ScienceMagic.Studios, the Web3-focused startup founded by ScienceMagic, Delphi Digital and Raoul Pal, has named its full executive team and some key appointments as it emerges from a period of stealth operation.
ScienceMagic.Studios exec team
Jack Spallone (top centre, main pic) joins the executive team as Vice-President for Product, Anastasia Almakaeva (top left, main pic) as Vice-President of Client Strategy, and Sian Morson (bottom left, main pic) as Vice-President of Community.
They take their roles alongside the existing senior management team headed by President Tareq Nazlawy and including Kevin Kelly, Vice-President of Tokenomics, and Warren Lewis, Executive Creative Director.
Also joining are Sam Richardson (top right, main pic), taking the role of Creative Director, and Hanh Nguyen (bottom centre left, main pic), who has been named Director of Strategy. The existing team includes Chief of Staff Natalie Otwoma and Romil Depala, Director of Research.
All the new recruits have extensive Web3 and brand experience, making them ideally positioned to realise SM.S’s purpose of helping clients to harness the power of Web3 for the creation of more meaningful, valuable direct connections with their communities.
Spallone is a Web3 pioneer with wide ranging experience including co-founding Ujo Music, the UGC blockchain platform owned by ConsenSys, and collaborating with RAC and Zora on the release of $TAPE.
Most recently he was Head of Product at HiFi Labs. At SM.S he is responsible for all technology partnerships and product opportunities.
Along with her Web3 experience, Almakaeva brings a wealth of luxury and brand strategy knowledge.
In her new role she is tasked with helping to win and deliver Web3 projects for top-tier global brands. Previously Chief Operating Officer at 0xA Technologies, she has worked on projects such as launching Fox Entertainment into Web3.
Morson joins from Cool Cats, where she was Vice-President of Community. Before that she was Head of Community at Palm NFT Studio, working on drops including Damien Hirst’s The Currency for HENI, and the DC Bat Cowl Collection.
Morson also brings deep knowledge and understanding of the VC space. She is an active angel investor and was previously an Entrepreneur in Residence at Cross Culture Ventures.
She is a former Director of Immersive Experience at Magic Leap. Morson, Almakaeva and Spallone all report to Nazlawy.
Richardson joins from the agency 20ten, where he also held the title of Creative Director.
Reporting to ECD Warren Lewis, Richardson will work with clients to generate concepts, develop creative strategies and work on digital design.
A former Art Director at PlayStation and Creative Director at agency HeyBryan, Richardson has worked on accounts including Disney, Puma, New Balance, McLaren, Warner Bros, Unilever and PlayStation.
Hanh Nguyen most recently worked at Polygon focusing on go-to-market and product development of a zero-knowledge technology to preserve privacy.
Before that she was a senior consultant at Boston Consulting Group where she worked with the world’s largest companies on shaping their business strategies and digital innovation.
Her remit at SM.S is to develop and implement a long-term strategy by creating partnerships with top brands and talent and helping them find new possibilities and value using Web3. She reports to Almakaeva.
Tareq Nazlawy, President of SM.S, said: “ScienceMagic.Studios has been building the operation for the past months. We’re over the moon to have assembled this team of all- stars behind the SM.S mission.
“Like many, we believe that we’re entering a new chapter where successful brands will co-create with their communities to unlock new value and move at the speed of culture.
“Web3 technology is a key enabler for that, and the SM.S team combines the Science and Magic needed to make it a reality.”
Joining as Executive Assistant to Nazlawy is Samantha Ridge (bottom right, main pic), who previously worked as Executive Assistant at Immersive Gamebox.