Management
Jon Vlassopulos
Chief Executive Officer
Jon Vlassopulos holds the dual roles of CEO of skyrockit and GM, North America for Bellrock Media, skyrockit's parent company. He oversees the company's initiatives in branded entertainment and digital entertainment services, as well as its mobile personalization business. In this position, Jon has overseen the development of several successful branded entertainment projects, with successes such as the Virtual Zippo Lighter iPhone App, which has had over 5 million downloads thus far, and A&E's Paranormal State iPhone App, which is the most interactive TV application, with more than 50% of people watching the show also downloading the app. He has seen similar success at Bellrock with projects under way with big-name brands such as Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Myzo and the original programming project, "24 Hours at Sundance", a real-time, online reality show competition broadcast live from the Sundance Film Festival with Ashton Kutcher, which received over one million views.
Vlassopulos was most recently Senior Vice President, Digital Media & Branded Entertainment for Endemol, the global leader in entertainment programming. He was responsible for building Endemol's worldwide digital business and growing the company into new areas such as casual gaming and branded entertainment. He also revolutionized the interactive TV market in the U.S. with his work on hit shows like "Deal or No Deal". Prior to that, he served as Senior Director, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at AT&T Wireless, launching major media brands on AT&T services including mMode. While at the carrier, he directed the launch of the first wireless music service, and ran major mobile marketing campaigns with brands like McDonalds and Kelloggs. His background also includes multiple executive positions at Bertelsmann in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Jon received his undergraduate degree from Durham University in Chinese, Economics and Korean. He serves on the board of NATPE, the National Association of Television Program Executives.
Giancarlo Mori
SVP of Business Development
Giancarlo serves as the Senior Vice President of Development, responsible for the company's creative, production and product development departments, overseeing the full product development cycle, from concept to delivery.
Prior to joining skyrockit, Giancarlo held the position as Sr. VP of Interactive at Animal Logic (award winning special FX and digital film studio), heading the company’s entry in the video games space. Giancarlo has more than 20 years experience in software development, 13 of which have been spent at a senior/executive level in the video game industry.
Previously, Giancarlo spent more than three years with Activision as Vice President of Production, North American Studios, where he led the development of numerous titles based on original IP as well as sequel titles, including the Tony Hawk series, Gun (best selling new IP of 2005), and several Dreamworks Animation titles including Shrek and Over the Hedge.
Giancarlo also previously worked with Electronic Arts Canada, where he co-managed the development of the hugely successful FIFA Soccer and World Cup series; Microsoft Games Studios where he executive produced several titles of the company’s Sports Games line; and with the Xbox Applications Group where he led the production of Xbox media applications and non-traditional social networking and lifestyle applications for the Xbox 360.
He holds a MSc from the University of Florence.
Joe Brichler
Chief Financial Officer
Joe Brichler is responsible for all aspects of skyrockit's corporate finance and accounting, tax and treasury and financial planning and analysis.
Prior to joining skyrockit, Brichler was the Chief Financial Officer at Wild Brain Inc. and Kidrobot, where he was responsible for fundraising, financial planning and analysis, corporate finance and accounting and tax and treasury. From February 2005 to March 2008, Brichler was Director of Accounting at Foster's Wine Estates Americas (FWEA), the Americas division of, Foster's Group Ltd., a premium global multi beverage company. Prior to Foster's, Brichler held positions as Corporate Controller at GoldenGate Software, Inc., a leader in Transactional Data Management, MarketWatch, Inc., a publicly held multimedia publisher of financial news and 989 Studios / Sony Interactive Studios America, a wholly owned game developer for Sony Computer Entertainment America. He also worked at Price Waterhouse L.L.P.
Mr. Brichler graduated cum laude from Santa Clara University and holds a B.S. in Commerce. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Gary Yentin
SVP of Business Development
Gary has a proven track record in taking top media and brands wireless. Working with clients in entertainment, sports and finance , Gary has built wireless programs and opened distribution channels for companies including; Warner Brothers/TMZ, Warner Music, Bell/Sympatico, Virgin Mobile Canada, Nokia, Admob, and Quattro Wireless. Most recently Gary has been consulting for skyrockit, building, creating and monetizing applications for Apple, Android, Blackberry and OVI storefronts. With over fifteen years of experience in media, entertainment and technology, Gary ensures that each brand and media company's wireless experience is unique, fun, exciting and profitable, while respecting the its' core values. Gary previously worked on the monetization of media and entertainment brands via mobile applications and virtual goods for Apple, Android, RIM and OVI storefronts. Gary is based in San Francisco and Toronto and can be reached at gary@skyrockit.com