“I’m a writer and my first novel came out in 1999 and was published by Harper Collins,” he explained. “While in many ways that was a good experience, I was never comfortable with the corporate nature of Harper Collins. I was not excited about working with a company owned by Rupert Murdoch, so I decided to publish my next novel through my own company—No Media Kings, named in dishonour of Murdoch.”
Though he’d expected this move to make things harder from him, he instead found that he had instead opened up a path to new creative possibilities, such as the freedom and access to collaborators for graphic novels, video games and movies.
“We can reduce our reliance on corporations through communities,” said Munroe, “communities offer the same things that corporations can.”
As a result, Munroe helped form the Hand Eye Society with the help of Toronto’s local game development community—and realized quickly that they had created what was “more of a cultural society than a business organization.”
The Hand Eye Society holds regular social events—“Hand Eye Society Socials”—which can include presentations from guest speakers (which have included luminaries such as art game iconoclast Messhof) but also involves itself with other local independent communities such as the ‘zine community (holding an “artcade” at recent editions of Canzine, Canada’s largest ‘zine fair.)
“When I talk about the things that are going on in Toronto at GDC and other events, the response I often get is ‘I wish things like that were happening in my city,’” Munroe said. “But they can. You don’t have to choose between being a creator and a community organizer.”
To help keep the community involved, all members of the society pledge to offer at least ten hours of volunteering for the society (if need be) on signing up, but Munroe noted that this had been no impediment to sign-ups.
“I don’t know if it’s that gamers lack a mainstream output for this enthusiasm or if it is that an interactive medium inspires people to be engaged, but there’s a real excitement in the people that get involved in the community,” he said.
For Indie Game Summit attendees interested in founding their own gaming communities, Munroe offered some advice.
“Don’t worry about funding, don’t worry about what is possible, just go ahead and do it. Start small, but provide enthusiasts a way to engage with your development community.”