March FableFriday: Jonah Gaynor, Associate Producer

When Jonah works on a project, he brings not only his project management experience, game design background, and “spidey senses” that anticipate client needs, but also his sense of humor, creativity, and variety of interests. 

Jonah joined FableVision as a production assistant. Now, in his newly-minted role of associate producer, he takes more of a leadership role, with a comprehensive understanding of the FableVision process to ensure that projects are completed smoothly and thoroughly. 

“My game design background has a huge influence on how I produce projects in all phases,” he says. “My experience with being in the weeds allows me to better understand the needs of the project and the potential directions it could be headed in.”

Keep reading to learn about Jonah’s game design background, fun geography facts, and his fabled journey to FableVision!

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Congratulations on your promotion to associate producer! How does your position as an associate producer expand on your previous role as a production assistant?
I was very fortunate as a production assistant to work with many fantastic producers at FableVision, which was excellent preparation for moving into this new associate producer role. I learned many useful skills for the best management of a project, such as budgeting, client communication, and internal team structuring, productivity, and morale. 

As an associate producer, I take the lead on more projects and I am prepared to propose possible solutions for any issues we may run into. I’ll provide clients with a smooth process to avoid any bumps on the road.

How do you integrate your game design knowledge into your daily tasks? What’s your favorite part of the game design process?
My game design background helps me understand which direction to take a project in, while also identifying when certain ideas are taking us away from the scope of the project. I like to think of myself as a jack of all trades, master of… some.

I especially love the initial brainstorming phase of the game design process! There’s something really exciting about the first “great idea” that comes from the team. From a production perspective, I think about how, if at all, this brilliant idea will impact production, but I do take a moment to enjoy the byproduct of working with so many creative and driven people. We have a great team.

What are your favorite types of projects to work on?
I love working on projects where FableVision’s mission is compatible with the client’s mission, such as Keenville for the Georgia Department of Education. No matter the idea, aim, or timeline for a project, this meshing of visions makes the journey easy, fun, and seamless. Fortunately, this happens quite a bit!

What are some games you designed outside of FableVision?
My biggest undertaking was Maya’s Dice. It’s a 2D Cyberpunk RPG that uses the bluffing dice game liar’s dice instead of a more traditional battle mechanic. The game started as my Capstone project in my undergraduate program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and grew from there. I tried to make something unique that would really put my skills to the test. It’s out now on Steam!  

And taking a step back for a moment, what’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
You want the whole story? Here goes: Jonah Gaynor was born on Feb. 8, 1897 to Alan Gaynor and Dr. Sharon Silbiger in New York City. From a young age, it was clear that there was something… strange about this child. While most young children played with LEGO and stuffed animals, Jonah’s parents would frequently find him in his room with a Trello board open and budget spreadsheets lining the floor. His first words were, “I have a passion for multimedia education-focused production management.”

In 1917, the United States Senate voted in favor of a measure to declare war on the German Empire, entering the US into the first World War. Fearing the draft as a 20-year-old, Jonah was cryogenically frozen in a warehouse in Boston. In March of 2021, FableVision stumbled upon the frozen Mr. Gaynor, and wouldn’t you know it, there was an opening on the team for a new production assistant.

Do you believe this story? According to my research, 30/30 surveyed FableVision Studios employees did not, with one stating “Jonah, I’m a little busy right now.” I guess I love storytelling as much as FableVision does. For a more straightforward answer… 

Jonah with former soccer star Frank Lampard.

From a young age, I was hugely passionate about media of all shapes and sizes. Entering college, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I wanted to be involved in the production of amazing media. I studied Game Design at NYU, where I learned game design, game programming, production management skills, user experience design, and more. This helped me make my own independent games, take on producer roles in larger teams, and eventually lead me to FableVision. 

Seeing the job listing for a production assistant at FableVision, a company that I had heard of even though I was still living in New York at the time, was really exciting. The FableVision mission matched my personal one perfectly, and I knew it was an amazing opportunity to contribute to something I really believed in. And now each day I feel very fortunate to be doing just that.

And what are your current obsessions in this day and age?
Oprah’s Jonah’s Favorite Things 2022:

Podcast: This American Life

TV Show: The Midnight Gospel, Taskmaster, or Euphoria. It’s hard to choose!

