Tatum Tech — South Los Angeles, CA
Event Date: October 10, 2026
Pay: $30–$35 per hour
Temporary / One-Day Event
-== About Tatum Tech ==-
Tatum Tech is a workforce development and videogame creation program operated by Tatum Games. We create hands-on opportunities for young people and emerging creators to learn how videogames are designed, developed, tested, presented, and brought to an audience.
Our program is designed to give participants more than a lecture or presentation. Participants work together, create projects, test each other's work, learn from industry professionals, and experience what it is like to build something from an idea into a playable game.
Our October 10th event will bring together students, young creators, game developers, artists, gamers, educators, and members of the broader community for a full day of game development, creative activities, esports, demonstrations, and live programming.
We are looking for paid event volunteers and instructors who want to use their skills to help young people experience the game industry.
-== About This Opportunity ==-
This is a one-day paid volunteer/event opportunity on October 10, 2026 in South Los Angeles.
We are building a team of people with different backgrounds and skillsets. You do not need to be an expert in every area listed below. We are looking for people who can contribute in one or more areas and who are comfortable working directly with young participants.
Available areas include:
- Game Development — Beginner/Youth Track
- Game Development — Unity/Unreal Track
- AI Game Development
- Esports Tournament Operations & Commentary
- Game Art, Illustration & Animation
- Event Setup & Technical Support
Pay is $30–$35 per hour depending on the assignment and experience. This is the maximum compensation budget for the event and is not negotiable.
Tatum Games independently funds Tatum Tech. We do not charge participants admission or participation fees, and this event is not dependent on sponsorship or outside funding. Because we fund the program ourselves, we have a fixed compensation budget for event staff.
1. Game Development Instructor — Youth/Beginner Track
We are looking for game developers who enjoy teaching beginners and young creators.
Participants in this track will use accessible game-making tools such as Super Mario Bros. X (SMBX), Mega Man Maker, and RPG Maker to create simple games and levels.
You do not need extensive professional game-development experience. You should be comfortable learning an unfamiliar tool quickly and explaining basic game-development concepts to beginners.
Responsibilities may include:
- Teaching basic game-development concepts
- Explaining what a game engine is and how game engines work
- Teaching level design and game progression
- Explaining story, characters, objectives, and player experience
- Teaching sprites, sprite sheets, tilesets, backgrounds, and other game assets
- Helping participants find appropriate resources for creating game levels
- Demonstrating how to build and test levels
- Creating a structured, class-like learning experience
- Encouraging students to play and test each other's games
- Teaching students how to give constructive feedback
- Helping teams explain the strategy and design decisions behind their games
We are especially interested in instructors who can turn game development into a structured learning experience, rather than simply helping students operate software.
2. Game Development Instructor — Unity / Unreal
We are looking for more experienced game developers who are comfortable teaching older students and emerging developers.
Experience with Unity and/or Unreal Engine is strongly preferred.
A successful instructor should be able to take an existing project, sample project, or game-development demo and use it as a foundation for teaching participants how professional game development works.
Responsibilities may include:
- Introducing Unity and/or Unreal Engine
- Explaining the development environment and major tools
- Explaining scenes, objects, components, assets, scripts, materials, and other core concepts
- Demonstrating how to add and configure game assets
- Teaching basic programming and game logic
- Helping participants modify an existing game or demo
- Teaching participants how to approach feature development
- Encouraging teamwork and role specialization
- Organizing testing and peer feedback
- Helping participants understand professional game-development workflows
Experience using AI tools to assist with Unity or Unreal development is a strong bonus, but not required.
We are particularly interested in game developers who understand how modern AI-assisted development can be used responsibly to help beginners learn, prototype, troubleshoot, and build games.
3. AI Game Development Instructor
We are looking for people who understand modern AI-assisted game development and can teach young creators how to use AI as a creative and development tool.
One possible focus is creating browser-based games using technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, Three.js, Phaser, or similar tools. The idea is that we leverage AI to do this.
Responsibilities may include:
- Teaching participants how to use AI to assist with game development
- Demonstrating effective prompting strategies
- Teaching participants how to break a game idea into smaller tasks
- Explaining how AI can assist with coding, debugging, design, art, and other development tasks
- Explaining what AI agents are and how they differ from basic chat-based prompting
- Helping participants evaluate and correct AI-generated code
- Helping students turn an idea into a playable browser game
- Introducing platforms such as itch.io where appropriate
- Teaching participants about publishing and sharing their games online
The goal is not simply to have AI "make a game" for the participant. The goal is to teach young people how to use AI as a tool for building and learning.
4. Esports Tournament Operations & Commentary
We are looking for people who can help operate a live esports tournament from beginning to end.
This role is ideal for someone who enjoys gaming, live events, competition, and working in a fast-moving environment.
