where are they now?

Many moons ago, I graduated high school and headed off to a music conservatory as a trumpet performance major. It didn’t take long for me to meander my way through different schools and majors before starting this company instead of finishing college.

(Do as I say, not as I do, kids. Stay in school!)

The longer I do this, the more fascinated I become with how life and careers can be winding paths where one thing leads to the next, often in unexpected ways. I’m glad that I was able to try different things until I found the right situation. Or maybe it found me, but either way, here we are.

It’s a source of pride for me that I’ve done the same thing in my career, for 31 years now, and in that time, I’ve worked with a lot of fine people who have gone on to entirely different things. From university presidents and college deans to FBI agents to well-known local artists to HR professionals to tropical beach wedding videographers, CVWmedia alumni are all over the place doing great things in their own corners of the world. I thought it would be fun to catch up with a few of them.

Mikki Skinner and family — Photo: Gib Park

Creativity can take many forms and can even take you down a (literal) road to new places. Mikki Skinner worked here as a media duplication and fulfillment specialist while obtaining her degree at the University of Oklahoma. After that, she continued her education at the Cleveland Institute of Music before joining the prestigious West Point Band. I’ll let Mikki pick up the story here…

While at West Point, I was incredibly fortunate to play some pretty amazing performances. Taps for Steinbrenner at home plate at Yankees Stadium, Christmas concerts with the NY Philharmonic, international concerts with the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force Band in Tokyo. As creatives, I think it's hard to keep our brains still sometimes.

Now Mikki and her husband work remotely, and check this out:

We bought a school bus, and for the better part of a year, have been converting it to a tiny home on wheels. With our three kids in tow, we are planning on traveling around the U.S. to see and experience all the beauty our country offers.

Mikki says that her time at CVWmedia transferring and duplicating family home videos changed her:

Memories are what you have. They are what linger after all you gain, or all you lose.

So off she goes, to create a lifetime of memories with her husband and children. You can follow along at The Bus Family on Instagram.

Matt Kaney joined CVWmedia as a production intern right out of high school, and by the time he completed his graduate degree, the most common phrase around here was, “Of course Matt can do that.” In addition to working on our client projects, he assembled micro-PCs so we could play vintage video games and developed iOS apps. Outside of work, he made his own video games and other interactive art for shows around Oklahoma. Matt worked here during a period of rapid growth for the company, and he played a role in helping us create and improve a lot of our systems and habits.

During the time I was at CVW, [there] was a fundamental focus on workflow, searching for ways we could get projects done in a more efficient, better-organized way. Being a part of that has given me a deep respect for the way that a good working process can avoid headaches and help make awesome creative work happen.

And now?

I'm living in New York, where I'm primarily working with the NYU Music Experience Design Lab, helping build and test out new tools for music making and music education. My work there is primarily web programming but drawing heavily on everything I know about visual and design and animation. I've also been performing algorithmically generated music with a friend for a couple of years, doing various freelance programming projects, and teaching the occasional class on music and design.

Whether or not you’re musically inclined, you should visit Groove Pizza, Matt’s online circular drum sequencer, and then enjoy this performance utilizing live-sampled radio.

One of my first memories of Adam Grantham when he started at CVWmedia is seeing him waiting for us in the parking lot very early in the morning each day, because we were out of office keys and hadn’t had time to go make duplicates. This, after riding a bicycle from the opposite side of town. Yes…we got him a key, and his work ethic and determination were a sign of things to come, even after his time here.

After CVWmedia I started as an artist in video game development but soon moved into game design as I realized that it’s really where the soul of a game comes from. I've had some cool opportunities working in game design over the past few years, including working on some major titles like God of War: Ascension, Gears of War 4, The Evil Within, and many others.

That was just the tip of the iceberg. Currently, Adam is working on what has been his most exciting project and role yet:

I'm creative director of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners at Skydance Interactive. It’s a virtual reality game based on the original graphic novels by Skybound. I work with a team of talented individuals who all contribute to a collective vision for the game. My role is to maintain and drive the creative vision in terms of gameplay, story, visuals, audio, etc.

Storytelling in a visual (and in this case, interactive) format is a big part of what we do, and I was glad to hear that Adam’s time with us has paid off.

There were a lot of great takeaways from my time at CVWmedia. Some are broadly applicable, like general professionalism, communication, and creative collaboration. Others are skills I honed there, such as pacing and presentation, all of which have been very useful as a game designer. Even editing skills have been useful for creating videos to communicate complex creative ideas that are difficult to simply describe with words. My experience there pays off to this day.

I always enjoy getting to know my coworkers, learning what makes them tick, and becoming familiar with their interests outside of work. Sometimes those interests become their careers, and though I’d love it if every stellar employee of CVWmedia could stay here forever, Mikki, Matt, and Adam are just a few examples of CVWmedia alumni whose diverse skill sets continue to push the boundaries of creativity throughout their careers. Even better, they all still have very bright futures ahead of them, and you can bet I’ll enjoy watching from a distance to see what’s next.