Movie: Sound of Metal

Album: NFR by Lana Del Rey or A Moment Apart by ODESZA

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More About Jonah!

Favorite geography fun fact?
Bir Tawil is a chunk of land in northeastern Africa that both Egypt and Sudan claim is the territory of the other. Each country claims the Hala'ib Triangle to the east (which borders the Red Sea) based on how the modern-day countries were originally drawn over 100 years ago. Now, neither country dares to enter Bir Tawil because if it did, it would be recognizing the other country’s claimed border. Check your nearest map. If Egypt’s southern border is flat, that’s the border that Egypt likes. If it’s slightly jagged and comes north on the east side, that’s the border that Sudan likes.

Favorite video game?
Football Manager. You wouldn’t believe the number of hours I put into making the Czech team Bohemians 1905 into Champions League winners.

Favorite board game?
The Mind. The elevator pitch is that you’re collaborating with fellow players to play cards in the correct order, but there’s no communication allowed, meaning the only action you can take besides playing a card is waiting.

Favorite sport?
Soccer! The tactical depth, despite the simplicity, and its worldwide nature make it an amazing lens through which to learn more about the world.

Boston or New York?
Whichever you, the reader, likes more.

Favorite new area in Boston?
Walking across the Charles River, especially as the sun sets over the Boston skyline, is a new joy of mine. It’s fantastic getting the walk in on my way to or from the new FableVision Studios office.

November FableFriday: Esther Tzau, Junior Developer

While most people tend to be right- or left-brained, Esther Tzau’s got it all. Her computer science degree and coding experience speak volumes about her left-brain logic and STEM mind, ensuring that she’s an excellent junior developer at FableVision. Meanwhile, her art portfolio consists of original designs, animations, and her own children’s book, continuously improving her right-brain creativity and storytelling.

“My interdisciplinary education pushed me to find connections and lean into those in-between spaces, and showed me how we can use technology to educate and tell stories in engaging and affirming ways,” says Esther.

When Esther works on FableVision tech projects, she brings more to the table than her coding abilities. She can look at the work through a critical and creative lens, leveraging the experience from her personal storytelling projects.

Read more to learn about Esther’s path to FableVision, unique projects outside of the studio, and the one game that she always wins.

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What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
I first heard about FableVision in high school, when my graphic design teacher encouraged me to apply for FableVision’s internship program (thanks, Ms.Ciccolo!). When we learned that the internship was only open to college students, I put the application in my back pocket as I prepared for my first semester of college. Afterwards, this small but mighty studio mysteriously began to pop up in different conversations and circles over the next few years.

In 2018, I worked for an after school coding program for elementary school students and co-taught a class with former FableVision production artist and animator Taryn Johnson. She was the coolest—she had the best purple hair and was the best person to work with—and I was intrigued by her experiences as an artist at FableVision. Pursuing a career in animation and games? In Boston? I had no idea that my city was home to a thriving animation and gaming community.

FableVision spring 2020 interns

In 2019, after interviewing for the marketing internship, I asked Brian Grossman, FableVision’s technical director at the time, if I could shadow him and the developer team at FableVision. To my surprise, he said yes! I joined the spring 2020 intern cohort as a technical intern and developed Shared with 3 Others: a thoughtfully written, cleverly designed, and visually stunning game, alongside my talented fellow interns. As we developed this game and met other FableVisionaries, I confirmed that the role of “educational game and web developer” existed and that it was a possible path for me. 

The following summer, I was thrilled to work alongside the FableVision team as a freelancer. After graduating from Tufts University in 2020, Jordan Bach, FableVision’s current technical director, invited me to return full-time as a junior developer at the studio. It’s funny, now I’m the one telling people to intern at FableVision!

You majored in computer science and American studies! How did your educational background prepare you for this role?
I knew I wanted to study computer science after my summer with Girls Who Code, where I felt empowered to program creative educational experiences. For my final project, our team developed a prototype for a web app that helps immigrant kids practice reading English. The goal of that project was similar to the Spanish language updates I implemented for Project Here Games, my first full-time project with FableVision. Project Here promotes nonviolent communication skills and healthy decision making through social emotional learning. 

I encountered American studies during my first semester at Tufts, when I took a class on Asian America. American studies critically examines race, colonialism, and diaspora. It was a sort of therapy for me, as it gave me the language and space to process silenced histories and lived experiences within such a compassionate and active community. As I learned more about our broken education system, I became especially interested in different pedagogies and how learning can happen in and outside of the traditional classroom.

