Steve Hoffman (businessman)
Steve Hoffman is the COO and co-founder of Zannel, Inc., a venture-funded mobile entertainment startup.
Hoffman is also a founding member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Group and sits on the Board of Governors for the Producers Guild New Media Council. Hoffman is also a co-founder of the San Francisco Chapter of the Producers Guild of America.Biography
Hoffman was the Chairman and CEO of Spiderdance, one of Hollywood's leading interactive television companies, whose customers included NBC, Viacom, The WB, TBS, A&E, and others. Prior to founding Spiderdance, Hoffman consulted for R/GA Interactive in the design and development of projects for Kodak, Disney, Intel, AdAge, and Children's Television Workshop.
Hoffman also owned and operated LavaMind, a software development company that produced games and learning titles. LavaMind's products were distributed worldwide by Microprose / Spectrum Holobyte, Seiko Epson, Magellan, Manaccom, McGraw-Hill, and half a dozen other international publishers. Prior to founding LavaMind, Hoffman worked for Sega Enterprises, in their Tokyo headquarters, generating new concepts and strategies for network and Internet gaming, console entertainment, simulation rides and high tech theme parks.
Before joining Sega, Hoffman was the Manager of Development at Fries Entertainment, where he managed the development of television series, movies and TV miniseries. Hoffman holds a degree in Electrical Computer Engineering from the University of California and a Masters degree in Film and Television from University of Southern California. Hoffman also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Vancouver Film School and the Board of Directors for the Institute for International Film Financing. Lastly, Hoffman authored one of the top books on game design: "Game Design Workshop," which was published by CMP in 2004.
