Stephanie Barish is the founder and CEO of IndieCade, one of the world’s premier independent games festivals. Barish began her career bridging cinema and interactive media—working on the film Mortal Kombat, producing projects for the USC Shoah Foundation, and helping setup USC’s Institute for Multimedia Literacy. In 2005 she launched IndieCade to champion innovation, inclusivity, and artistic risk-taking in games. Under her stewardship, the festival has grown into a globe-spanning showcase with outposts in New York, Paris, and the fully online Anywhere & Everywhere edition, giving thousands of creators their first public spotlight and shaping the trajectory of the indie-game movement.
Barish’s visionary leadership has earned her a place among Fortune’s “10 Most Powerful Women in Gaming” and praise from the Los Angeles Times as the force behind “the Sundance of video games.” She continues to mentor emerging talent, advise cultural institutions, and advocate for games as one of the defining art forms of our time.