Meet Our Team

Our Lotus Mountain team comprises a hodge-podge of quirky gaming aficionados, with impressive expertise and diverse passions ranging from music and yoga, to philosophy and computer science. Together, we develop enlightening products and services, guided by a shared core ethos:

It’s okay—preferable, even—to be weird.

We empower one another to be, do, and feel our best.

Magic is real.

We take our play seriously.

If you’re not having fun, you’re missing the point.

Our souls are inseparable from the work we create and the value we bring.

  

 Peter Jones 

Role: Founder

Education: Animation, Brigham Young University

Expertise: Animation, illustration, visual storytelling

Notable Companies: Western Governors University, Digital Gravy, WildWorks

Special Projects: Animalis (YA sci-fi fiction), Ghost (animated music video)

When he’s not meditating, honing his gesture drawing, or practicing telekinesis, Peter’s jumping on the tramp, playing "Ninja Dad Versus Kids" and indulging his youngest’s battery obsession. His love of animation started early, thanks to movies like Disney’s Rescuers Down Under, and that love has only deepened over the years. Lotus Mountain is informed by Peter’s own spiritual exploration and experiences, and his hope is for the power of our storytelling—both written and visual—to awaken people to a transcendent reality.

Josh Jones

Role: Development Producer

Education: Computer Science, UVU

Expertise: Game Programming, 16 year veteran

Notable Companies: WildWorks, Sensory Sweep

Special Projects: IGDA Chapter head, Twitch Stream

Josh has been working in the video game industry for 16 years. He worked as a game programmer at Sensory Sweep and WildWorks creating games like Marvel Nemesis DS, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Animal Jam. He graduated in Computer Science from UVU and runs the local Utah chapter of the IGDA. For the chapter, he organizes industry award shows, game jams, and regular monthly meetings. He enjoys livestreaming, esports, gaming, and anime conventions in Utah. He believes strongly in experimental gameplay and the medium of digital media for new and interactive experiences.

Jonathan Stephens

Role: Developer

Education: Self Taught, 13 years programming experience

Expertise: Software engineering (VR, graphics, game, web, backend, native, micro controller, and more)

Notable Companies: Qualtrics, Imagine Learning, The Void

Special Projects: Ghostbusters experience for The Void, popular browser library used in many games

 

Jonathan taught himself programming from a young age. With over 13 years since the start of his professional programming career, and about 5 of those targeting game-related development, he has worked with or for companies including Qualtrics, Imagine Learning, and The Void.

Jon publishes and maintains assets in the Unity Asset Store. His most popular asset, Embedded Browser, has been used in notable games including Tabletop Simulator, Fallout Shelter, and Getting Over It. He also assisted The Void with their inaugural Ghostbusters experience. He has a solid understanding of VR systems, the Unity engine, shader and compute shader development, and isn't afraid to write a native library when needed.

Between the games you've played and the surveys you've taken there's a reasonable chance you've run or used some of his code before!

Michael Fewkes

Role: Music Composition, Sound Design, Audio Code

Education: Salt Lake Community College

Expertise: Programming, Game Development, Audio Production

Notable Companies: Film Productions in the SLC area

Special Projects: Narcalid game!

 

Michael Fewkes. Audio Coder, Sound Designer, Music Composer. Michael started making games when he was young, coding simple games on his parent’s computer and making card games out of index cards in his early teens.  At the same time he was developing himself as a musician.

Early in college he was introduced to an industry where his love of sound and love of game development could live together. Michael has been doing sound for games for over 7 years, collaborating on many small projects with other passionate developers. His sound, music, and audio integration are included in over 30 games.  His passion for interactive and responsive audio continues to drive him to make smarter audio systems and clearer sound.

Andrew Blair

Role: Writer, Designer, Animator

Education: Brigham Young University

Expertise: Writing, Adobe Creative Suite

Notable Companies: Digital Gravy

Special Projects: Beard Oil, Tinker Studios

Andrew Blair is hands down the best creative writer in this Galaxy, yet humble enough to know he’s got some tough competitors in the remaining universe. He’s a father of two, boy and girl, and husband to the most groovy girl in the universe (no competition there). He’s also a full time professional animator at Digital Gravy, and a full time space ninja cyborg.

 

 

Andrea Davila 

Role: Concept Artist, Character Designer

Education: Brigham Young University, Illustration

Expertise: Character Design, Illustration, Procreate, Adobe Suite

Special Projects: BYU Animation and Game projects

Andrea is not much of a chef, but can cook up some mind blowing characters and concept art. She studied illustration at Brigham Young University and helped in the production of several award winning student short films. When she isn’t slicing layers on her iPad, she can be found watching Twitch and YouTube, playing pickleball/racquetball/tennis, or traveling to national parks and other events. Oh, and sometimes in the kitchen, mastering that whole chef thing. 

 

Jeferson Tomazella 

 

Role: Level Designer

Education: Computer Science, Universidade Federal de Lavras (Brazil)

Expertise:  Level Design, Scripting

Special Projects: Narcalid, Trucker Quest, Crônicas de Evenall

Jeferson is a Reiki Master, guitarist, nature lover, tabletop RPG lover, cat dad, kung fu student, and Ho'oponopono hobbyist (It's ok, he'll forgive himself for you not knowing what that is!). He has loved creating since he was a child, building everything he could with Lego or any broken toys he could get his hands on. His passion for games started early. He joined university with games in mind. However, a life-changing experience opened his eyes to the spiritual side of life, and now he's joining both passions together, spiritual and gaming, to help every living being to be the divine being they are meant to be.

 

Shawn Parkhurst 

 

Role: Level Designer

Education: Ringling College of Art and Design

Expertise: Game Art and Design, Baking

Notable Companies: Three Rings

Special Projects: Narcalid, Game Jams, Spiral Knights

Shawn

was the kid who left no margin un-doodled in, had a passion for conjuring up castles that touched the heavens and ships that left astral trails through the stars. Having countless hours crafting up custom levels and building out the world he envisioned in digital spaces, Shawn eventually set his sights on the games industry. He made it, and though the road has been bumpy at times it still feels like the right place to be.

When not illuminated by the blue glow of a computer screen, you might find Shawn by the oven working on his second passion, making flour taste good! The hardest part about working from home, you can’t email your coworkers baked goods.

 

 

Partners

Oray Studios

Oray Studios is an Art, Design & Technology guild founded in 2008 by Python (Iqbal Aribaskara) & Kobra (Gifny Richata). Their mission is to bring the best of Indonesian artists' works to the world, enjoying themselves while doing that, with the hope that what they can make this world a slightly better place :)