Fiona Cherbak

Current

Chair, Women in Games Special Interest Group (SIG) at IGDA
VP, Marketing at GameRecruiter
Partner at ThemePark Studios

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Past

Chair, Strategic Alliances Committee at Women in Games International
Director of Client Relations at Enterprise Talent
Director of Business Development and Sr. Account Manager at Mary-Margaret

Executive Director at Wired Capital
Managing Director at Big Stinkin’ International Sketch Comedy Festival
Managing Director at Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference
Senior Recruiting Specialist at Walt Disney Feature Animation
Project Manager, Corporate Synergy & Special Projects at The Walt Disney Company

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5 more...

Education

Otis College of Art and Design

Recommended

26 people have recommended Fiona

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Computer Games

Websites

Fiona Cherbak’s Summary

As VP of Marketing for GameRecruiter, premier search firm in the games industry, responsible for developing global marketing strategy and facilitating high-visibility marketing campaigns and initiatives, with focus on promotional partnerships, publicity and trade show participation. Also provide Sr. Account Manager services for select client accounts in games, mobile and Internet sectors.

Formerly Director of Client Relations and Sr. Account Manager for L.A.-based recruiting firm Enterprise Talent, supporting video games, mobile, Internet and high tech industries, with emphasis on recruiting high-level technical, marketing and creative talent for international clientele. Previously Director of Business Development and Sr. Account Manager for Mary-Margaret, and Senior Recruiting Specialist for Disney Feature Animation in Artist Development and CG Programming.

Partner/owner of ThemePark Studios, a marketing and media production company offering comprehensive marketing strategy and communications services, innovative public relations, event production, graphic design and web design. Clients have included Activision, Comedy Central, Fox Broadcasting Corporation, GameRecruiter, GSD&M Idea Entertainment, HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, Hypernia Hosting Corp., IEEE, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Jose Cuervo, KMFA Classical, Kinesoft Development, Nickelodeon, Origin Systems, RC Cola, Technical Business Network, Texas Book Festival and numerous others.

Fiona Cherbak’s Specialties:

Executive recruiting for interactive entertainment industry; marketing strategy and long-range planning; publicity and media relations; business development; account management; corporate partnerships, sales and events; non-profit fundraising; investor relations and investor presentations.

Fiona Cherbak’s Experience

Chair, Women in Games Special Interest Group (SIG)

IGDA

(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Computer Games industry)

July 2008 — Present (3 months)
VP, Marketing

GameRecruiter

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Games industry)

September 2007 — Present (1 year 1 month)

Develop global marketing strategy and spearhead numerous high-profile marketing campaigns in partnership with games industry organizations and companies. Also serve as Senior Account Manager for key game clients, filling executive, marketing and production roles.
Partner

ThemePark Studios

(Partnership; 1-10 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

January 1999 — Present (9 years 9 months)

Responsible for developing strategy and driving international, national and regional marketing and PR campaigns for a broad clientele in technology, entertainment and finance sectors, with specialty in online media and web marketing. Services include web site development, Flash animation and graphic design.
Chair, Strategic Alliances Committee

Women in Games International

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Computer Games industry)

June 2005 — June 2008 (3 years 1 month)

Drive fundraising and maketing efforts for video games organization, including development of strategic partnerships, cross-promotional campaigns and international publicity. Manage long-range budgeting and planning of annual event series, plus oversee fiscal agent relationship and vendor contracts. Participate in content programming of events, as well suppport organization programs and community outreach. Manage core volunteer staff and set organization timelines.
Director of Client Relations

Enterprise Talent

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Staffing and Recruiting industry)

January 2007 — September 2007 (9 months)

Executive role at leading technology recruiting firm, directing business development and strategic planning efforts. Responsible for account management of top-tier client accounts, plus development of human resources consulting arm of business. Oversee sales and marketing, staff training, client retention program and advanced search systems. Serve as chief spokesperson for company initiatives, inlcuding media interviews and public speaking engagements.
Director of Business Development and Sr. Account Manager

Mary-Margaret

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Staffing and Recruiting industry)

February 2004 — February 2007 (3 years 1 month)

Handling business development of new clientele in games, mobile, film, broadcast and Internet sectors, as well as high-level international recruitment of executives, programmers and technical artists in the interactive entertainment field, with emphasis on the game industry.
Executive Director

Wired Capital

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

June 2000 — January 2004 (3 years 8 months)

