Adam Levenson met David Smith from Interactive Selection and Game Careers at the Develop conference in Brighton, UK. Adam serves as Director of the Central Audio and Talent groups at Activision where he oversees original music, sound effects, post-production, audio technology, voiceovers, celebrity talent, and scriptwriters across Activision portfolio of titles. In addition, he is spearheading the creation and implementation of shared audio standards and technologies across Activision’s global studios. He joined Activision in 2006 as the Director of Central Audio. He has more than 17 years experience in video game audio production having contributed to games as a composer, sound designer, supervisor and audio director. Prior to joining Activision, he founded Immersive Sound, a full-service game audio production company where he directed audio production for publishers such as Electronic Arts and Atari, both companies he later worked with as Audio Director. Before this, he worked on the award-winning audio team at Interplay Entertainment and began his career in audio production at Trilobyte. Prior to joining the video game industry, Mr. Levenson worked as a recording artist and performing musician for several years.
His advice to audio people looking to work on the music for an Activision game: “I think the most important thing is, do your homework. If you want to work for Activision, learn about the company, do some research, find out the recent titles, know what they are all about and figure out how you can contribute to those games. That is really critical. A cold call is great, but you need to do your homework in advance so that when you get on the phone with someone like myself you know what you are talking about. The other important thing is to have demo material ready. If you’re a creative person, make sure you have your reel prepared and make sure it shows the best of your work. People often think they are supposed to show X, Y and Z, NO. We want to know what you do best and what your unique contribution is going to be. Those are the two most important things.”