Paul Samulski

Paul’s career has included many overlapping projects. As VP Creative/Marketing for the East River Ferry, he managed the team that launched and operated the successful transportation service which eventually became NYC Ferry. He was the US Project Manager for Karsan, the Turkish auto manufacturer whose submission was “the people’s choice” in Mayor Bloomberg’s NYC Taxi of Tomorrow competition and was also the Creative Director of Uberangst, a Brooklyn-based innovation & technology company. Paul also spent time as Creative Director/Interactive at Mirrorball, an NYC advertising/promotions agency and as Senior Producer with Action Sports Adventure Productions, a sports film & video company that represented both the men’s and women’s World Cup soccer teams, the Women’s Sports Foundation, the US Volleyball Association and the ABL (which later became the WNBA.) While at ASAP he produced and directed commercials for such clients as Nike, Reebok, UPS, Budweiser, Noxzema and Time Warner. Paul also spent over 20 years in the video game industry as a CCO/CTO, working with such companies as Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, SEGA, and Acclaim Entertainment. He was EVP of Product Development, R&D/Licensing for Acclaim and managed relationships with MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and also MCA/Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Lightstorm Entertainment.

He managed the development of such video games as the Mortal Kombat series, the NBA Jam series, the World Wrestling Federation series, and the Simpsons games. He was integral in the development and operation of the first ever “brick & mortar” motion capture studio, where, in addition to creating content for video games, they also provided special effects for the first two Batman movies. Prior to video games, Paul spent many years in the toy industry working for Matchbox and later LJN Toys. As EVP of Product Development at LJN, he was part of the team behind the creation of the popular Thundercats animated TV series and subsequent toy line. During his time at both LJN and Matchbox, he also directed and produced a large catalog of commercials. Earlier in life he had the pleasure of participating in the often misunderstood world of rock n’ roll, but that’s for another time. He was born in Buffalo (Go Bills!), and now works as a Creative/Marketing Consultant and in addition to the NB Chamber, sits on the boards of various nonprofits including the North Brooklyn Angels and Photoville. He lives with his wife Debbie and they are happy grandparents.