Responsibilities may include:
- Registering and organizing participants
- Organizing participants by appropriate age groups
- Creating and managing tournament brackets
- Explaining tournament rules
- Managing rounds and match progression
- Tracking winners and advancing players
- Coordinating with participants and event staff
- Operating presentation materials during the tournament
- Using PowerPoint or similar presentation software
- Working with projectors and display systems
- Announcing matchups and winners
- Providing live tournament commentary
- Helping keep the tournament moving on schedule
- Troubleshooting problems as they arise
Our tournament will take place in a theater environment and may involve a projector, microphones, presentation screens, gaming systems, and multiple simultaneous activities.
We need someone who can stay organized while many things are happening at once.
Experience with esports tournaments, gaming events, broadcasting, event production, or tournament administration is strongly preferred.
5. Game Art, Illustration & Animation Instructor
We are looking for artists, illustrators, animators, character designers, and other visual creators who can teach young people how art contributes to video games.
This portion of the program may be conducted using traditional materials including paper, colored pencils, crayons, markers, and other physical art supplies.
Responsibilities may include:
- Teaching character design
- Teaching environment design
- Teaching visual storytelling
- Teaching basic animation concepts
- Explaining game-art terminology
- Demonstrating professional art and design processes
- Teaching composition, color, shape, silhouette, and visual hierarchy
- Helping participants develop characters and game worlds
- Providing constructive critiques
- Encouraging participants to present and explain their work
- Helping select outstanding work for age-appropriate awards
We want instructors who can make professional creative concepts understandable and exciting to young artists.
You should be comfortable providing constructive feedback and recognizing outstanding work. Awards may be based on age group, specific skills, creativity, improvement, or other criteria established for the program.
6. Event Setup & Technical Support
We need reliable people who can help us transform the venue into a functioning game-development and entertainment environment.
Responsibilities may include:
- Moving and arranging furniture
- Setting up tables and chairs
- Setting up computers and gaming equipment
- Connecting equipment to the internet
- Installing or configuring software
- Testing computers and applications
- Testing microphones and speakers
- Setting up projectors and displays
- Hanging signs and directional materials
- Organizing supplies
- Helping prepare classrooms, gaming areas, and presentation areas
- Troubleshooting basic technical problems
- Helping with teardown after the event
This role requires someone who is hands-on, dependable, comfortable with technology, and willing to jump in wherever needed.
Prior event production, IT, AV, gaming, or technical setup experience is helpful but not required.
-== Who We Are Looking For ==-
Across all roles, we are looking for people who are:
- Reliable and punctual
- Comfortable working with young people
- Patient and encouraging
- Able to communicate clearly
- Comfortable working as part of a team
- Willing to help outside of their immediate assignment when needed
- Respectful of participants from different backgrounds and life experiences
- Comfortable working in a busy event environment
- Passionate about games, technology, art, esports, education, or creative development
You do not need to have a traditional degree or a long professional resume to be considered.
For several of these positions, demonstrated ability and experience are more important than formal credentials.
-== Working With Our Participants ==-
This is an important part of the opportunity.
Tatum Tech serves young people and emerging creators, including participants from underserved and marginalized communities.
Our participants deserve to be treated with patience, dignity, encouragement, and respect.
We are looking for people who genuinely enjoy working with young people and who understand that a participant may be encountering game development, technology, or professional creative environments for the first time.
You should be comfortable encouraging participants without talking down to them, providing constructive criticism without discouraging them, and creating an environment where participants feel safe asking questions and experimenting.
Please do not apply if you are unable to consistently demonstrate patience, professionalism, respect, and care toward our participants.
-== What Makes Tatum Tech Different ==-
This is not a traditional conference where students sit in a room and listen to speakers.
Participants will be actively making things.
They will build games, create art, playtest projects, participate in competitions, collaborate with other students, receive feedback, and interact with people who work in the games and technology industries.
Our goal is to give participants a real experience of creating, collaborating, testing, presenting, and shipping creative work.
Your role is to help make that experience possible.
-== Event Details ==-
Date: October 10, 2026
Location: South Los Angeles, California
Event: Tatum Tech
Position Type: Temporary / One-Day Paid Event Opportunity
Pay: $30–$35/hour
Schedule: Event-day hours; exact reporting time will depend on assignment
Availability: Must be available to work October 10, 2026
Some positions may require arriving earlier than the general event start time for setup or technical preparation.
-== How to Apply ==-
Please apply with:
- Your resume or LinkedIn profile, if available
- A brief description of your experience
- The position(s) you are most interested in
- Any relevant portfolio, GitHub, game projects, Twitch/YouTube channel, artwork, or other examples of your work
- A brief explanation of why you would like to participate in Tatum Tech
Please clearly identify your preferred area(s) of involvement in your application.
You may apply for more than one area if you have relevant experience.
Pay: $30.00 - $35.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
