Christopher Kastensmidt Email & Phone Number

Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

In 2019, Consultacad became Time Galleon Studio, dedicated to publishing award-winning authors in visual novel format, providing them an expanded platform to share their talents. Since the end of 2019, I have participated in an exclusively executive role, leaving all day-to-day operations to others.

During my time at Synthesis (a digital spin-off from Ad Astra at SpaceX), I ran Studio, the group that produces all of Synthesis’s games, until its closure in February 2024.I wore multiple hats within this dynamic, start-up environment:- Handled general team management: project scheduling, team organization, employee well-being, 1:1s, reviews, syncs, recruiting and selection- Acted as producer where needed for all projects: sprint reviews, dailies, task definition and tracking- Provided creative direction and contributed to game design on both macro and micro levels for all projects, including scenario design- Ran a structured ideation process for defining new projects- Moved team to a quick deployment + LiveOps model for improved customer experience and retention- Researched, analyzed and contracted outsourcing partners where needed to optimize production- Increased team diversity and managed a group spread over six countries and several time zones- Greatly increased student participation via game improvements (33% increase in time on platform)- Designed and refined an onboarding system which greatly improved customer satisfaction (mode 10)- Projects included Natural Election (simulation), Batteries Not Included (chaotic co-op), Proxima (territory control), Hyperball (sports sim) and Polis (RTS).

Porto Alegre Area, Brazil

I ran one of Aquiris´s main studios for three years, managing the team that developed Wonderbox: The Adventure Maker.I started at Aquiris in January 2020 with a 100% office-based team. In March 2020, I guided the team's transition to home office due to COVID. Together with other company leaders, I reevaluated all of our processes and tools, changing most of them in search of best practices for remote working.We spent 15 months with the entire team working from home. Despite the challenges of working in a fully remote workspace, we increased the base team size from 30 to 50 (along with dozens of outsourced contractors) and launched the game on Apple Arcade in April 2021. In June 2021, the team transitioned to a third production model: a hybrid format where people could work at the office or at home. Despite the constant changes, we never stopped launching content and feature updates. I greatly increased team diversity and managed a group spanning multiple countries and time zones. I also handled Product Management over and above my regular duties during some transitional periods, making major roadmap decisions along the way.My responsibilities included:- Putting the right people in the right jobs to keep the production pipeline a "well-oiled machine".- Directly managing leadership-level personnel and regularly speaking with all 50 team members. - Quickly resolving conflicts and being pro-active in employee satisfaction.- Working with the production team to make sure the necessary processes and tools were in place.- Acting as the main communication channel for our partners (Apple and Epic) in production-related matters.- Participating in discussions with C-Level executives and Human Resources about company-wide issues and improvements. I was very active in implementing an internship program and other training-related initiatives.Wonderbox was a finalist for two Apple Design Awards in 2021.

Porto Alegre Area, Brazil

I lectured for over seven years as an Associate Professor at UniRitter, where I taught: Video Game Administration and Production, Scriptwriting, Audiovisual Language, Game Design, Digital Literacy and Culture, Marketing in Video Games and Current Trends in Video Games.

From 2010 to 2019, Consultacad was focused on transmedia narrative development, providing scriptwriting services and narrative consulting for animated series, video games and tabletop RPGs. Projects included:- Creation of the Elephant and Macaw Banner universe, a transmedia franchise which has spun off books, comics, a tabletop RPG, miniatures and more products on the way, with titles published in English, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese;- Transmedia strategy and lead writing for the Starlit Adventures game franchise, a Brazilian IP which started as a mobile game. I wrote two games, three comics and a story bible plus 10 episodes of an animated series. The project now encompasses over 15 million players worldwide, millions of comics downloaded and a co-production deal for the developed series with a Canadian production studio;- Lead writing for the video game The Path of Calydra;- Co-scriptwriting for the full-length movie "Edifício Bom Fim", released to theaters in 2024;- Co-scriptwriting of Bubu Fun, a webseries based on the Bubu and the Little Owls franchise;- Major participation in the development of a distance education course (technical level, post high school) for teaching video game development;- Consulting services for private corporations, government organizations and universities, applying two decades of experience in the entertainment industry. Frequent lectures at events, corporations and schools (over 300 in the last decade).Clients included: FinalBoss, UP!, Rockhead Games, the National Service of Industrial Education (SENAI), PUCRS University, Unisinos, Daitan Labs, and the state government of Rio Grande do Sul.

I lectured at night as an associate professor in the undergraduate courses Social Communication and Video Game Design. During the period, I taught Creativity to students from Publicity, Public Relations and Journalism and Game Design and Projects to students in the Video Games Development course.

As Studio Director, I managed the transition and growth of the Porto Alegre studio in the period just after the acquisition. During this time, I negotiated a move to Tecnopuc, opened a games design course in partnership with PUCRS University and started a research partnership with PUCRS. I put my ample production experience to work acting as executive producer of all studio projects. Once the studio was running smoothly, I was able to pass along those responsibilities to others and move into a creative role. As Creative Director, I was responsible for the creative vision of products at Ubisoft Porto Alegre. I worked with game design, art, and gameplay programming departments to convey and direct that vision into all the games produced by that studio.Major Projects: Gone Amazon (Facebook), Imagine Party Planner

In parallel with my game development career at Southlogic Studios and Ubisoft, I published dozens of stories, books and comics worldwide. During this period, my fiction was nominated for the Nebula, Argos and AGES awards and won the Realms of Fantasy Award.

In almost a decade at Southlogic Studios, I planned company strategy, signed millions in deals with partners around the world and participated in production or design roles for over over twenty published titles. I negotiated the sale of the studio to Ubisoft Entertainment in 2009.One of many highlights was creating the original concept and game design of Imagine Dream Weddings, a million+ unit seller in physical copies and one of the highest-grossing Brazilian titles of all time.Partnerships: Ubisoft, Atari, Konami, Infogrames, Digital Extremes, Eutechnyx, iWin, Vicious Cycle, Totally Games, BottleRocket, Savage Entertainment.Major projects (internal): Deer Hunter Tournament, Deer Hunter The 2005 Season, Deer Hunter 2004, Trophy Hunter 2003, Boggle, Kellogg´s Football Tigers, Imagine: Wedding DesignerMajor projects (outcourcing): Dark Sector, Xiaolin Showdown, Curious George, Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet, Scooby-Doo: Who´s Watching Who, Hummer: Badlands

I worked in developer relations and tech evangelization, specializing in 3D graphics, processor architecture, and speech recognition. I worked with dozens of companies around the world, including video game giants like LucasArts, iD Software and 3D Realms. I provided coding support for many games, including Grim Fandango, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine and Wing Commander: Prophecy.Before this position I also worked in microprocessor architecture and helped design Intel's first 3D graphics chip and card.

Masters, Social Communication

Electrical And Computer Engineering, Microprocessor Architecture