Max Cannon - Portfolio

Game Design Samples

Big Bang Baby

Project lead and creative director on this Unity project made using Photon Pun 2 for VR online cooperative gameplay.

Responsibilities included:

Developing the game’s concept and determining development needs.
Writing dialogue and finding a production process for efficient audio integration.
Working with the lead programmer to integrate a modular subtitle system.
Various bug fixes in C#.

Psycho Signal

Project lead and creative director on this beat-em-up for up to 4 players wherein a scrappy cable repair company fights across TV-themed levels to remove the invasive commercials of an evil advertising obsessed mega corporation.

Responsibilities included:

Developing the game’s concept and determining development needs.
Developing narrative, level design, and general gameplay premise.
Development on initial prototype gameplay as well as commercial minigames.
Various bug fixes in C#.

CleanStreak

An in-development VR room cleaning score-chaser. Get everything tidied up before your mom gets home and sees your mess of a room! A solo project made in Unity using C#.

Chaos Cavern

Project lead and creative director on this Unity project made for the 2020 GMTK Game Jam.

Responsibilities included:

Design of the game’s concept.
UI Scripting in C#.
Various bug fixes.

Sneakurai

Collect the sword, sacrifice the guard, and use the lock to escape!

Responsibilities included:

Creation of environmental art and animations.
Level design and scripting in ActionScript 3.

SureShot

Prove to the citizens of Bird City that it was just an accident!
A solo project made using ActionScript 3.

Filmmaking Samples

Banned in Boise

Two would-be filmmakers plot revenge on their former employers by challenging them in a local film festival -- and winning by any means necessary. Created by Max Cannon & Brandon Sullivan.

Flippin' on the Side/Boise Boys

The odd-couple of real estate work together despite contrasting personalities to renovate homes in the fastest growing city in the country.

Co-creator of the initial sizzle reel which greenlit the show for HGTV.

Netflix and Kill

A dedicated friend fights to save his friend’s soul from a succubus following a painful breakup in this campy horror-comedy.

Nearsighted

Winner of Best Use of Dialogue at i48 2017.

Made for i48 2017.
All content and ideas generated within 48 hours.
Genre: Silent Film
Required Line of Dialogue: "Are you ready for this?"
Required Character: Jess
Required Prop: Spoonrest

beatricefootage.mp4

Winner of Best Villain at h48 2016.

Made for h48 2016.
All content and ideas generated within 48 hours.
Genre: Possession Film

A Comprehensive List of Ways to Advance My Life

Winner of Best Sound and Music and Second Placeat i48 2013.

Made for i48 2013.
All content and ideas generated within 48 hours.
Genre: Comedy
Required Line of Dialogue: "It’s just a bump in the road?"
Required Character: Randall
Required Prop: Paint Scraper

About Me

After a career in Film and TV, I’ve decided to extend my focus into the world of video game development and bring along the narrative-focused lessons I’d learned along the way.

Following a successful pitch to HGTV for the show that would become Boise Boys, I then created an original series for the PlayStation Emerging Filmmakers program titled Banned in Boise. That proximity to PlayStation became a revelation that I wanted to expand into the world of video games, a step that made sense as I’d also spent 4 years writing video game coverage and criticism for the family-friendly site Kidzworld.com—all while working at St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho as an Anesthesia Technician since 2013.

My journey into game development began by attending Boise State University’s program for Games, Interactive Media, and Mobile development where I learned programming in C#, familiarity with Unity Engine, and began designing projects with a strong focus on VR.

I’m currently acting as creative director, lead game designer, and narrative lead on 2 projects: Big Bang Baby and Psycho Signal.

Big Bang Baby is a cooperative-focused VR game where a pair of players work together to transport an alien baby.

Psycho Signal is a beat-em-up for up to 4 players wherein a scrappy cable repair company fights across TV-themed levels to remove the invasive commercials of an evil advertising-obsessed mega-corporation.