Dada Factory
2007 – Present
The University of Utah
Adjunct Professor in the Film & Media Arts Department
Associate Instructor in the Entertainment Arts & Engineering Program
2014 – 2020
The Leonardo Museum
Exhibit & Programs Manager at The Leonardo, museum of creativity and innovation
2010 - 2013
Selected Games & Apps
Flex - Figure Reference
Creator of Flex: Figure Reference, currently available on Steam Early Access
2019
Stanford Fetal Therapy VR
Senior Developer on Fetal Therapy VR for Stanford’s Children’s Health
2018
The Irregular
Co-creator & Art Director of The Irregular a VR victorian mystery experience developed as part of the US Department of Education’s EdSim Challenge
2017
Super Dungeon Bros
Senior Level Designer for multiplayer dungeon crawler rouge-like Super Dungeon Bros
2016
Draw Space
Creator of Draw Space a kaleidoscopic drawing app formerly available on iOS & Android
2014
Selected Public Artworks
Utah Women’s Mural
Co-Designer, Project Coordinator for Utah Women’s Mural, commissioned by Zions Bank
2020
South Salt Lake Mural Fest
Mural artist in the 2020 South Salt Lake Mural Fest, partnering with Level Crossing Brewery
2020
Timelapse
Co-creator of Timelapse, a mural created with support from Salt Lake City (RDA) & Pictureline
2018
Selected Museum Exhibits
Made In Utah: A Showcase of Innovation
Exhibit Developer for Made In Utah (1,500 sq. ft.), featuring the little known creations of Utah inventors
2013
Water: Nature’s Driving Force
Exhibit Developer for Water (3,500 sq. ft.) exploring the impact of water on human life and culture
2012
The Digital Commons: Render
Exhibit Designer & Developer for Render (2,000 sq. ft. ), empowering visitors to create original animated content with industry grade animation tools
2011
Selected Film Productions
Smog Lake City
Creator of the short film Smog Lake City, winner of the 2010 Salt Lake City Weekly Arty Award
2010
Halcyon
Director of the narrative short film Halcyon, winner of “Best Film” in the 2009 48 Hour Film Festival
2009
Afterimage: The Art of 337
Co-Creator of Afterimage the feature-length documentary cataloging the fleeting 337 art project which brought thousands of visitors to a transformed office building in downtown Salt Lake City
2008
The Deep
Creator of The Deep, a pensive short narrative following the thoughts and journey of a solitary character in a dystopic tomorrow, premiered in the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008
Experience
Comprehensive experience in many aspects of video game production pipelines from prototyping through distribution. Expertise in game design and rapid prototyping, programming (C#),, schedule management, 2D content production, 3D content production, motion capture animation, mobile certification and distribution.
Hands-on experience in aspects of film production from concept to delivery. Expertise in narrative screenwriting, cinematography for documentary production, editing for narrative and documentary, motion graphics and compositing.
Strong experience in museum exhibit development: Schedule management and budgeting, content and visitor experience development, content partner relationships, design look & feel oversight, visitor response metrics & data gathering.
Proficiencies
Concept sketching & drafting; Procreate, Adobe Creative Suite applications Photoshop, Illustrator & Adobe Animate; Non-Linear editing applications Final Cut Pro & Adobe Premiere; 3D content creation with Autodesk Maya, Motionbuilder & Adobe Substance Painter; Scripting languages C#, Java & Actionscript; Game development in Unity; Music production with Ableton Live; Office products Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
Bio Sketch
Alex Johnstone, MFA, is a digital creator living and working in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His career in film was launched with his short narrative film The Deep premiering in the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. His narrative and documentary films have screened at national festivals and internationally on broadcast television. In 2010, Alex brought his creative energy to The Leonardo, leading the development of original exhibits and overseeing traveling exhibits as the Exhibits and Programs Manager for the museum of creativity and innovation. Following his passion for interactive entertainment, Alex began teaching undergraduate game development in 2014 at the University of Utah’s Entertainment Arts & Engineering program. The following year he co-founded his second company Octothorpe, an interactive entertainment development studio. Octothorpe was selected as one of five participants in the 2017 U.S. Department of Education’s nationwide EdSim Challenge. Octothorpe has produced virtual reality experiences for clients such as Stanford Children’s Health and the mixed-reality company Spark XR, and is eagerly anticipating the release of their first physical card game Singularity in 2023.