Full Sail Stories

Full Sail’s Career Development team works with students and grads to prepare them for the hiring process, connect with potential employers, and provide unique opportunities with a range of companies across creative industries. As part of its continued effort to open new doors for students and grads, Full Sail has launched a partnership with Texas-based mobile gaming organization Tribe Gaming.

Tribe Gaming first entered Full Sail’s orbit in early 2025, when Casey Gilblom, Vice President of Content & Creative at Tribe and his team, toured the campus and met with Jacob Kaplan, Full Sail's Director of Esports Business Strategy, to explore collaborative opportunities. The conversation resumed at the 2025 DreamHack convention in Dallas, evolving beyond project activations and into something bigger: a structured internship pipeline for Full Sail talent.

“At Dallas DreamHack, Jacob, Sean Smith [Tribe CEO], and I were talking about how [Tribe was] looking for young and up-and-coming talent who want to get into this business of gaming and content creation,” Casey explains. “That’s kind of where this all started.”

From there, Full Sail’s Career Development department was brought in to formalize the process. Industry Outreach Representative Angie Duplis helped lead the initiative, identifying internship roles that aligned with Tribe’s multifaceted creative operations.

“I’m really excited to have a professional esports company hiring our Esports grads,” Angie shared.

Tribe’s structure – spanning mobile esports, influencer talent, and white-label creative agency services – made the partnership a natural fit for Full Sail grads trained to work across production and content disciplines.

“Tribe is uniquely positioned as a gaming organization because we’re mobile gaming focused,” Casey said. “But that’s a smaller percentage of the work that our creative team is doing.” He explained that beyond esports, Tribe supports a roster of creators through influencer marketing and offering creative services for developers, publishers, and other brands. “We offer a lot of different services, from live production to the content side,” he said. “It kind of runs the gamut.”

Casey, who has long admired what Full Sail graduates bring into fast-moving creative industries, finds the pipeline to be a perfect fit. “The idea of going into a program where the classes are designed to get you industry-ready as opposed to talk theoretically about things… Full Sail positions talent in that way,” says Casey.

That mentality is already showing tangible results through the internship program. In the first round of postings, Tribe opened three paid internships across broadcast coordination, content creation, and talent and esports support. Full Sail’s Career Development team supported Tribe throughout the hiring process by running a virtual pre-select day, pre-screening candidates, and helping students prepare for interviews.

“So we opened those up, and then we offered what we call a pre-select day,” explains Angie. “We pre-screened the candidates and sent over the ones that we felt like were a fit.” She added that Career Development also worked closely with Full Sail’s education teams to help identify standout candidates.

So far, three Full Sail grads have been hired by Tribe, two graduates from the Game Business & Esports program, and one from the Film program: Alan Zuniga was hired as a Broadcast Coordinator Intern, John Fernando Hoyos Tobar was hired as a Talent & Esports Intern, and Hunter Kanneberg was hired as a Content Intern.

Casey shared that the interns are being treated like real contributors, not observers – a dynamic he values because of his own early internship experience. “If I’m ever in a position to be able to provide the education of the experience that I have to somebody, I want to make sure that it’s mutually beneficial,” he said.

Angie emphasized that this partnership stands out not only because of Tribe’s presence in esports, but because the organization is intentionally looking to build a pipeline from Full Sail students and grads. “They were looking to hire somebody who could do a little bit of both, who knew that world, and I love that they’re really focused on that,” she said. “Because it just validates all the work that is happening.”

For students hoping to stand out in future rounds, both Casey and Angie pointed to preparation and proof of work.

“My recommendation to anybody who is looking for a job is obviously to have a reel,” Casey said. He also encouraged applicants to avoid blending into the pile. "Tap into your creative spirit and find ways to make yourself stand out," he said, "Employers comb through dozens of resumes, so it's important that you find ways to separate yourself from the pack."

Looking ahead, as Tribe defines its 2026 content and social roadmap, both organizations remain aligned on expanding paid internship and full-time opportunities and increasing Tribe’s visibility in student career pipelines.

Angie is optimistic about future involvement in campus career moments, saying, “I am honored to continue building this relationship and look forward to creating more engagement opportunities with Tribe Gaming,” while noting that bringing Tribe to campus during events like Hall of Fame Week remains a shared goal. With early intern hires already contributing across creative and esports teams, the partnership continues reinforcing a clearer bridge between collegiate esports, hands-on production experience, and real roles in the esports industry for Full Sail’s next wave of students and graduates.