Elan Lee is one of the most popular and richest Game Designer who was born on January 26, 1975 in Los Angeles, California, United States. In 2008 Year Zero won the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Grand Prix Award for “Viral Marketing” as well as a Silver Award for “Integrated Campaign”. The game also won a bronze Clio Award, and two Webbys: Peoples Voice Award (Branded Content) and Peoples Voice Award (Integrated Campaigns).
Elan returned to Microsoft as the Chief Design Officer for Xbox Entertainment Studios soon after the launch of the Xbox One game console in 2013. By 2014, Elan left Microsoft with the plan to build a new technology-based TV studio and went as far as building a prototype, building a team and successfully raised about $5 million for his new endeavor. Nevertheless, pesky little kittens would prove to quickly change those plans.
Lee began his career as a character designer at Industrial Light and Magic, where he worked on several motion pictures including the computer special effects for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Lee was then hired by Microsoft Game Studios as Lead Game Designer, designing and directing games for PC and Xbox. While working for Microsoft he was the Executive Producer and Lead Designer for The Beast, one of the world’s first Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) used to promoted the Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
In 2007, Lee founded Fourth Wall Studios, an entertainment studio aiming to develop and publish entertainment experiences of varying scopes. Lee developed a new form of interactive programming that engaged audiences across multiple platforms via new technology he created. Projects such as the Emmy Award-winning series “Dirty Work” brought viewers into the show with interactive elements such as “integrated phone calls, texts and emails” as part of the viewing experience.
In 2005 I Love Bees won an Innovation Award from IGDA, and a Webby Award.
In 2012 Lee won a Creative Arts Emmy for Original Interactive Programming for the web series Dirty Work. The same year he won the Trailblazer Award from IndieCade.
