Calm at the center of the storm.
I’m Seth Thygesen. For more than 15 years, I’ve worked as a producer figuring out how a great story can also be good business. Most of the job is helping talented people do their best work, and keeping the story and the numbers pulling in the same direction.
I’m looking for my next executive producer role in games, interactive media, or entertainment.
Based in Long Beach, CA. Open to local, hybrid, or remote roles.
Shipped withcodeSpark · Sesame · HOMER · Little Passports · NSF · RAND
Six Skills, Five Case Studies
Each one has a shipped product behind it. Tap a card for the full story.
Live Ops and Retention
Shipping Content When We Couldn’t Ship Code
codeSpark Academy
Apple’s IDFA change meant we couldn’t ship app updates without losing ad tracking. I shipped stories from the server instead, and engaged players were 80% more likely to stay.
Technical Production
Turning Four Products into One Learning Journey
Begin Learning
Begin’s acquired apps shared nothing but an audience. I built a sampler app that proved the bundle could sell, then moved everything onto one tech stack.
Narrative and Voice Direction
Making the Player the Seventh Dragon
7 Dragons
A garbled import with six dragons and a seventh in the title. I rewrote the story so the player becomes the seventh, and the game reached 1 million players in its first year.
Cross-Team Leadership
The Parent Engagement Paradox
codeSpark Academy
Parents asked for progress reports, then ignored them. We found what they actually needed, built that instead, and grew monthly active users 25%.
Research and Funding
Proving Preschoolers Can Learn Computational Thinking
codeSpark Pre-K
No one knew if preschoolers could learn computational thinking. An NSF grant and a RAND trial proved they could, and one of my games won a Silver Collision Award.
Monetization and Testing
Every Idea Is an Experiment
I tested a new paywall in nearly every release for years. An idea stays an experiment until user tests, A/B tests, and telemetry say otherwise.
Things I’ve Made
Fooville Legends
Creator | 2019-2025
An interactive animated series with games and contests built around it. Six seasons and 120+ coding and social-emotional learning stories inside codeSpark Academy, with 8M+ views.
Adventure Game Maker
Producer | 2022
A top-down, Zelda-style game maker for kids, with combat, codeable items, and kid-safe moderation.
Begin Learning App
Producer | 2024
The flagship Begin app, with Sesame, HOMER, codeSpark, and Little Passports inside. Rated 4.3 stars.
Paper Shaper
Producer | 2024
A codeSpark Pre-K game about shapes and spatial reasoning. 2024 Silver Collision Award.
7 Dragons
Assistant Product Manager | 2011
A free-to-play MMO I rewrote around the player becoming the seventh dragon. 0 to 1M+ players in year one.
Footorials
Co-Creator | 2021-2024
An animated series of coding explainers for families. 200K+ YouTube views and millions more in the app.
V.E.E.R.
Creator | 2013
A sci-fi TV pilot shot over 10 days at multiple locations, with 100+ cast and crew.
Lucha Leyenda
Co-Writer
A lucha libre film about reclaiming Mexican heritage, with a veteran character actor attached.
Where I’ve Worked
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Pulkka Creative
2026 to Present
Executive Producer, Production and Vendor Operations (Contract)
In-house consultant streamlining production across a cross-media portfolio: vendor contracts, on-site crews, and budgets.
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Begin Learning
2021 to 2025
Executive Producer, Digital Apps (2024 to 2025)Senior Producer, Digital Apps (2021 to 2024)
Owned community and live ops for a portfolio serving 20M+ users. Launched the Begin Learning app and codeSpark Pre-K, and directed the YouTube channels.
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codeSpark
2017 to 2021
Technical Operations Producer, Senior Product Manager (2020 to 2021)Quality Assurance and Operations Analyst (2017 to 2020)
Live ops, release readiness, and original animation for a coding platform serving 10M+ kids. Acquired by Begin in an eight-figure deal.
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Somnigram Ltd.
2012 to Present
Co-Founder and Executive Partner
Created and produced the sci-fi TV pilot V.E.E.R. with 100+ cast and crew. Production budgets from $1K to $100K+ for interactive and commercial media.
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Outspark
2009 to 2011
Assistant Product Manager and Game Master
Took 7 Dragons from zero to 1M+ users in its first year, and cast and directed voice work for three online games.
BA in Filmmaking, minor in Mathematics, California State University, East Bay
Let’s Make Something
Executive Producer
Production and product leadership for games, kids and family apps, and interactive media.