Maureen Fan, CEO and Co-founder, Baobab Studios

Maureen Fan is CEO & Co-Founder of 6-time Emmy-award winning and leading independent interactive animation studio Baobab Studios, whose mission is to "Bring out your sense of wonder. Inspire you to dream. Make YOU matter.”  Named Fast Company's 2018 Most Innovative Company, Baobab is creatively led by Eric Darnell (Antz, 4 Madagascarfilms). Baobab has released Invasion!, Asteroids!, Jack, Crow: The Legend, and Bonfire to commercial and critical acclaim. Their latest, Baba Yaga, premiered at Venice Film Festival this year.  They’ve won 6 Emmy awards, including 3 Best Interactive Emmys, the first ever Best VR Annie Awards, and SIGGRAPH’s first Best in Show Award. In a first, Hollywood is taking Baobab's VR IP to become a feature film: Roth Kirschenbaum Films has signed on to adapt Invasion!, Baobab’s first interactive movie into a traditional feature film. Penguin Random House has partnered to turn Baobab's The Magic Paintbrush into a multi-book series, and MacMillan has partnered to turn Intercats into a graphic novel series.  

Maureen has held leadership roles in film, gaming and the consumer web. She was most recently vice president of games at Zynga, where she oversaw three game studios including the FarmVille's, which contributed 40 percent of the company’s revenues. Previously, she worked on Pixar's Toy Story 3 film and at eBay in product management and UI design. Her collaboration, The Dam Keeper, directed by Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo, was nominated for the 2015 Oscar Best Animated Short. Maureen was also named one of ‘The Most Creative People of the Year’ by Ad Age and more recently Variety crowned her as one the execs to watch.

Eric Darnell, CCO and Co-founder, Baobab Studios

Eric Darnell is Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Baobab Studios, the world's leading independent interactive animation studio, Baobab Studios.  Baobab’s mission: Inspire you to dream by bringing out your sense of wonder.  Make YOU matter.  Under Eric’s leadership, Baobab Studios has won 6 Emmys (3 Best Interactive Emmys), 2 Annie’s (first-ever Annie Award for Best VR Production), and first ever SIGGRAPH Immersive Best in Show Award.  His interactive animation has achieved over 25 million views.  Baobab has released Invasion!, Asteroids!, Jack, Crow: The Legend, and Bonfire to commercial and critical acclaim.  Baobab’s latest VR piece, Baba Yaga, made its world premiere at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.

Eric's career spans 25 years as a computer animation director, screenwriter, story artist, film director and executive producer. He is the second highest box office grossing writer and director of animated feature films.  Darnell was a director and screenwriter on all four films in the Madagascar franchise, which together have grossed nearly $3 billion at the box office. He was also executive producer on The Penguins of Madagascar. Previously, Eric directed DreamWorks Animation's very first animated feature film, Antz, which features the voices of Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Sharon Stone. Eric earned an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and a master's degree in experimental animation from The California Institute of the Arts.

Mathias Chelebourg, Co-director

Nathaniel Dirksen, Producer & CG Supervisor, Baobab Studios

Nathaniel Dirksen (VFX Supervisor)  oversees the technical aspects of production on the company’s narrative VR experiences, including “Invasion!,” “Crow: The Legend,” “Bonfire,” and “Baba Yaga.” Previously, he worked in feature animation and visual effects, most recently as the character technical director supervisor for “The Penguins of Madagascar” at PDI/DreamWorks.

Vanessa Rojas, Editor, Baobab Studios

Vanessa has worked as a co-producer and creative content maker for mtvU, the Sundance Institute, and GoPro Media. She has also worked as an assistant editor at Pixar Animation Studios, as lead editor with Oculus Story Studio/Fable Studio, and now most recently as lead editor with Baobab Studios. Her work with Oculus Story Studio led to the Emmy award winning VR experience, Wolves in the Walls. A graduate of the Film Directing Program at UCLA, her short films have screened across the country, won several awards, and have been featured in USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter and Cynopsis.