Barbara Kaczynski is the Managing Director of New York City-based Red Birch Partners LLC, a privately held firm engaged in providing operational, strategic and business advisory services to companies in the fields of finance, technology, media and entertainment. Previously she has held corporate positions that included: VP of Finance & Controller at Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX - News), CFO of the National Football League (NFL), CFO of NetPliance, and COO and CFO at Adsmart, a CMGi company. Ms. Kaczynski also has had prior specific involvement in the video games industry through her role as a company Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at publisher Take-Two Interactive.
Randy Jayne is a Managing Partner and Global Practice Leader for aerospace, defense and aviation at Heidrick & Struggles Inc. (NASDAQ: HSII - News), a leading executive recruitment and management development firm based in suburban Washington, DC. He was previously with McDonnell Douglas Corporation where he was president of the $1.1 billion Missile Systems Company and VP/GM of the $1.5 billion F-15 Eagle program. He also has been an executive with Insituform Mid America and General Dynamics Corporation. Mr. Jayne is a former White House Fellow, was on the staff of the National Security Council, and was an 11-year member of the CIA’s National Security Advisory Panel. He is a retired Major General in the Air National Guard and was an officer in the U.S. Air Force where he completed two combat tours as a fighter pilot in Southeast Asia. He holds a bachelors degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The Thriller Publishing management team is honored and excited to have the expertise of these two accomplished individuals as part of our mission,” said Thriller Chairman, J.W. “Wild Bill” Stealey. “Between Randy’s vast military experience and blue-chip corporate work…and Barbara’s expert financial credentials, leadership in mainstream entertainment, and entrepreneurial work in games and the internet…Thriller already has management and executive talent that rivals the best game publishers in the business. We just can’t wait to start bringing Thriller’s new brand of great games to market!”
The Thriller Advisory Board will assist company management in developing key business strategies that can benefit from the Board’s diversified backgrounds, deep experience and broad contacts. Discussions are also underway with candidates to fill additional positions on the advisory board to assist the company with eventual expansion of its wholly-owned content into book publishing and film adaptation.
Austin, Texas-based Thriller Publishing has licensed and contracted multiple best-selling authors to create and develop popular new characters and storylines with the potential for game sequels and sustainable series. In most cases, these relationships grant Thriller complete ownership of the stories, characters and other intellectual property associated with the books and games, including artistic content, film rights, board games, books, toys and all other intellectual property rights. Led by industry veterans, J.W. “Bill” Stealey, Fred Schmidt and Jim Bull -- all of whom have worked together before at legendary 1980s-era game brand/studio/publisher, MicroProse Software -- Thriller’s senior management team is composed of industry pioneers, each with over 20 years of successful game business experience. Based on their reputation, Thriller has assembled a worldwide marketing and distribution team for the largest Asian and European market segments, and has a distribution agreement with the industry’s premier North American retail game sales representation firm. Thriller intends to establish itself as the premier brand for military and espionage-themed AAA storyline games across all retail and online game platforms including PC, new-gen consoles, mobile and massively multiplayer (MMOG).