Callaway Digital Arts (CDA) has appointed Rex Ishibashi as chief executive officer of the company, which makes family-friendly mobile and tablet applications. He replaces Nicholas Callaway, who has moved to the role of chief creative officer.
Ishibashi will be based out of Callaway’s recently established San Francisco office, which works with the New York office in developing digital storytelling and learning applications for children and families.
Additionally, Bing Gordon will join CDA as strategic and creative advisor. Gordon is partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, an investor in Callaway, Zynga and other companies. Among other things, Gordon was one of the first dozen employees at Electronic Arts, where he headed marketing and product development before serving as chief creative officer for ten years.
Ishibashi has more than two decades of experience in videogames, internet, mobile and social media, and joins CDA having been chief executive officer of massively social games company Ohai. Before that he was general manager of Electronic Arts Japan, having previously served as head of Business & Corporate Development. Ishibashi also has held executive positions at Motricity Mobile, Kontiki, Snocap and Wired Magazine (acquired by CondeNast), Kontiki (acquired by VeriSign), (IPO filing in 2010), and is the founder of social application start-up Originator Media.
With a grant from the Department of Education, CDA is reinventing learning by creating a series of game-based mobile applications that builds reading and math skills for children ages two through eight. All but one of CDA’s apps have reached the number one position in the Books or Lifestyle categories in the Apple AppStore, including Sesame Street: The Monster at the End of This Book (pictured); Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue; Angelina’s New Ballet Teacher; Miss Spider’s Tea Party; and two Martha Stewart apps.
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