Ex-THQ exec Danny Bilson takes leading role at USC games program

Today the University of Southern California announced that Danny Bilson, a veteran entertainment and games executive who has been teaching at USC since 2005, will be taking charge of the Interactive Media & Games Division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

In practice, what that means is that Bilson will be taking on more leadership of the USC game dev education programs after former Interactive Media & Games Division chair Tracy Fullerton recently stepped down. 

Speaking to GamesBeat, Bilson said that Fullerton will still be running the USC Game Innovation Lab and will continue to teach and work on other projects at the university. He also admitted that the structure of USC's games programs can be confusing, pledging to try and unify them under his watch.

"The one thing I wanted to work on was the unification of the family. I feel great about where I’m headed," Bilson said. "Those who are paying attention will see something interesting going on, aggregating all of our content into one brand. It’s pretty powerful."

Bilson has been teaching at the school part-time for many years as he held various jobs in the game industry, including a stint at THQ that ended in 2012 when he stepped down as EVP and ceded the reins to Jason Rubin. The company declared bankruptcy later that year and is now defunct, while Rubin has since gone on to join Oculus.