Wired Capital, Inc. is a nationwide syndication of professionals matching private middle-market and small companies with pre-selected organizations to help these firms meet their resource needs. Corporate partners include investment banking broker-dealers that help qualified companies complete private placements ranging from $2 million to $20 million. Utilizing their private equity experience, financing methodology and long-running entrepreneurial speaker series, Wired Capital presents these companies to other investment bankers, venture capital firms and its network of angel investors. As Executive Director, I was responsible for business development, sales strategy and sale team management, marketing and publicity for Wired Capital programs and initiatives, including the Starlight Exchange Entertainment Entrepreneurs Forum in Beverly Hills, New York, Houston and Miami, and the WiredCapital Private Equity Forums in Chicago, Boston and New York.
Managing Director

Big Stinkin’ International Sketch Comedy Festival

(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Entertainment industry)

December 1998 — May 2000 (1 year 6 months)

Responsible for sponsorship development, national marketing and day-to-day operations of national 7-day comedy festival. Managed and directed all national marketing, publicity, advertising, promotions and event production services. Responsible for solicitation of sponsors and media partnerships; prepared successful pitch presentations and proposals for sponsors Comedy Central, HBO, Nickelodeon, Time Warner, Fox Broadcasting Corporation, ABC-TV, and others. Oversaw development of promotional campaigns, creative cross-promotions, advertising campaigns, media buys (print, radio, TV, online, outdoor), design concepts and final creative advertising. Site planning, production, logistics and vendors, stage management and event staffing, talent booking and coordination. Directed VIP liaison program to handle needs of over 250 visiting comedians and other industry professionals.
Managing Director

Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)

June 1995 — October 1996 (1 year 5 months)

Responsible for overseeing all aspects of 1996 screenwriter's conference, screenplay and film competitions, and special events. Implementation of national publicity, marketing and promotions campaigns. Management of comprehensive production timeline. Coordination of conference-related vendors, sites and schedules and management of organizational sponsorship. Recruitment and orientation of volunteer staff (40). Solely responsible for negotiating over $40,000 value in national media sponsorship, resulting in ad placement in nearly 20 national and regional film and related media publications. Additionally, coordinated all other trade agreements, VIP registration and hospitality, event site planning and space design and supervision of event staff.
Senior Recruiting Specialist

Walt Disney Feature Animation

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; DIS; Entertainment industry)

December 1992 — October 1994 (1 year 11 months)

Primary recruiter of artistic/technical talent for 7 animated feature films; key producer of special recruiting events, including international animation festivals, industry job fairs and company open houses; coordination of animation art exhibits; handled PR and technical aspects of film screenings and demonstrations; recruited artistic talent and served as on-site publicity liaison; coordination of national and international advertising campaigns - included managing campaign budgets; defining division/department image; developing ad concepts in cooperation with ad agency; determining ad schedule and media placement; coordination of creative design and copy-writing of recruitment brochures (artistic/technical), posters and articles; management of evaluation procedures for artistic and technical talent; organizing weekly Review Board for final evaluation; make hiring recommendations and produce hiring reports for film producers and Director of Human Resources.
Project Manager, Corporate Synergy & Special Projects

The Walt Disney Company

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; DIS; Entertainment industry)

November 1990 — November 1992 (2 years 1 month)

Corporate area responsible for company-wide internal communications, cross-promotions and special events (35 business divisions). As Project Manager, was responsible for producing media and special events; implementing corporate promotion campaigns; constructed project and departmental budgets/cost projections for campaigns; produced familiarization seminars and executive gatherings; supervised design and production of printed promotional materials; utilized desktop publishing to generate 5 internal synergy publications; compiled, edited and produced other specialized inter-divisional materials such as corporate information kit; supported senior level executives and management, including on-site assistance at remote executive events. Department head reported directly to company CEO Michael Eisner.

Additional Information

Fiona Cherbak’s Websites:

Fiona Cherbak’s Groups:

IGDA Chair, Women in Game Developement Special Interest Group (SIG); Member of National Game Advisory Board for Career Education Corporation; Member of Game Industry Advisory Board for DeVry University-Austin; Current advisory board member of Women in Games International, plus former chair, Strategic Alliances Committee, former member of Executive Steering Committee, and former PR and Development Chairs; advisory board member and moderator for SXSW Screenburn 2007, 2008 and 2009; 5-year member of IGDA; invited to run for IGDA Board of Directors in 2008.

Past member of ASIFA (Int'l Animation Society), Society of Illustrators-Los Angeles, Toastmasters International and Women In Animation. As a community supporter, have served on the advisory boards of Texas Writers Month, American Institute of Graphic Arts/Austin, Texas Film Hall of Fame and the SIMS Foundation.