Iconic Arts, a new transmedia entertainment studio launched by Steven Haddadian, Alec Roth, Matthew Medney, Mo Yazdani, and Jack Sheehan, announced it raised $3.1 million in funding at a $20 million pre-seed valuation. The company also opened its doors in LA and Tokyo.
The company has support from Hollywood, gaming, and technology luminaries like Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth, Grammy-winning artist and founder of FYI.ai, Will.i.am and industry executives Chris Heatherly (The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal), Mark Caplan (Sony Pictures Entertainment), and Motoki Tani (Animoca Brands KK, Millennium, JP Morgan). AI expert and CTIO of JPL NASA Chris Mattmann, immersive media pioneer Brian Selzer and legal AI attorney Charles Lew also join the advisory board.
Iconic Arts is building the foundations for a global entertainment company with some of the largest IP companies and brands in Japan through a newly formed joint venture (JV) created by lead investor and advisor Motoki Tani – the co-founder of Animoca Brands KK.
Over the last year, the team has been developing an original slate of IP by using a unique workflow that combines talented creators with emerging technologies, such as a set of proprietary AI-powered tools that help lower the cost of development by up to 90%, while also derisking negative audience sentiment. For example, one tool enables creators to materialize worlds for UGC platforms like Fortnite, Roblox, or any multiplayer native environment with no code while maintaining their art direction. These UGC platforms serve as market testing and community-building environments for their IP.
Iconic Arts has also hired Aric Jain, a specialized corporate development executive and in-house counsel (formerly at leading IP law firm Wilmerhale). Jain will work closely with Charles Lew, Chris Mattmann, and California lawmakers to help draft bills on the ethical applications of AI within IP development.
Steven Haddadian, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Steven Haddadian spent over a decade in the intersection of entertainment, technology and gaming being an early bitcoin investor and serial entrepreneur since 2012. And he was also co-founder of Los Angeles-based media company TheFutureParty, which was acquired by NVE Experience Agency in 2019.
Alec Roth, Co-founder, Director & Executive Producer
Co-founder Alec Roth comes from a wide career and lineage of Hollywood storytelling with having just completed his directorial debut Billy Knight, featuring stars like Al Pacino, Charlie Heaton, and Diana Silvers, along with producing Desert Road through his production company Firebrand Media Group.
Matthew Medney, Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer
Head the development on the studio’s inaugural slate of IP is Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, Matthew Medney. Medney, previously the CEO of legendary Heavy Metal Magazine, is one of the most prolific sci-fi writers having penned books and creative directed for Floyd Mayweather, Bobby Wagner of the Seattle Seahawks, Steve Aoki, and Rolling Loud. He recently launched Gungnir Books, a sister company of Iconic Arts, that publishes graphic novels, prose and art books for the studio.
Mo Yazdani, Co-founder & Chief Operations Officer
Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer Mo Yazdani started his career in fintech and banking working at a management consulting firm and State Street before moving into tech as a product manager, shipping over 20 interactive software products for large brands. Prior to founding Iconic Arts, Mo was a Product Lead at a web3 gaming company.
Jack Sheehan, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer
Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer Jack Sheehan comes from the Hollywood agency and studio system, having held positions at Universal, Sony & WME before producing over 50 independent films with stars such as Keanu Reeves, Margot Robbie, and Tom Hanks, most recently serving as the President of Archstone Entertainment.
Omar Abdelwahed, Chief Technology Officer
Chief Technology Officer Omar Abdelwahed was previously the Technical Director at Vancouver-based East Side Games, VP of Engineering at Playable Worlds and the former Head of Studio at Softbank Robotics where he launched the first humanoid social robot in the US alled Pepper. And he also led Ubisoft’s first games development studio in San Francisco.
Rob Carroll, Chief Gaming Officer
Chief Gaming Officer Rob Carroll comes from a career at LucasArts, Zynga, Wargaming, Unity, and most recently at Economics Design. Rob has shipped over 40 titles in the gaming space.
KEY QUOTES:
“Through this JV, Iconic Arts will serve as the entertainment partner for global consumer brands to develop IP across film, television, gaming and merchandising.”
- Motoki Tani – who was previously the Head of Trading at JP Morgan and Managing Director at Hong Kong-based Millennium
“We are applying a Silicon Valley approach to the hit-driven models of Hollywood and gaming studios, cutting costs and risks in developing original IP, with timeless storytelling at the heart of our business.”
- Founder and CEO, Steven Haddadian
