Navid Khonsari

Navid Khonsari is an Iranian–Canadian video game designer, virtual/mixed reality, film and graphic novel creator, writer, director, and producer. As a distinguished video game director, Khonsari is known for having developed the cinematic look and feel for the iconic AAA franchises such as Grand Theft Auto/Vice City/San Andreas, Max Payne, The Warriors, Midnight Club, Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver, Alan Wake, Homefront and most recently, the AAA hit Resident Evil 7.

Khonsari’s celebrated original titles; 1979 Revolution, Hero VR, Fire Escape VR, Blindfold VR – have earned him the industries top honors including Best Game Direction and Independent Game of the Year Nominations by Academy of Interactive Sciences (DICE), BAFTA, Winner of Facebook’s Game of the Year, Lumiere Award for Best Immersive, Winning Indiecade Jury Prize, NY Game Critics Nominations for Writing, Best Narrative Game, Tribeca Film Festival’s Storyscape Award and more.

Under the direction of Khonsari, his independent studio is at the forefront of video games and immersive experiences – that Fast Company calls “an Innovation Agent”. Featured in more than 70 notable press outlets including, New Yorker, Vice, BBC, Fast Company, NPR, Wired, Time, Buzzfeed, and The Guardian. Khonsari guest lectures sharing his unique vision, bold success as a director for games and immersive experiences for classes at Yale University, Princeton, Columbia, Duke, Northwestern in Qatar, University of North Carolina, White House, United Nations, Sundance and more.

Khonsari often speaks and lectures on the convergence of technology and storytelling to incite empathy, challenge stereotypes of within mass media – at venues such as Sundance, Hot Docs, DICE, Games For Change, FoST, Game Developers Conference (GDC), White House, Canadian Embassy, SXSW, VIEWS, NY Film Festival, UN and universities including Princeton, SCAD, Columbia, Northwestern. Khonsari is an advisor and fellow of the New Frontier Lab at the Sundance Institute and recipient of support from Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, IFP and Made in NY.