Games. Games. Games.
Welcome! For 15 years I helped build Neversoft Entertainment as the Studio Development Director. I oversaw the design and production of our titles - 17 video games in 15 years, all of which combined to sell over 100 million units.
It was a true privilege to create and work on three "billion dollar" franchises - and we had a blast doing it.
My Titles:
Neversoft (Studio Development Director and Producer):
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Tony Hawk's Underground, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground.
GUN
Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero IV, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Ghosts Extinction DLC Season
Activision: Pitfall 3D (Game Design) and Apocalypse (Production)
Digital Pictures: Maximum Surge and Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka (Associate Producer)
Education
University of California, Los Angeles - B.A. in Film and Television, '94
Bio
Prior to Neversoft, I worked at Activision as a game designer and producer, helping get the Tony Hawk project off the ground. In 1999 I left to join Neversoft full time, and a few months later Neversoft was acquired by Activision.
Over the next 5 years I produced and helped design and shape the Tony Hawk series, focusing on the overall theme, features, the pros, tricks, UI, meta-game, and balancing. I also scripted the trick animation and linking system starting with THPS3. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to create a franchise from the ground up, and we put our heart and souls into those titles.
In 2005 we expanded Neversoft to two teams and I shifted more of my attention to Gun, our western themed 3rd person adventure game. I worked on both the overall vision, gameplay, and the story for Gun. I collaborated closely with our writer Randall Jahnson, and oversaw much of the project including casting, voice over, and execution of the cinematics and music.
In 2007 Neversoft asked for and received the opportunity to take over the Guitar Hero series when Harmonix declined to continue it. In nine crazy months we raced to hire up and build our first Guitar Hero game using a modified version of the Tony Hawk and Gun engine. Guitar Hero III was a huge success, and over the next four years we built six more Guitar Hero games, getting an education in working with rock stars and hardware manufacturing along the way.
As Guitar Hero was winding down, Neversoft embarked on a top secret shooting game that would (unfortunately) not see release.... However, our work earned us the opportunity to team up with Infinity Ward to work on Call of Duty: Ghosts. For Ghosts, Neversoft built about a third of the campaign, a ton of technology, and the Extinction mode. I was lucky to work with Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan on the campaign, and with the Neversoft team on the story arc, lore, gameplay, cinematics, and intel for Extinction.
In all, my console career spanned four generations - from the original Playstation up to the PS4 and Xbox One. I was extremely fortunate to hire and work with incredibly talented developers at one of the greatest game studios in the world.
A few articles about our work:
Select Accolades:
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
93.7% Gamerankings
The game that launched a franchise
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
94.7% Gamerankings
4th best all-time rank on Playstation
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
93.4% Gamerankings
9th best all-time rank on Playstation2
GUN
Best selling new IP of 2005
IGN Award for Best Story, Xbox360
Guitar Hero III
Best selling game of 2007
First single retail video game to exceed 1 billion dollars in sales
Edge Magazine Top 100 Game Developers
#15 (2008)
#14 (2007)
Call of Duty: Ghosts
8.8 IGN
Over 20 million units sold
Creatively praised Extinction mode