We have invited professionals among us who are crafters of innovative solutions to share openly their successes and challenges.
In addition to formal speaker content to stimulate new ideas, the real initiative of this event is to gather all the industry thought leaders together in one place for open discussion. Click here to read about current workshop topics.
Janos Flösser, Managing Director, Io-Interactive
Janos Flösser has been in the entertainment industry for more than 29 years, producing and directing music, television, film and games. In 1998 he successfully established Io Interactive, a Danish game studio, together with 6 partners. Janos Flösser’s productions include such prominent bestseller games as the Hitman series (Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money), Freedom Fighters and Kane & Lynch: Dead Men due to release in November 2007. Characteristic for these games are a strong narrative, cinematic settings and some of the most remarkable video games characters ever seen. Io Interactive is part of British game publisher Eidos Interactive.
Jon Goldman
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Foundation 9 Entertainment
Jon Goldman is Chairman and CEO of Foundation 9 Entertainment, overseeing operations, strategic planning, and contributing to new product development for the company. Before co-founding Foundation 9, Jon co-founded Backbone Entertainment and also ImaginEngine Corp.
Previous to founding Foundation 9 Entertainment, Backbone Entertainment and ImaginEngine Corp., Jon worked at an investment banking and advisory firm specializing in partnerships between U.S. and Asian technology companies. In addition, Jon created a children's story publishing venture, which received attention across the country, including such places as the Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio.
Jon has spoken on a number of topics pertaining to the entertainment and game industries, including the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and iHollywood Forum.
Jon attended Harvard, where he received an A.B. degree, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in East Asian Studies, followed by a Mombusho fellowship at the University of Kyoto.
Michael Griffith,
President and Chief Executive Officer
Activision Publishing, Inc.
Mike Griffith has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Publishing, Inc. since 2005. During this time, Activision has fueled growth through the addition of new games and new studios supported by a focus on improving sales and marketing. Prior to Activision, Mike was a 23 year veteran of Procter & Gamble where he served in many executive management positions domestically and overseas, most recently as President of the Company’s Global Beverage Division. Mike enjoys the innovation process and finds many conceptual parallels between video gaming and consumer packaged goods.
Mike holds a B.A. degree in mathematics and computer science from Albion College and an MBA in finance & strategic planning from the University of Michigan.
Raph Koster, President, Areae, Inc.
Raph is the president of Areae, Inc., a developer of virtual worlds, and the author of the widely acclaimed book A Theory of Fun for Game Design(Paraglyph 2004). He previously worked as chief creative officer at Sony
Online Entertainment, creative director for STAR WARS GALAXIES, and lead designer of ULTIMA ONLINE and UO: THE SECOND AGE. He also maintains a popular website at http://www.raphkoster.com which houses notable writings such as the Online World Timeline and the Laws of Online World Design.
David Mann
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer,Foundation 9 Entertainment
David Mann is Chief Operating Officer of Foundation 9 Entertainment, overseeing all studio and business development endeavors at the company. David co-founded Amaze Entertainment, working to build Amaze into a world-class gaming company. Before entering the digital entertainment industry David was a consultant at one of the nation's top strategy consulting firms, Monitor Company. Working from Boston, David helped Fortune 100 companies develop and implement corporate strategies, acquisitions, and divestitures. David received his BA in Political Science from Brigham Young University.
Brian Woodhouse, Business Director, Bizarre Creations
Brian Woodhouse joined Sony Psygnosis in 1995, with the enviable job of handing out royalty cheques to the company’s external developers. His desire to be involved in development led him to Bizarre Creations in 1998, where he became the company’s first Producer. He moved into the role of Executive Producer in 2001, and later joined the board of Directors, overseeing the business side of the company.
Although he’s known externally for his expertise in entertaining clients, he’s better known within Bizarre for his sarcastic catchphrase ‘We’re not here to have fun!’
Brian headed up the negotiations for Bizarre’s sale and transition to the Activision group, and today holds the post of Studio Director at Bizarre Creations.
To ReQuest an Invitaion, Email prime@gdcprime.com.
