Friday, February 3, 2012THQ Signs Innovative LeisureTurmoil over at Agoura Hills-based videogame developer THQ apparently isn't stopping the company from inking new deals. THQ said Friday that it has linked in a strategic agreement with Innovative Leisure, a new digital development studio. THQ said that Innovative Studio was founded by Seamus Blackley, technical director of the original Xbox, and includes a number of designers best known for their roles at Atari. Those designers include Van Burnham (Supercade), Ed Logg (Asteroids, Centipede, Gaun (More info...)
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Fandango To Debut Super Bowl AdLos Angeles-based Fandango is getting a spot in its first SuperBowl ad this weekend, the firm said Friday, as part of a promotion for Universal Pictures' new action movie, Battleship. Fandango said that the SuperBowl advertisment will feature a tag which links viewers to its mobile apps. Fandango said the push will include both the Super Bowl advertising spot, social media outreach on Facebook and Twitter, as well as promotion across its site and apps. Fandango said it will also be running a 15- (More info...)
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CallSource Sells Multifamily Division To Former Homestore ExecWestlake Village-based CallSource, which develops leads management software, has sold off one of its divisions, CallSource Multifamily, to an entrepreneur who was previously a Vice President at Homestore.com. According to Mike Mueller, who is now an investor in Scottsdale, Arizona, he has acquired the CallSource Multifamily division of CallSource, and moved its operations to Arizona. Mueller had been EVP of Homestore.com's SpringStreet division, which was previously AllApartments.com before bein (More info...)
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Leads360 Gets $15M For Sales Lead SoftwareLos Angeles-based Leads360, the developer of leads management software headed by Nick Hedges, said this morning that it has raised $15M in new funding. The round was led by Volition Capital, and also included Rustic Canyon Partners. According to the company, the new funding will go towards product offerings, strategic partnerships, and awareness of its platform. Leads360's software is used for managing and tracking sales leads.
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Interview with Jonathan LaCour, PlayzonHow do you come up with a compelling, mobile videogame title? Jonathan LaCour, founder of Playzon, decided that he'd tap into the collective genius of students looking to get into the videogame industry, and is taking the top student-developed gaming titles from one videogame school and turning them into mobile games for the iPhone, Android, and Facebook. LaCour's advisors include Sean Rad of Ad.ly and Clark Landry of GraphEffect. We thought it would be interesting to hear the story behind Jonat (More info...)
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Machinima, Lionsgate Renew DealMachinima, the online video entertainment firm focused on gamers, and studio Lionsgate, said today the two have renewed a deal around Machinima's zombie comedy series "Bite Me." The firms, both of which are located in Los Angeles, said the second season of the series will run on both Machinima's online YouTube network, as well as via Lionsgate's FEARnet premium cable network. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The companies said the first season of the series had 14 million views. (More info...)
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Teledyne Wins Air Force ContractThousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies has won a contract from the United States Air Force, for laser eye protection spectacles, initially worth $7.7M, with the potential to be worth as much as $20.4M. According to Teledyne, it will fabricate, test, and deliver 3,137 aircrew laser eye protection spectacles for the USAF, with the potential to expand that to 8,500 spectacles over three years. Teledyne is a provider of a wide range of instrumentation, aerospace and defense electronics, and other (More info...)
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Interlink Electronics Loses CFOCamarillo-based Interlink Electronics said this morning that its CFO, Steven Leone, has resigned. Reason for the departure was not given. Interlink is a maker of electronic sensors used in mouse and pointing devices. Interlink announced Leone's resignation in an extremely terse statement early this morning.
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Activision Blizzard Names Strategy, HR HeadSanta Monica-based Activision said this week that it has named Humam Sakhnini as its Chief Strategy and Talent Officer. Sakhnini had been serving as Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development. According to the company, the move will add human resources activities under his leadership responsibility. As part of the move, Ann WEiser, Chief Human Resource Officer at Activision, is retiring at the end of the year. Sakhnini has been at the firm since 2009, and also served (More info...)
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