At Tufts, I also spent a lot of time in the Film and Media Studies Department (FMS), the School of Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), and our student magazine’s multimedia team (check out Tufts Observer). My projects in those spaces helped me merge computer science and American studies in unexpected ways. For example, I took a web programming class, experimented with the Unity game engine and Maya 3D modeling in my game design class, and applied what I learned to the Observer’s multimedia projects as we explored interactive journalism. 

Boston Asian American Film Festival volunteering (photo with Princess Punzalan from Yellow Rose)

How do you work with the other creative teams at the studio to ensure that your work resonates with the audience?
I work closely with producers, designers, and artists, and I’m inspired by how the studio prioritizes accessibility at every stage of the development process. Our UI/UX designers intentionally design accessible experiences for users with different abilities, artists create assets with guidelines (like color contrast) in mind, and producers inform me about what technical accessibility standards need to be implemented. Making sure that our games and interactives can be experienced by as many people as possible, regardless of their abilities, is very important to us.

I enjoy being at the end of the pipeline, pulling together the great ideas generated by clients and team members. Since I get to do final screenings and build the finished product, I’ve found opportunities to speak up if I notice that members of our audience have been overlooked unintentionally, or lost in the margins, and I bring any suggestions to the production team.

What’s a typical day like for a junior developer?
It’s common to work on multiple projects at a time, so I check the weekly schedule to see which project I’m on that day. Then I spend most of the day debugging code, developing online interactives based on design documents, and researching new tools. 

Throughout the week, I’ll check in with the producer(s) on a project, join a meeting with a client to gather feedback and share progress, and meet with fellow developers. During developer meetings and code reviews, the developers share challenges and helpful tools, bring questions, and discuss possible solutions. I’m truly blessed to learn and laugh with this development team. The developers are comedians and it always amazes me how their brains can store so much information.

You grew up in the Boston area! What do you like to do around here?
Eat, mostly. Whether I’m picnicking at Castle Island with friends, stuffing myself with a 10-course meal at a Chinese banquet with my church community, or hitting up all-you-can-eat restaurants with my family, you can probably find me eating somewhere with people I love. My favorite dessert spot is YoCha in Quincy!

We heard that you wrote and illustrated your own children’s book! Can you tell us more about that?
Coming soon to a library near you! At least, that’s the dream. This book is dedicated to my niece, my mom, and my Po Po (grandma in Cantonese).

Here’s a blurb: Mui Mui’s best friend and role model is her Po Po, but since she doesn’t have the language to ask, she knows nothing of her past. One day, during a visit with her grandmother, they bond, and she imagines all of the great things Po Po possibly could have done as a young woman. In a moment of magical realism, she learns the truth, and realizes how she inherited this gift of radical imagination from her Po Po. 

Stay tuned! I’ll let you know when it’s out.

Sneak peek of Esther’s book

What advice would you give to young people who are interested in pursuing a job as a developer? 
Computer science can feel isolating sometimes, so seek out community! It’s easy to get discouraged and frustrated, and experience imposter syndrome. Get comfortable with asking for help, whether from professors, teaching assistants, online forums, peers, or coworkers. Even if the person you ask is also stuck, it’s a lot more fun to problem solve (and/or commiserate) with another human being. 

Don’t let computer science turn you into a robot. Eat, sleep, rest, and take care of yourself. At school, it sometimes feels like everyone is pursuing a software development role at some Big Tech company, but if that’s not what you want, remember that programmers are needed in every field. Hold on tightly to your interests and don’t be afraid to make unconventional decisions.

Lastly, reach out to folks doing the kind of stuff that interests you. As you can tell from this FableFriday, people love to talk about themselves! You’ll learn so much from them and their connections. The worst that could happen is they say “no.” Once you get used to rejection, that's not so bad. :)

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Esther’s Favorites:

Favorite book: The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. I love graphic novels and memoirs, and this one is really special.

Favorite artists: Shout out to my talented friends: @tanjoreenie, @camoot.journal,@maxinearts, and @mariafongtastic. Check out their work on Instagram!

