CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WHO CREATE
Nerdmaker was built on a simple idea: nerds make nerds.
Emerging creators need more than classroom theory. They need hands-on experience, mentorship and real opportunities to build the skills, portfolios and relationships that can lead to independent careers or jobs with the companies they’ve always wanted to work for.
Nerdmaker provides experiential training across film, television, gaming, digital design, interactive media and emerging entertainment, helping participants turn what they know into what they can actually do.
OUR MISSION
Nerdmaker empowers emerging creators through accessible, hands-on education in media, art, and technology. We combine experiential learning with real-world production experience, professional mentorship, and career pathways across film, gaming, interactive storytelling, and digital design.
We place particular emphasis on opening doors for neurodivergent creators and people with disabilities, cultivating accessible environments driven by collaboration and interdisciplinary experimentation.
We envision a creative industry in which more people have the opportunity to turn curiosity, imagination and technical skill into meaningful work. Nerdmaker exists to help close the space between learning how something is made and actually helping make it.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Learn by Making
Participants gain experience through projects, experimentation and production rather than observation alone.
Creativity Is Interdisciplinary
Modern media increasingly combines filmmaking, gaming, design, technology, fabrication, marketing and interactive storytelling. Our programs reflect that reality.
Accessibility Expands Creativity
Creative education works better when different learning styles, abilities and perspectives are considered from the beginning.
Real Experience Matters
Portfolio work, mentorship, collaboration and professional credits can be as important to early careers as classroom instruction.
Education Should Lead Somewhere
Our programs are designed around pathways toward internships, employment, professional networks and continued creative development.
ACCESSIBILITY + INCLUSION
Different minds make different things.
Creative industries benefit from people who see, process and approach problems differently.
Nerdmaker works to create learning environments that support neurodivergent participants and creators with disabilities.
Depending on program needs and available resources, accessibility measures may include:
- Captioned media
- Accessible course materials
- Flexible learning formats
- Alternative assignment structures
- Remote participation
- Adaptive workflows
- Accessibility-focused technology
- Partnerships with disability organizations
Accessibility is not an additional program at Nerdmaker. It is part of how we believe creative education should work.
LEADERSHIP
Hal Hefner | Founder & Board Member
Hal Hefner is an artist, writer, creative director, educator, filmmaker and transmedia storyteller with more than twenty years of experience across advertising, entertainment marketing, media strategy, visual art, digital content creation and storytelling.
He teaches Transmedia Storytelling through Rochester Institute of Technology’s Los Angeles program and has developed creative work spanning film, games, digital media, entertainment marketing, visual art and interactive storytelling.
He founded Nerdmaker to create stronger pathways between creative education and professional experience for the next generation of media makers.
Justine Norton-Kertson | Founder & Board Member
Justine Norton-Kertson is an author, publisher, and game designer and the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Solarpunk Magazine and Android Press.
Books they have edited and published have been finalists for the Bram Stoker, Nebula, British Science Fiction, and British Fantasy Awards. Their narrative role-playing game Fighting for the Future released in 2023, and their solarpunk RPG City of Hope releases in July 2025.
Their nonfiction book Utopian Witch: Solarpunk Magick to Fight Climate Change and Save the World was published by Microcosm Publishing in 2024. Their debut horror novella Gutterspace will be released in October 2026 by Stars & Sabers Publishing.
George Martens | Board Member
George Martens the CEO of Sip Studios JC, where he is managing all operations as well as directing & producing a documentary called "Grateful Deaf" about the rise of a powerful movement of deaf Grateful Dead fans. He’s also working on a comedy series called "Wise Guys".
George possesses a strong background in digital media, business development, and management, with expertise in TV/Film/Digital production, postproduction, and production management. He has led creative teams to produce award-winning content, including the film "Juniper" which won six film festival awards. George also has a proven track record in UX/UI design, having developed interfaces for three mobile apps. Fluent in American Sign Language, he is a versatile leader with a keen eye for current trends in digital media production.
"We envision a creative industry in which more people have the opportunity to turn curiosity, imagination, and technical skill into meaningful, sustainable work."
The Nerdmaker Vision
CONTACT US
Rochester, New York
United States
Office hours
Mon - Fri: 9:00am - 6:00pm PST
Sat - Sun: Closed
Direct contact
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