Ms. Deborah Baxtrom
Ms. Baxtrom received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in New York. She works as a screenwriter in Los Angeles and has two scripts being produced through J. Todd Harris's production company. She also runs her own company, Screenplay Search, which holds three annual screenplay contests and provides script analysis services. She has also worked as an entertainment writer, interviewing celebrities such as Christian Bale, Vin Diesel, and Kate Hudson, as well as working as a script doctor and story analyst for several production companies and agencies. She has written and produced two award-winning short films and won several scriptwriting awards. Before working for The Art Institute of Pittsburgh – Online Division, Ms. Baxtrom taught for Springfield College.
Ms. Nina Stanley
Nina earned her BFA and MA in Painting and Drawing with an emphasis on the Human Figure from California State University, Fullerton. Before finishing her graduate degree, she began working in the fledgling video game industry, starting with a small NES developer in Buena Park, CA. Upon finishing her graduate degree, with an exhibit of mythological painting and a thesis entitled "Video Games and Myth - the Reinterpretation of the Hero's Journey through Popular Culture," she spent several years working as an artist at such companies as Electronic Arts, Capcom, and 3DO in California, moving to New York to work with Vicarious Visions (a subsidiary of Activision) and the independent studio 1st Playable. Still constantly in pursuit of her personal art, in 2004 she founded the Upstate Artists Guild (UAG), which achieved 501(c)3 status in 2006 to increase the awareness and accessibility of all forms of artistic expression in the local community. A die hard figurative artist, she has run life drawing groups for well over a decade, and still maintains a private studio and an active teaching and exhibition schedule as well as teaching for local colleges and running workshops for the UAG. Last year she accepted a full time position for The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division, where she has been happily employing her digital as well as traditional art skills in the formation of the next generation of multimedia and game design artists.
Mr. Tim Decker
Mr. Decker holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Vermont College and has taught computer imaging, animation, and game development for the last twelve years. Before accepting a full time position in the Game Art and Design program at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division, he taught web and game development at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, and animation and digital imaging at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. His current research revolves around the areas of game history, game play, and game theory. With that experience, he has developed a unique understanding of how to introduce students to the complexities of game development.
Ms. Heather Chandler
Ms. Chandler holds a BA in Art History from Vanderbilt University and an MA in Critical Studies from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has been a full time faculty member with The Art Institute – Online Division since 2008. She assists with the Exit Portfolio Review and managed a special project where students completed an entry for the 2010 Independent Games Festival hosted at the Game Developer's Conference. She is also a member of the Faculty Development committee.
Among her most exciting projects, Ms. Chandler was a producer on the Ghost Recon franchise for Ubisoft and has served in a production capacity on a variety of commercial games since 1996. She has published several books and articles on game development, including The Game Production Handbook, 2nd Edition and The Game Localization Handbook. She is also the editor on a series of books on game development that will be published by Jones Bartlett.