Favorite movie: Hmm, I can’t choose just one, so Coco, Get Out, and Ip Man 4. The iconic Ip Man navigates the cultural appropriation of martial arts and racial violence in his fourth movie. I’m a big fan of the anti-villain Chairman Wan, who is fiercely protective of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Some of the acting is so bad, but that only serves to let our Asian actors and actresses shine, so I’m here for it.

Favorite game: The game that’s been a staple in my family and in all of my communities—Bananagrams! Try to beat me, I dare you.

Favorite museum: MOCA—The Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. Next time you’re in New York, go support this important collection of artifacts and oral histories! I promise you will learn so much.

Favorite place to travel: Portugal had a huge impact on me. Beyond the tasty seafood, majestic ocean and mountain views, lovely hospitable tour guides, and fond memories with my family, this was the first trip when I was hyper-aware of what it means to be a tourist in someone else’s home. I wore a critical historical lens everywhere I went.

April FableFriday: Billy Spitzer, Vice President for Programs, Exhibits, and Planning at the New England Aquarium

Join the rush of school groups and families, and step inside the New England Aquarium’s dark, glowing space. The splash of penguins and harbor seals is the immediate draw. Every year, more than 1.3 million patrons wind their way up the central spiral walkway that loops around the Aquarium’s famous Giant Ocean Tank that spans several stories high. The magic in every tank stems from a carefully mapped experience that helps visitors understand the beauty and complexity of marine habitats. Behind all the digital interactives, touch tanks, and sensory exhibits is an incredible team of scientists, conservationists, educators, students – and Billy Spitzer, Vice President of Programs, Exhibits, and Planning. 

FableVision’s first collaboration with the New England Aquarium was on an interactive iPad app that helped Aquarium staffers explore biomimicry with small groups and discuss the examples presented in the program. The Aquarium sought to spark a conversation among visitors about climate change and caring for the environment. Following the success of this project, FableVision was tasked with designing a fish identification app exclusively for the Giant Ocean Tank. The app currently lives inside the Aquarium where it combines digital technology with the real life experience of peering into a tank full of hundreds of unique animals.

Inspiring greater understanding and appreciation for the ocean is the heart of the Aquarium’s mission at the aquarium – one that reverberates throughout the city. Billy’s vision for the Aquarium is one that ignites special, shared memories. He sees the Aquarium as “an important civic space, where people come down to the water’s edge to explore together, engage with the ocean world, learn how and why the oceans matter, and come away ready to learn more and do more.”

Dive into the ocean of creativity, wonder, and constant learning that Billy works in every day and learn about his process for designing exhibits, engaging the community – and his favorite travel spots!

Tell us more about your role as Vice President for Programs, Exhibits, and Planning at the New England Aquarium!
My role at the New England Aquarium is to think about how our mission intersects with the public – through our exhibits, visitor experience, educations programs, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy.

You spent seven years working in professional development for science teachers with our friends at TERC in Cambridge! How does this experience working with teachers impact and influence your current education work with the Aquarium? 
While I was at TERC, I was really immersed in thinking about learning and how best to help facilitate that process, both in school and outside of school. I realized how many challenges teachers face in a classroom setting, including professional isolation – especially for science teachers. Back in the early days before there was a real internet, we began to build a professional development network for science teachers.

At the New England Aquarium, I have taken a lot of what we learned from that work and am applying it to building networks of informal science educators at aquariums, zoos, and museums across the country.

The FableVision team pictured alongside the Giant Ocean Tank's Fish ID App

The Aquarium teamed up with FableVision Studios to create a fish identification app for the renovated Giant Ocean Tank! Can you tell us more about the collaborative process that led to this project?
When we renovated our Giant Ocean Tank several years ago, we were looking for a new way to help visitors identify the 100+ different species in the exhibit. We wanted to help visitors identify fish the way our staff do: by looking at key features such as overall shape and size, tail shape, color and pattern, etc. We also wanted to make it easy and fun, while giving visitors an opportunity to learn more about what they are looking at. So, we started with a paper version of fish ID, and began to test it out with staff and some visitors.

The next challenge was how to turn this idea into a fully functional, easy to use, and reliable interactive for visitors. We thought that FableVision would be just the right partner for this, and they really helped us strike the right balance of science, learning, and engagement. The FableVision staff was so jazzed about the project and helped us come up with a great iPad app, which has been really successful. It is very easy to use, and is packed with opportunities to learn. For example, one day I was looking at a black and white striped fish that I thought I knew, but using the app I found out that there were two other species that looked almost the same.

