team
Mondo Studios is the creator of premier cross-platform brand integrated entertainment that communicates key product messages for major brands through highly engaging casual games.
Phill Simon Phill Simon has over 17 years of professional experience in the interactive entertainment field. In his current role as creative director of Mondo Studios, he is in charge of overseeing all creative aspects of development and production. Previously, Phill was the executive producer for Mondo Media’s production group from 2001 through 2004, where he managed the animation and producer’s group that created cutting-edge digital animation projects for some of the most successful games of the last few years, including: Electronic Arts’ James Bond: Everything or Nothing, The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, Command and Conquer: Generals, Maxis’ The Sims 2 and Microsoft’s Age of Empires as well as numerous 2D animated projects for Yahoo, TiVO, LeapFrog, VH-1, Direct TV and Cisco Systems. Before joining Mondo Phill founded Jinx Studios, a digital production company. As president and creative director he oversaw development of the PC game Space Bunnies Must Die, as well as projects for NBC, Excite, Playboy, Nike, Nickelodeon and Warner Brothers. He also produced and directed Virtual Jay, a series of animated segments that aired on The Tonight Show. Phill has an extensive background in the multimedia industry and in recent years has consulted for companies such as Nickelodeon, Mattel, Time Warner, Macromedia and Apple Computer, on their strategic initiatives in the area of interactive entertainment. |
Douglas Kay Douglas Kay brings to bear an extensive background of over 25 years in entertainment industry development, production and technology. Mr. Kay is currently a partner in the Mondo Studios. In this role he is active in the company’s strategic direction and partnerships, business development and sales strategies. Mr. Kay is also a consultant to entertainment and technology companies. In this capacity he is serving as Chief Technology Officer for Big Idea Productions, the creator of the VeggieTales home video series, the feature film Jonah, and other music and related products. Prior to joining Mondo, Mr. Kay was Vice President of Development for Berkeley Systems, Inc., where he was responsible for online and CD-ROM development. While at Berkeley Systems, Mr. Kay supervised the creation of the Bezerk On-Line Network and its innovative use of television-like advertisements. Previously, Mr. Kay was Chief Technical Officer of LucasArts Entertainment Company and Senior Manager for Digital Operations at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, where he founded the ILM Computer Graphics Department in 1985 and grew the department to more than 150 artists and production personnel by 1994. Previously, Mr. Kay was the founder and principal of Joblove/Kay, Inc., which produced computer-generated animation for television commercials and feature films broadcast all over the world. Mr. Kay holds a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Computer Graphics from Cornell University. |
Jana Canellos Jana Canellos has spent the past 24 years discovering the joys and trials of bridging the worlds of art and commerce in the realm of branded entertainment development and production. Currently, Jana oversees all aspects of sales and production at Mondo Studios. Prior to Mondo Studios, Jana was a producer and a consultant on corporate communications, brand positioning, entertainment, video game and advertising projects for Sun Microsystems, CBS Television’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation interactive content, MTV, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Maxis, Ubisoft and the host sequences with Edward Norton for National Geographic’s documentary Strange Days On Planet Earth. In 2000, Jana joined Frog Design as Senior Executive Producer, managing the global producers group and business development for projects encompassing corporate identity, industrial design and information architecture for the following clients: Ford Motor Company, Real Networks and Panasonic. From 1982 through 1999 Jana managed the services divisions and produced animation, live action and special effects for Colossal Pictures, R Greenberg Associates and PDI/DreamWorks. As producer and executive producer, she managed all aspects of business development, bidding, client relationships, studio personnel and production on TV commercials for Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Disney Studios, Levi Strauss and Old Navy. Her experience includes development and production of broadcast identity for MTV, ABC, The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and interactive entertainment for Cartoon Network.com and Microsoft. |
Valerie Tuffy Val brings a wealth of production management and marketing experience to the Mondo Studios arena. She has produced online games and iPhone game apps for Mondo Studios, including projects for Purina, Progressive Insurance, and Unilever. A successful producer with proven management capabilities in all aspects of digital media production, Valerie has worked on everything from high-end, award-winning commercials to branded video games and interactive content. From initial bidding through to project completion, her responsibilities require a strong understanding of what is needed to get every job done on time and within budget while maintaining a fun, and productive work environment for her team. Her experience prior to joining Mondo Studios runs the gamut from web programming and development to marketing research and analysis to graphic design and animation work. As an artist with management capabilities, Val is as much capable of actually creating the required artwork as she is managing all aspects of the production pipeline. |