Who We Are
Founded in 2017 by seasoned executives from top video game and media companies, FarBridge is passionate about creating worlds you can get lost in. Our team has years of hands-on experience creating games and immersive experiences for a wide array of platforms and audiences.
We love using technology to create meaningful connections between people and fantastic worlds -- from creating interactive event installations to crafting the next chapters of beloved franchises.
Our work and partnerships include video games and immersive experiences designed for:
Read more about our values and our work, or get to know our team!
Our Team
We’re incredibly proud of the team and community we’re building at FarBridge. Not everyone we work with opted to be listed on our website, but we appreciate them and their contributions just as much as the folks listed here.
Patrick Curry
CEO
Patrick is a serial entrepreneur, inventor, and game designer. He’s previously started and sold companies to the likes of Disney, Unity Technologies, and frog design. His pre-FarBridge game credits include Stubbs the Zombie, John Woo’s Stranglehold, Disney’s Guilty Party, and Avengers Initiative. Patrick also serves as an advisor to SXSW and has mentored indie game developers like the creators of Octodad, Organ Trail, Intruder, and Job Simulator. Patrick can be found on Twitter, LinkedIn, and the web.
Melissa Swanepoel
COO
Melissa runs operations and marketing at FarBridge, bringing years of film production, live broadcast television, and product development experience to bear. Melissa also chairs the VR Austin Jam, an annual event that brings together developers, brands, and enthusiasts to create and collaborate on all new experiences. She is passionate about storytelling, interactive media, and the people behind it all. Melissa can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Quoc Vong Tran
Chief Financial Officer
Quoc enjoys building things, whether that involves building code, products, or teams. While there is something to enjoy on every project, Quoc’s favorite projects involve magic, where a user, customer, or team member accomplishes something they never thought possible. He also enjoys Nickelback unironically.
Richard Rouse III
Studio Creative Director
Richard is a director, designer, and writer with a history at Microsoft Studios, Ubisoft Montreal, and Midway. Titles worked on include the State of Decay franchise, The Suffering games, the Rainbow 6 franchise, Quantum Break, and The Church in the Darkness. Rouse wrote the popular book Game Design: Theory & Practice and is a frequent speaker on game design and interactive storytelling at conferences and universities. Richard can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Donald “TallGamer” Harris
Executive Producer
A few things to know about Donald: He loves video games and interactive media. He enjoys working through the challenges of delivering experiences that take people from their everyday lives and put them into a world where anything is possible and they can forget themselves. Donald is really tall and can be found on LinkedIn.
Jennifer Bullard
Director of Production
Jennifer is a producer with over 25 years of experience shipping games and products, with an emphasis on individualizing teams for success. She was the chapter chair for Austin IGDA, supported the creation of SXSW Gaming, and has provided mentorship and guidance to many. Her hobbies are hot air ballooning, travel, handicrafts, and running D&D games. Jennifer can be found on LinkedIn.
Taylor M Gates
Director of Technology
As Director of Technology, Taylor oversees FarBridge's engineering department, IT resources, and internal tools. Their work at FarBridge includes Masterworks: Journey Through History, My Virtual Armenia, RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, and Walkabout Mini Golf, which together have shipped on nearly a dozen platforms. They are passionate about education technology, software accessibility, and developing tools to empower their fellow developers.
Albert Chen
Lead Designer
Albert is a game designer who has worked at LucasArts, EA, 3DO and Factor 5. He has also taught as an Associate Professor of Game Design at the University of Silicon Valley. Prior to joining Farbridge, he developed VR applications for stroke patients and games for digital therapeutics. Albert can be found on Linkedin.
Brian Reilly
Lead Producer
Brian is a Producer with over 10 years of experience working in the games industry. He's worked at Certain Affinity, Rooster Teeth, and Proletariat before joining FarBridge. Brian loves being able to lend a helping hand. He digs the duality of creating a plan for the team while also being ready to problem solve on the fly. When he's not busy helping make games, Brian loves spending time with his family, catching a game, tending to his plants, and showing off his extensive board game collection.
Audrey Halm
Producer
Audrey has been part of Austin’s virtual reality scene since the release of the DK1. She produced the VR Austin Jam in 2017 and has been organizing and running FarBridge events and community meetups ever since. As a dancer and performer, Audrey is dedicated to helping bridge the gap between artistic, educational, and gaming experiences in all the flavors of reality.