How do educational technologies play a role in enhancing learning at the Aquarium?
We have been talking a lot recently about how we want to integrate technology into the Aquarium visitor experience. While people are here, we want them to be able to focus on interacting with the animals, with our staff, and with each other. Technology should facilitate that, rather than get in the way.

How do you plan new exhibits and find new ways to engage the public?
We usually start planning exhibits with a goal in mind, and then work to develop a design. For example, a couple of years ago we wanted to find a way to help visitors understand more about sharks and the research and conservation work we do here to learn about and protect them. That led us to develop the Science of Sharks exhibit, which uses a combination of live animal exhibits, interactive exhibits, and immersive video to help visitors learn more about the diversity, life cycle, and adaptations of some of the 500+ species of sharks – 80% of which only grow to a size of four feet or less, and many of which are threatened by overfishing or are caught accidentally.

In 2014, you were recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change for inspiring the Next Generation of Environmental Conservationists! Tell us more about the important work you do with the museum to raise awareness about climate change.
About 10 years ago, we realized that climate change was the biggest issue facing the oceans (and the planet), yet no one was talking about it much in aquariums, zoos, and museums. We set about to change that with a series of projects that pulled together climate science research with social science research on effective communication to create new tools for public engagement, a training program for informal educators, and a national support network. We have now built the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI, pronounced like the pasta) which involves more than 170 aquariums, zoos, and science/nature centers in 38 states. We have been able to increase public understanding of climate change and engagement in civic climate action, and inspire hope in how we are addressing climate challenges

The New England Aquarium has been a classic Boston cultural institution since 1969, and you’ve had a hand in its educational programming for 20 years! What are some cool new things the Aquarium is working on?
We recently finished some work on exhibit master planning, looking at how the visitor experience will evolve over the next 5-10 years. We are focusing a lot on how we can reduce barriers to visitors having rich, immersive, and social experiences while they are at the Aquarium. This includes making it easier for visitors to get oriented, navigate their way through their experience, and get more engaged through interactions with staff and exhibits. As a result, we hope that visitors will leave more inspired, informed, and mobilized to help the oceans. We are excited about new techniques to exhibit live animals, new opportunities to allow people to learn at their own pace, and new ways to use technology that complement the live, social experience that the Aquarium excels at. We see the Aquarium as an important civic space, where people come down to the water’s edge to explore together, engage with the ocean world, learn how and why the oceans matter, and come away ready to learn more and do more. Nearly 80% of our visitors leave wanting to increase what they do to help the oceans.

The city of Boston has made recent efforts to “go green” with expanded bike lanes, shared bikes services, and water taxis. What are some ways you like to take part in environmentalism in Boston beyond the Aquarium?
I have been really inspired by Boston’s transformation from a car-oriented city to being much more friendly to bikes and multi-modal, environmentally-friendly transportation. I am a regular bike commuter from the suburbs (and commuter rail rider in the dead of winter), and a daily beneficiary of the Greenway and Harborwalk. We are so lucky to have these assets.

We hear that you spent your college years as a whitewater raft guide in the Smoky Mountains – have you made it back to the river since then?
A few years ago, after having not paddled much whitewater for a number of years, I did a week of whitewater kayaking in Nepal. It was really cool paddling on these rivers flowing out of the Himalayas, and also getting to interact with people living in these wild river valleys. But these days I am mostly paddling flatwater on the Charles River, which is so accessible, peaceful, and full of local wildlife.

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More about Billy!

What is your favorite exhibit in the Aquarium?
One of my favorites is the shark and ray touch tank first thing in the morning, it is peaceful, quiet, and you feel like you are on a tropical island.

Your favorite museum or informal learning space in Boston?
The courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in the middle of winter – it is an oasis of beauty and art.

 What’s your sea creature spirit animal?
I think I may be a harbor seal at heart – curious, playful, and not afraid of cold water!

Are there any upcoming travel destinations for you and your family?
Last summer, we took the family trekking through small villages in France with a donkey named Lulu. That trip is going to be hard to beat. This year, I’m hoping to:

• Do some backcountry skiing adventures in New England
• Plan a trip to Iceland to explore remote fjords by sailboat
• Ski the surrounding mountains