Games Marketing Guru Rich Flier Joins Mothership as Executive Producer

Production company Mothership took another big step in expanding its marketing capabilities across multiple platforms today, announcing that videogames industry veteran Rich Flier has joined as executive producer. Having held key posts on both the marketing/advertising and producer/development sides of the games business, Flier will bring Mothership's full creative capacity to its growing list of games clients.

A 15-year games industry veteran, Flier joins Mothership from Secret Identity, a games marketing company he co-founded. While at Secret Identity, he also held the dual role of VP of Interactive Entertainment at 3D video imaging company 3DV Systems. That company was sold to Microsoft in 2009, and the technology became part of the foundation of Microsoft Kinect, the controller-free game experience. Flier has also held the post of Marketing Director at DreamWorks Interactive, and co-founded Creative Domain's Interactive Entertainment Division (now Trailer Park). At Trailer Park he worked with Activision, Disney Interactive Studios, THQ, Midway Entertainment, Capcom, Vivendi Games and Ubisoft Entertainment. He also oversaw creative brand campaigns for Tony Hawk, Mortal Kombat, Lost Planet, Pirates of the Caribbean, 50 Cent, True Crime, Stranglehold and Gun. Flier was also Director of Marketing at Sony Online Entertainment and spent several years at DDB Worldwide as an account director for the agency's Griffin Bacal and Tribal DDB divisions creating integrated campaigns for Hasbro Interactive, Sony Electronics, Mountain Dew and other Pepsi brands. He began his career with legendary developer Looking Glass Technologies.

Mothership President Ed Ulbrich said, "2010 was a great year for Mothership in the games space, with projects for Microsoft Game Studios, EA, Sony Computer Entertainment, Epic Games, Disney Interactive Studios, Bethesda Softworks, Crytek Games as well as titles for Gears of War 3, TRON: Evolution, Bulletstorm, Killzone 3, Elder Scrolls and other titles. Our intention for 2011 is to expand our core marketing capabilities across multiple platforms with a heavy focus on games and mobile, and Rich is a rock star in this space. He has videogame production experience and has worked on huge games properties as a brand strategist and marketer. He'll help our clients and partners build solutions that leverage the expertise and quality of Mothership's marketing, technology, animation and digital production capabilities."

Flier is leading Mothership's games marketing initiatives, which include collaborating with ad agencies, game publishers and developers on creative development, strategy and production of cinematics, commercials and marketing content across all platforms. Flier is ushering in and creatively overseeing projects, as well as bringing in core game design talent to expand the company's capabilities to eventually include developing games titles.

Flier said, "Mothership has set up a compelling model -- up and coming directing talent coupled with the digital production dynasty of Digital Domain and a history of games marketing projects that prove their ability to work in engine, create full cinematics, and develop projects across a range of pipelines. This combination delivers a strong offering that I'm very much looking forward to bringing to games companies. Longer term, Mothership is building its expertise in transmedia with an eye on developing original IP. This vision is exactly in line with the work I'm interested in doing."