Emma “Vox” Rausch
Producer
Emma is a producer at FarBridge with a background in multimedia journalism. She interned at Rooster Teeth Games in 2019 and joined the FarBridge team in 2020. She has a passion for helping creatives be creative, researching, and Gantt charts. Emma received her MS in Game Design and Production from Indiana University, where she taught Introduction to Narrative Design and led the creation of The Astro Parcel Service.
Pam Renteria
Marketing and Communications Manager
There is nothing Pam loves more than storytelling and spending time talking to people about their favorite things. Her passion for pop culture and community building has been the backbone of her 9+ years of experience in public relations, social media, and marketing. Her past lives include Schlitterbahn, SXSW, and the Long Center for the Performing Arts. When she's not online, she likes to hike with her dog & catch the latest movies. Pam can be found on LinkedIn.
Sandra Lanz
Art Lead
Sandra Lanz is a Cuban-American artist hailing from Portland, OR. An enthusiast of art in all its forms, she has worked in comics, animation, and video games. Focused on creating sophisticated characters, environments, and world-building, her artwork appears in comic series like Star Trek, House Girls, and Prophet. Ask her about her hobbies; she's typically got three projects on the side!
Autumn Almeida
Concept Artist
Autumn is a concept artist and illustrator with a background in indie games and movies. Titles worked on include Woebegone Woods and Rollossus for PC and THIS IS NOT A DRILL for mobile. She is active in the Dungeons & Dragons Twitch community and loves to work with her peers to bring their characters and stories to life. In her spare time, Autumn also creates educational art content through camp counseling, tutoring, and tutorials on TikTok. You can find her work in her portfolio and on Twitter.
Garrett Bacak
3D Artist
Garrett is a 3D Artist living in Dallas, TX. He graduated from the Ringling College of Art and Design with a degree in Game Art and Design in 2014. He's worked on Super Kitty Catch for Mobile, and The Church in the Darkness for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC before joining FarBridge. He also has a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of Futurama.
Alana Rasche
3D Artist
Alana is a 3D artist excited about creating colorful and immersive environments. They have a background in fine art and art history, and they create using a variety of media including digital 3D work, oil painting, glasswork, and video art. They particularly love time-based media and building experiences for others. In their free time, Alana can be found playing games, watching films, and attempting to keep their ever-growing plant collection alive.
HungKuang Chen
3D Artist
Hung is a 3D Artist living in San Jose, CA. He graduated from Academy of Art University in 2020. He's worked on Wild Sky TD and Wild Castle for mobile before joining FarBridge.
Stephen Hetrick
Technical Artist
Stephen is an artist with a broad, cross-disciplinary skillset. He began working in games in 2008 and has since worked as an artist, programmer, and game designer. He has been in love with games and making them since childhood.
Damon Chandler
Senior Engineer
Damon is a senior engineer with a background in interactive design and passion for building delightful experiences. Damon got his start making interactive installations for museums and festivals as well as creating games like Looty Dungeon for mobile. At FarBridge, he leads the technology behind titles such as Jar Wars and Dragon Fight VR.
Adam Leslie
Software Engineer
Adam Leslie is a software engineer and gameplay programmer with a passion for the world between design and development. Adam interned at Unity Technologies before joining FarBridge in 2017. Adam received his BS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, where he led the Electronic Game Developers Society to create an inclusive community for students of all skill sets.
Lily Montoute
Senior Developer
Lily is a senior developer and distributed-problem-solver at FarBridge. She has over 10 years of experience creating games and interactive software, including "Matterport VR", "FluvioFX", and "Rainbow Rain at The Crayola Experience." Lily specializes in VR, VFX, physics, and system architecture. In her free time, she enjoys streaming MMOs on Twitch. Lily can be found on LinkedIn.
Katherine Byers
Software Engineer
Katherine is a Software Engineer and recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s in Art and Entertainment Technologies. They have a passion for learning and creating, which manifests itself as a love for programming and all its challenges. They have worked on a variety of projects ranging from escape rooms to mobile game writing. Katherine can be found on Linkedin.
Ali Kedwaii
Software Engineer
Ali is a gameplay and UI programmer who enjoys creating systems that players will enjoy using. He studied Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and Software Development at SMU Guildhall. He also dabbles in making game and electronic music.
Jeremiah Le
Software Engineer
Jeremiah is a Software Engineer with a passion for gameplay programming and systems architecture. He studied Game Programming and Development at Southern New Hampshire University. Jeremiah is also an avid fan of anime and JRPGs.
