Appy Latest!
Appy Latest!
ABOUT APPY ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
Our Team
© 2009 Appy Entertainment, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Founded on Halloween 2008, Appy Entertainment Inc. is the vision of a ragtag devil’s brigade of software developers dedicated to making the world better, one game at a time. Like a mouth-full of stolen candy, Appy games taste sweet going down and give you a kick in the pants when they hit their target. The Appy Age starts now!
Chris Ulm, CEO:
A “serial entrepreneur” addicted to building companies from scratch and guiding them to acquisition, Chris leads day-to-day operations, production, and creative development for Appy. An expert in building teams, Chris was essential in developing the creative teams and product development at High Moon Studios and was essential in High Moon Studios’ acquisition by Vivendi and later Activision-Blizzard, as well as the sale of Malibu Comics to industry-leader Marvel Comics.
Rick Olafsson, CFO:
Rick brings financial management experience and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business to the Appy crew. Rick has a long history providing fiscal discipline within creative companies, having worked at Disney, Mattel and Sammy/Sega. He helped orchestrate the management buyout that formed High Moon Studios, was responsible for the day to day operations of the studio and was critical in completing the studio's successful acquisition by Vivendi.
Emmanuel Valdez, Project Director:
Em heads in-house product development and animation for Appy’s games. As the creator of Ready 2 Rumble Boxing for Midway, Em created one of the video games industry’s seminal fighting game titles, and has done it again with Appy’s FaceFighter, which has been downloaded over a million times. His combination of technical smarts, artistry, and product development experience is unique, and guarantees that Appy has what it takes to ship hits.
Marc-Antoine Argenton, CTO:
Marc-Antoine is the software architect behind Appy’s re-useable software libraries. He built the photo-manipulation software that is the backbone of Appy’s first games, and has extended Appy’s products into social platforms integrated with Facebook and Twitter. Although a veteran of console development companies like High Moon Studios, Eden Games, and Infogrames, Marc-Antoine builds the technology that supports Appy’s unique visions, incrementally filling out Appy’s library even as he ships hit games like FaceFighter.
Farzad Varahramyan, Creative Visual Director:
Farzad brings fifteen years experience in visual arts to Appy’s small screens. In addition to co-creating Darkwatch, and his critical and sales success in developing the Oddworld franchise, Farzad is active in design for feature films with Disney and the Aliens vs. Predator series. He lectures at Art Center in Pasadena and was most recently a featured speaker at CG Con. His breadth of skill and experience is unique and unmatched in the iPhone development community.
Paul O’Connor, Brand Director:
Paul is a twenty-five year veteran of the video game business, having designed games and directed teams for Electronic Arts, Interplay, Oddworld Inhabitants, and High Moon Studios. Paul commands Appy’s marketing, advertising, and public-relations efforts, landing Appy’s games in the pages of Entertainment Weekly, in high-profile reviews at Macworld and the Huffington Post, and in spotlight features in Apple’s iTunes store. Paul is Appy’s on-line presence, building Appy’s community through social media, and continuously communicating with fans and press via Facebook, Twitter, and the company’s unique development blog.
Steven Sargent, Executive Producer:
Sarge is a seasoned industry vet and an expert in outsourcing, who has shipped games for Warner Interactive, Infogrames, Codemasters, Rockstar, and High Moon Studios. He is a certified Agile Development Scrum Master, and has built Appy’s remote network of contractors and testers by drawing upon his unparalleled web of industry connections. His most important responsibility is tracking production and ensuring that Appy’s games ship on-time and on-budget.