LABRODEX is guided by senior creative, technical and business leaders whose experience spans product development, storytelling, entertainment, technology and large-scale execution. Across their careers, team members have worked with Fortune 500 companies, established organizations and ambitious startups.
For each engagement, we complement this core leadership with specialized creative, engineering, production, project management and business talent selected for the work. Advanced AI expands what these teams can explore and execute; experienced people provide direction, judgment, originality and accountability.
Jim R. Ivon
President & Founder
As an investor, entrepreneur and early adopter of AI technologies, Jim believes strongly in the human-led AI boom. A successful dot-commer, Jim began his technology career over 25 years ago in Manhattan, where he founded an IT solutions and consulting firm that completed multiple rounds of financing. His experience implementing large-scale IT projects has since blended with his passion for AI and the creative process.
Jim’s early success afforded him the opportunity to found Labrodex Studios in 2016. A Harvard Business School alumnus through the OPM program, Jim has managed projects with teams ranging from several people to several hundred for organizations ranging from Fortune 500 firms to indie startups. These projects spanned all aspects of the technology, gaming, creative and business development process. Labrodex Studios successfully released seven titles based on original intellectual property for VR and AR platforms, including iOS, Android, PlayStation, PC, Oculus, VIVE, WMR and Steam.
For most of his career, Jim has been a strong supporter of notable causes, including the Guide Dog Foundation, America’s VetDogs and Wounded Warrior Project.
“We are entering the most transformative period of human history. AI has the power to help us unlock possibilities we haven't even imagined yet. The key to this future is making sure AI is a tool to help advance humanity and increase everyone's potential, opportunities and well being.”
Lawrence Nelson
Design and Creative Development
Lawrence holds degrees in Industrial Design and Design Education. He is an accomplished and acclaimed artist and architectural designer who has lent his extraordinary talents to an impressive number of projects and a long list of clients, spanning the last 30 years.
Widely known as one of the most gifted designers working in entertainment today, Lawrence is efficient at applying his skills to all phases of the development process. From initial inspiration, full concept, branding and program design through the advanced stages of implementation, problem solving and logistics. Lawrence’s unique ability to conceptualize three-dimensional spaces and to understand how the public will experience them is unparalleled.
Patrick Donoghue
Technical Entertainment Director
Patrick, a four-time Emmy Award winner is a senior entertainment executive focused on defining new and innovative ways to merge technology and art to tell stories and create emotional connections with the end user. Patrick has
produced several VR games, enterprise AR applications, and is a leader in the metaverse community.
He was Senior Vice President of User Experience & Innovation at Cablevision. During his career, Patrick has acquired thirteen patents and other industry awards while working for such well-known companies as Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, Showtime Networks, Viacom and Sesame Workshop.
Winifred Phillips
Entertainment Music Composer
Winifred Phillips is a BAFTA nominated composer whose credits include titles in six of the biggest and best franchises in gaming: Lineage, Assassin's Creed, Total War, God of War, LittleBigPlanet, and The Sims. Winifred has received numerous awards, including an Interactive Achievement Award / D.I.C.E. Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, and six Game Audio Network Guild Awards. She is the author of the bestselling book, A Composer's Guide to Game Music, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
Winifred has composed the music for more than ten XR titles. As an experienced composer in the XR field, Winifred has delivered two XR lectures at the annual Game Developers Conference, entitled “Music in Virtual Reality,” and “How Music Enhances Virtual Presence.” As a regular contributor of featured articles to GameDeveloper.com, she has written 36 articles to date on the subject of music in XR projects. Phillips was the first video game composer to give a lecture about game music at the Library of Congress, during which she discussed the role of music in XR.
Ryder Windham
Narrative and Creative Designer
A New York Times Bestselling author, Ryder’s credits as writer or co-writer appear on over 90 books, including titles for licensed properties such as Transformers, LEGO Bionicle, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and The Matrix. His work includes movie novelizations, television series tie-ins, spinoff fiction, non-fiction books and scripts for graphic novels and animated cartoons. He has also taught courses on writing and drawing comics at Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education and worked as a storyboard artist for documentary films. Ryder has lent his design skills to several released XR and digital entertainment projects. Windham wrote the novel Scraper, a tie-in with the VR game created by Labrodex Studios.
His clients include Disney Publishing, Harper Collins, becker&mayer!, Del Rey, Dark Horse Comics, DK Publishing, Simon & Schuster, Random House, Scholastic, Haynes Publishing, Insight Editions and Grosset & Dunlap.