Jeff Fillion
Game Designer
Jeff is a game designer and artist living in Austin, TX. Jeff’s work spans the creation of video games, physical & digital tabletop games, and spooky illustrations. Jeff is also an endless encyclopedia of game history and trivia. When he isn’t playing or designing games, Jeff indulges his love of horror and sci-fi films and literature.
Colleen Fannin
Game Designer
Colleen is a game designer with experience in production, art, and programming. She started her career at WayForward Technologies and worked on projects such as River City Girls 2 and Miraculous Crush: A Ladybug & Cat Noir Match 3. Colleen is passionate about fostering an environment of positivity and growth in any team she's a part of. She believes people come before projects, because projects cannot exist without people. To really get to know Colleen, ask her about the Resident Evil movies and book series.
Josh Squires
Designer
Josh is a multidisciplinary designer with a background ranging from non-profits to commercial real estate. At FarBridge, Josh combines this experience with his passion for learning and problem-solving to create games, apps, websites, and marketing materials. You can check out Josh’s professional work on his portfolio site and his artwork and photography on Instagram.
Ethan Kampa
Audio Lead
Ethan is an audio designer who previously led the audio optimization efforts on titles such as Wolfenstein: Youngblood, DOOM Eternal, and Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch. He is a relentless tinkerer and loves to create novel sonic experiences. In addition to specializing in sound, Ethan is a creative generalist; always learning and exploring ways to realize his wacky, abstract ideas.
Sung Won Choi
QA Lead
Sung Won is the QA Lead at FarBridge and finds fulfillment from building bridges. He’s worked at Proletariat, Big Huge Games, and Bungie. Past projects include DomiNations, Spellbreak, World of Warcraft, and Valorant. His greatest joy is watching processes come to life and helping teammates climb mountains to accomplish the goals that have been set. Hopelessly addicted to indie games.
Peter Herr
IT Manager
Peter is an IT engineer extraordinaire with over 10 years of experience in tech. He most recently worked with Unity Technologies and the US Department of Energy before joining FarBridge. One of Peter's passions is working together with folks to ensure that their relationship with IT is as frictionless as possible.
Our Advisors
Along with the amazing developers on FarBridge’s team, we wouldn’t be here without the support of our mentors and advisors.
Alex Seropian
Advisory Board Member
Alexander Seropian is an entrepreneur, video game developer, and founder of Bungie, Wideload, and Industrial Toys. Alex has held executive positions at Microsoft, Disney, and Electronic Arts, is mentor and advisor to numerous startups, and serves on the board of the Tumo Center in Armenia. Alex can be found on LinkedIn.
Catherine Littell
Advisory Board Member
Catherine Littell is an entrepreneur with a passion for working with companies that improve the way we engage with the world. She supports startups through funding, scaling, and monetization with a combination of strategic, financial, research, and operations support. Catherine held senior roles at Starwood Hotels and Redbox Automated Retail. She holds an MBA from the Booth School of Business at University of Chicago, a certificate in Health Administration and Policy from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, and a BS in Hospitality Administration from Cornell University. Catherine can be found on LinkedIn.
Charlie Wood
Advisory Board Member
Charlie Wood is the founder and former CEO of data protection specialist Spanning (acquired by EMC). A lifelong entrepreneur, Charlie has started several other companies and has mentored startups at TechStars and Capital Factory. He holds degrees in Computer Science and Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. Charlie can be found on LinkedIn.
Nathan Hanners
Advisory Board Member
Nathan Hanners is an award-winning designer of products, brands, and UX. Nathan has created digital products for Unity Technologies, ShipStation, and Motorola. In his spare time he plays blues guitar and runs the Austin Record Convention, the largest sale of recorded music in the USA. Nathan can be found on LinkedIn.
Tim Harris
Advisory Board Member
Tim Harris is an entrepreneur, game designer, marketing innovator, and comic retailer. Tim brings his over-the-top passion for all things games and comics to everything he does, starting his career at Leo Burnett working on the launch of the Nintendo 64, all the way to his most recent venture, Gunslinger Studios, where he is the founder and CEO. Tim can be found on LinkedIn.
Joy Stephens
Cultural Consultant
After spending 25+ years in Corporate America, Joy decided to strike out on her own to pursue her passion of improving company cultures across the US and abroad. She is an executive coach, master facilitator, and the Chief Consultant of New Heights Academic & Leadership Consulting, LLC. She is an avid gamer, reader, anime fan, and foodie. Joy can be found on LinkedIn and YouTube.
Want to work together?
The people we work with are the most important part of FarBridge. We’re always looking for folks who share our values, passions, and goal to make worlds we can get lost in together.
Does what we’re about speak to you?