Jordan Itkowitz
Director, Creative Kingdoms at Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Cephas Howard
Jordan is nothing short of a pleasure to work with, he brings a wealth of experience and know how combined with a great ability to quickly grasp new information and ideas and run with them. He has an incredible sense of humour and brings smiles to those around him daily. He know how to get stuff done, when to push and when to tread carefully. He can build teams and concepts up and keep them running, balancing well up stream innovation with downstream quality control, a rare gift. As is his ability to both generate ideas but also to embrace them from others and find the best solution to a creative problem and a user need. He gets more done, in AND out of work than that of two other busy people. Im still not sure how, but its still amazing to witness even years later. He is a true creative mind balanced with a strong producer/manager mindset to get the job done, on time and on budget without dropping quality or worklife balance. As the Danes say, work smarter, not harder. He will always be at the top of any teamsheet i would bring to bear to build a digital playful game or experience. If you have the fortune to entice him to work with you, enjoy that privilege and get the most from it, you wont regret it.
Noel Holmes
Jordan was one of my favorite designers to work with. He was always excited to work on new features. He is very open minded and is never afraid to ask questions when the purpose of a proposal is unclear (as mine often are). Most importantly, he is incredibly passionate about making his games fun. You can see his genuine excitement when he sees players able to express their creativity through projects he's worked on.
Cephas Howard
Jordan is nothing short of a pleasure to work with, he brings a wealth of experience and know how combined with a great ability to quickly grasp new information and ideas and run with them. He has an incredible sense of humour and brings smiles to those around him daily. He know how to get stuff done, when to push and when to tread carefully. He can build teams and concepts up and keep them running, balancing well up stream innovation with downstream quality control, a rare gift. As is his ability to both generate ideas but also to embrace them from others and find the best solution to a creative problem and a user need. He gets more done, in AND out of work than that of two other busy people. Im still not sure how, but its still amazing to witness even years later. He is a true creative mind balanced with a strong producer/manager mindset to get the job done, on time and on budget without dropping quality or worklife balance. As the Danes say, work smarter, not harder. He will always be at the top of any teamsheet i would bring to bear to build a digital playful game or experience. If you have the fortune to entice him to work with you, enjoy that privilege and get the most from it, you wont regret it.
Noel Holmes
Jordan was one of my favorite designers to work with. He was always excited to work on new features. He is very open minded and is never afraid to ask questions when the purpose of a proposal is unclear (as mine often are). Most importantly, he is incredibly passionate about making his games fun. You can see his genuine excitement when he sees players able to express their creativity through projects he's worked on.
Cephas Howard
Jordan is nothing short of a pleasure to work with, he brings a wealth of experience and know how combined with a great ability to quickly grasp new information and ideas and run with them. He has an incredible sense of humour and brings smiles to those around him daily. He know how to get stuff done, when to push and when to tread carefully. He can build teams and concepts up and keep them running, balancing well up stream innovation with downstream quality control, a rare gift. As is his ability to both generate ideas but also to embrace them from others and find the best solution to a creative problem and a user need. He gets more done, in AND out of work than that of two other busy people. Im still not sure how, but its still amazing to witness even years later. He is a true creative mind balanced with a strong producer/manager mindset to get the job done, on time and on budget without dropping quality or worklife balance. As the Danes say, work smarter, not harder. He will always be at the top of any teamsheet i would bring to bear to build a digital playful game or experience. If you have the fortune to entice him to work with you, enjoy that privilege and get the most from it, you wont regret it.
Noel Holmes
Jordan was one of my favorite designers to work with. He was always excited to work on new features. He is very open minded and is never afraid to ask questions when the purpose of a proposal is unclear (as mine often are). Most importantly, he is incredibly passionate about making his games fun. You can see his genuine excitement when he sees players able to express their creativity through projects he's worked on.
Cephas Howard
Jordan is nothing short of a pleasure to work with, he brings a wealth of experience and know how combined with a great ability to quickly grasp new information and ideas and run with them. He has an incredible sense of humour and brings smiles to those around him daily. He know how to get stuff done, when to push and when to tread carefully. He can build teams and concepts up and keep them running, balancing well up stream innovation with downstream quality control, a rare gift. As is his ability to both generate ideas but also to embrace them from others and find the best solution to a creative problem and a user need. He gets more done, in AND out of work than that of two other busy people. Im still not sure how, but its still amazing to witness even years later. He is a true creative mind balanced with a strong producer/manager mindset to get the job done, on time and on budget without dropping quality or worklife balance. As the Danes say, work smarter, not harder. He will always be at the top of any teamsheet i would bring to bear to build a digital playful game or experience. If you have the fortune to entice him to work with you, enjoy that privilege and get the most from it, you wont regret it.
Noel Holmes
Jordan was one of my favorite designers to work with. He was always excited to work on new features. He is very open minded and is never afraid to ask questions when the purpose of a proposal is unclear (as mine often are). Most importantly, he is incredibly passionate about making his games fun. You can see his genuine excitement when he sees players able to express their creativity through projects he's worked on.
Experience
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Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.
