KyleOneSpark starts this Wednesday and runs through Sunday. It’s the first of it’s kind crowdfunding festival for “creators”. OneSpark is taking the crowdfunding concept made popular by Kickstarter, Indiegogo and of course every single startup that’s popped up since we’ve been waiting for the JOBSact,and brought it off line.
The festival will be like SXSW interactive meets SXSW music and everything in between as creators from around the world spread out at venues across downtown Jacksonville. For a good summary of OneSpark check out this story.
We’ll be talking with lot’s of creators on-site and some as we lead up to this epic event.
First up we have Michael Le Manna, the founder of Floppy Entertainment. In our interview with Le Manna he credits the OneSpark festival for really sparking startups and the startup community in Jacksonville. Even Shahid Khan, the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, is on board.
Check out the interview below and for more on OneSpark visit beonespark.com
What is your startup, what does it do?
Floppy Entertainment is the first game company in Jacksonville Florida, founded in 2012. It consists of a small group of highly talented programmers and artists. The vision of the company is to create a new and innovative gaming experience for people on a mobile platform to play for brief periods of time throughout the course of a normal day. Our interactive games are fun, easily understood and challenging. Players will be compelled to play again and again.
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
Michael La Manna creative lead, audio designer. Has been writing music for games and media for over 14 years.
Brian Marshburn programmer. Started programming games at the age of 8.
Thomas Schaffer lead technical artist. Master user of Maya software.
What is the startup culture like in Jacksonville?
Other than One Spark there has never been any support for a start up tech company such as game development.
What is one challenge that you’ve overcome in the startup process?
The big challenge working in game development is the expensive software licensing fees.
What are some of the milestones your startup has achieved?
We have won multiple indie development contest and secured sponsorship from Microsoft.
What are your next milestones?
Our first mobile game will be released in the next 4 months.
Who are your mentors and role models?
Other independent game company’s such as Trendy Entertainment in Gainesville Florida, they have been very supportive.
What are some of the advantages/disadvantages growing your startup outside of Silicon Valley.
One advantage is lack of competition but the big disadvantage is lack or interest of local support.
What’s next for your startup?
Develop and release at a minimum of 3 games a year.
Where can people find out more?
www.floppyent.com Or on twitter as floppyent
Check out more about OneSpark here at nibletz.com the voice of startups everywhere else
