GameStop - Bruce Kulp
GameStop announced recently that Bruce Kulp will join the company as Senior Vice President Supply Chain & Refurbishment. He will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of supply chain for GameStop and will manage 1,500 employees at the Company’s two distribution centers and refurbishment center.
“I am delighted to welcome Bruce to the Company,” said Chief Executive Officer, Paul Raines. “His broad background in supply chain and manufacturing will be an enormous asset to GameStop.”
Kulp has worked in logistics and supply chains in North America, Europe and Asia for more than 25 years. He served as Vice President, Worldwide Supply Chain Operations and Vice President, Logistics for Tech Data Corporation and as Senior Vice President – Operations for the Home Shopping Network and Vice President of Distribution for Centrobe, an EDS company in Des Moines, IA. Most recently, Kulp served as President for Gigalife.
Linden Lab – Executive Moves
This past week, Second Life developer Linden Lab announced that Philip Rosedale has been named interim CEO, while Mark Kingdon is stepping down as CEO. Rosedale will continue to serve on Linden Lab's board of directors and CFO Bob Komin has assumed the additional role of COO.
"On behalf of the board, I thank Mark for all of his contributions during his tenure with Linden Lab which include growing our user base and revenue, increasing the stability of the platform, and nurturing and helping build a world class team," said Rosedale.
Frogster – Expanded Marketing Team
Frogster announced this past week that it has hired Christian Szymanski, Stefan Hinz, Thomas Elz and Axel Schmidt. Szymanski will be Senior Marketing Manager, supporting the marketing department and building on the brand awareness of Runes of Magic; Hinz will be head of the marketing team at Frogster Online Gaming for the European market in his new position as Head of Online Marketing while Elz will be Senior Product Manager for Runes of Magic. Axel Schmidt leads and coordinates press and publicity work in Europe in his new role as Head of Public Relations.
Szymanski was previously brand manager at the Hamburg offices of the games publisher Codemasters, coordinating the company’s marketing and PR efforts for games like Lord of the Rings Online in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland. Elz worked on coordinating the ongoing expansion of Frogster’s success title with the developer Runewaker.
Majesco Entertainment - Gui Karyo
Majesco revealed recently that Gui Karyo, Executive Vice President of Operations, will be leaving the company at the end of the month “to explore new opportunities.” No successor was named, though the company is looking for his replacement.
"Gui has made a tremendous contribution to Majesco during his three year tenure," said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. "He's helped guide our overarching strategy and instituted important processes to streamline our operation and improve our execution. We sincerely value his efforts and wish him the best in his new endeavors."
"Working at Majesco, with this team of talented and passionate game professionals, has been a wonderful opportunity," said Karyo. "I am enormously proud of our accomplishments building a unique mass market game company, and I look forward to following the company's success to come as a friend and a fan."
The Ant Farm - Matt Bretz
The Ant Farm announced this past week that Matt Bretz has been named Executive Creative Director. He will focus on leading the agency's efforts to provide full-service strategy, creative and execution for integrated campaigns across multiple media for all manner of entertainment properties.
"I am thrilled to have Matt join the leadership of our agency,” said Ant Farm CEO Rodd Perry. “His unique creative sensibilities and strong strategic insights will help the continued growth and success of our agency."
Bretz once worked as a writer and broadcast producer at the Cimarron Group, where he created radio and TV advertising for Feld Entertainment's Disney on Ice for four years as well as for the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. He also headed up La Posteria and created audiovisual materials for Disney Parks, DisneyToon Studios and Universal Home Entertainment, and he worked on multimillion-dollar print and television campaigns for Coca-Cola and Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft in China. Bretz joined The Ant Farm in 2005, and has written, directed and produced television advertising, trailers, corporate sizzle reels and a variety of other audiovisual marketing materials for clients as diverse as Disney Parks, YouTube and Xbox. He has created the launch advertising for brands like the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, Disney Parks' Expedition Everest: The Ride, and Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3. Bretz is also a live action director for The Ant Farm's production division, having directed commercial shoots for Adventures by Disney, Disney Interactive Studios and Xbox.