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United States
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Hospitality
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director, Creative Kingdoms
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Dec 2017 - Present
● Corporate director for Great Wolf Resorts’ brand-exclusive interactive attraction, MagiQuest. ● Responsible for creative direction, innovation, development, and operations, including design and implementation of the game at new lodges, and updates to existing locations. ● Led development of an all-new, re-imagined version of the game, which launched at our Northern CA and PA lodges in 2021 and will be the brand standard moving forward. Includes new brand, characters, story, gameplay, and retail assortment. ● Starting in 2018, led a series of initiatives to stabilize operations and protect and grow revenue, including: platform improvements; SOPs; sales & training support; and guest-facing enhancements. Results: from flat-to-declining revenues 4 years ago to 29% growth across all properties YOY in 2021. ● Won Spirit of the Wolf award in 2022, recognizing corporate Pack Members who embody the values of service, collaboration, and innovation Show less
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LEGO Group
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Denmark
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Manufacturing
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Creative Manager
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Sep 2014 - Nov 2017
● Led a team of creative managers for LEGO Games’ portfolio of licensed console and mobile games, including LEGO Worlds, LEGO Dimensions, and other new projects. ● Developed creative and brand strategies and ensured alignment with LEGO products and user experience in licensed titles. ● Built and strengthened collaborative relationships with our external development and publishing partners. ● Creative lead on LEGO Worlds, in close collaboration with the dev team at Tt Games. ● Consulted on game design, interactive design, and UX for a variety of LEGO R&D projects including LEGO Super Mario and Hidden Side. Show less
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Linden Lab
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United States
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Computer Games
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100 - 200 Employee
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Design Director
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Jan 2012 - Aug 2014
● Product lead on Blocksworld, an innovative block-building app acquired by Linden Lab in 2012 and published globally on iOS in 2013. ● Designed and led development of new features (gameplay, in-app sales, social) to transform Blocksworld into a robust and popular creative platform and community. ● Developed content strategy and led team to create new sets and play materials (original and licensed IPs, including Transformers and My Little Pony) as weekly-released IAP. ● Product management and feature, UX, and systems design for Linden Lab’s New Products group, including Patterns and dio. Show less
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Design Director
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Jul 2009 - Nov 2011
● Creative direction for the LEGO Universe massively-multiplayer online game (PC, 2010 - 2012), and handled all writing for the entire game. ● Oversaw design of all game content and key systems, including conversion to a free-to-play model which instantly boosted our audience above 2 million players. ● Department head of 19 designers across 5 internal dev teams, while also leading a cross-discipline team of 20 artists, designers, engineers, audio designers, and QA. ● Implemented new design processes to break down silos and to create a much more collaborative and efficient relationship between the design and art departments. Previous position held: Senior Systems Designer ● Design lead for the racing feature in LEGO Universe, including systems design, track design and scripted events, missions, and a modular build-your-own-car feature. Show less
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Rainbow Studios
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United States
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Computer Games
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1 - 100 Employee
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Principal Game Designer
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Jan 2000 - May 2009
Designed racing and action/adventure games for Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube. Original and licensed IP for Disney/Pixar, THQ, LucasArts, and Infogrames/Atari. Project vision and direction, core game design and progression, systems and game mechanics, level design, writing, and cinematics. Previous positions held: Lead Game Designer Game Designer Associate Producer Deadly Creatures (Wii; 2009) ● Concept and game direction for this unique action/survival horror title. ● Level design, gameplay, and script. ● Game received Editors' Choice awards from IGN and Gamespy, and continues to get high praise from gaming press and fan communities, years after its release. Disney/Pixar's Cars (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, Xbox360, Wii, PC, Mac; 2006) ● Over 9 million copies sold, the #1 best-selling kids' game of 2006, and the #2 best-selling game overall that year as well. ● Designed main game, with a huge open-world structure and story progression. ● Managed design team for creation of 23 racetracks and 10 diverse mini-games. ● Wrote all cut scenes/dialogue in collaboration with Pixar story team. Co-directed all cut scenes. Disney/Pixar's Cars: Mater-National (PS2, PS3, Xbox360, Wii, PC, Mac; 2007) ● Wrote all cut scenes/dialogue for the follow-up to the blockbuster Cars game. Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild (PS2; 2003) ● Co-design lead for this theme-park-inspired jet-ski racer. Designed 8 race courses with dynamic events, a new stunt system, mini-games, and progression/metagame. Star Wars: Racer Revenge (PS2; 2002) ● Co-design lead for the pod-racer sequel. Designed and balanced racing/combat system as well as most of the game’s levels. Recently ported to PS4! Splashdown (PS2, Xbox; 2001), for Infogrames/Atari. ● Level design, game progression, systems design, and mini-games. Show less
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Screenwriter
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Oct 1999 - Feb 2002
● Co-writer on screenplay for 'Ark' - CG feature film produced by Digital Rim Studios in Seoul, Korea and Kokopelli LLC in Phoenix, AZ. Starring James Woods. ● Co-writer on screenplay for 'Ark' - CG feature film produced by Digital Rim Studios in Seoul, Korea and Kokopelli LLC in Phoenix, AZ. Starring James Woods.
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Education
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1993 - 1997
New York University
Bachelor's Degree, Film and Animation -
1997 - 1999
Academy of Art University
MFA, Computer Arts/Animation
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