Jeff Orkin
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Jeff Orkin was discovered in 1997, encased in fossilized prehistoric amber. Sierra found out he could program, and hired him onto the Mask of Eternity team.

Jeff Pobst
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Jeff has been programming computers for the past 17 years in 6 different languages on 10 different platforms and environments. He's written code for physics modeling simulations, equipment control, numerical algorithms, databases, whiz-bang marketing software, and now great Sierra games!

When not writing code, Jeff has been on national network television with Patrick Duffy and Barbara Mandrell, recorded music in the studio with the rock group Kansas, directed a short horror film in L.A., was an on-air radio personality at an alternative music radio station, was in the Mir mission control in Moscow as the Russian space station flew overhead, got lost photographing the ancient city of Pompeii, taught grade school drama and university computing in the same year, wrote an original screenplay that was made into a movie by another director, performed music in front of a crowd of 100,000 fans, was confronted by an anti-paparazzi "security" team while photographing an old mansion in England, declined an opportunity to play hacky-sack with O.J. Simpson (it was back when O.J. was only known for football and running through airports, and he declined mainly because Jeff's a lousy hacky-sack player), had a lunch meeting with Miami Sound Machine (when that was their name), was in the orchestra pit during the performance of the Broadway musical 42nd street, lived in a vast desert and "indirectly" did research for the Air Force in "area" 8417 (where no signs of alien life were ever observed, except maybe for that guy named...), wrote and performed a comedy routine for over 1000 audiences, learned to use all three fencing weapons while editing a book on their use and rooming with a fencing master who couldn't resist chocolate cake brownies, and is about to earn a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering for performing laser diagnostics on the plumes of advanced spacecraft thrusters.

Believe it or not, the above is all 100% true.

Scott Bodenbender
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Ottscay Odenbenderbay aduatedgray omfray ethay Ohioay Atestay Universitay erewhay ehay udiedstay 3day aphicsgray ogrammingpray. Ehay ostmay ecentlyray orkedway inay ethay Ashingtonway DCay areay orfay Oralay ederalFay ystemsay eforebay ovingmay otay Eattlesay otay orkway onay Ing'skay Uestqay 8ay.

Jason Piel
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-Artist, Animator, Supermode
-Jason is a Cancer. He enjoys moonlight, long walks on the beach, jazz, barbeque.
Turn-ons: pineapple, monkey toys, and ski lodges.
Turn-offs: The smell from the third-floor break room and people who are mean.
Quote: "I hope to get back to childrens' book illustration one day, after I make a dumptruck full of cash designing a game."
-At night he dresses like a chicken and fights crime.
Jason left New Hampshire to study illustration at the Columbus College of Art and Design. After graduating, he worked at Character Builders animation studio, where he learned to draw funny and support a freelance illustration habit. Then he met his future wife, got a haircut, and headed west...

At Sierra, he has avoided a job title by doing art, animation, pre-production illustration, character design, and coming up with ideas. His last project before Mask of Eternity was Lesiure Suit Larry - Love For Sail!, for which his mother will never forgive him.

Jason Zayas
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Born in 1972 in a small town in Pennsylvania called Fountain Hill. Began art school in the fourth grade. Got kicked out of catholic school in sixth grade for making pornographic valentine cards. (A talent which helped me while working on Leisure Suit Larry 7). Somehow made it through highschool, which lead me to the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning. That's where I learned the fine art of animation. After two and half years of New Jersey I wanted out. Luckily the Secretary at the school owed me big time for hooking him up at one of my parties. So he turned me on to a company out in California called Sierra On-Line. I quit school, sold my furniture, packed my Geo Metro, and drove across country. Since I started at Sierra May of `94, I've worked on the following: King's Quest 7, Space Quest 6, Torin's Passage, Leisure Suit Larry 7, and now King's Quest 8!

Barry Sundt
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What Barry likes: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sucrose (I just can't decide!), caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, caffeine, MR2's and Quake.

What Barry doesn't like: brussel sprouts, Star Trek, The Lost World - Jurasic Park, losing, writing lame bios.

O.K. that's about it. I do character design and other misc. art for KQ8. Nothing more to see here. C'mon, go and click on somebody else's bio.

Why are you still here? You're making me nervous, go away!

Bob Munsil
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Robert Munsil has a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Arizona State University. He spent 10 years working in professional theatre on Rock Shows like Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen and Stage Shows like Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. Unfortunately, it was mostly doing sweaty labor stuff and not much cool design stuff.

Bob got his start at Sierra working on Leisure Suit Larry - Love for Sail. Unfortunately, it was mostly doing sweaty labor stuff and not much cool design stuff.

He has designed everything from Stage Lighting to Theatre Company Logos. Now Bob is mainly designing "Virtual Worlds" for King's Quest: Mask of Eternity. Bob is thankful that when he lights a scene now, he doesn't have to plug anything in.

He loves living in Seattle, although he admits that his birthplace, Phoenix, had better Mexican Food and Lizards. "A Gila Monster could kick these Washington lizards' butts," Bob says. "Seattle is Great. In Phoenix, people would think I was crazy if I just sat around my apartment on a Friday night, up here they just figure I work for Microsoft..."

As long as you're here, have a look at his website.

Layne Gifford
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Illustrator / Background Artist
Being born and raised in a south eastern Idaho town wasn't so bad. I learned a great deal from the experiences that I had as I grew up there. I feel the knowledge that I gain there carries me over to this day. One of the greatest things that I learned is, "Work hard, play hard."

After 22 years of Idaho, I felt that it was time to bail. So after sometime of putting together a portfolio I was accepted into the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. There, I paid through the nose for tuition and stayed up many times all night to complete sometimes mundane assignments. When all was painted and done, I received a BFA in Illustration. Moving to southern California was quite a culture shock for a smalltown boy like myself. It was a whole new world and I explored. I liked it, and I would do it again. Yearly after I graduated form the Art Center, I interviewed with Sierra. We compromised and here I am. I've worked on several games such as Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within, Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail, and am now working on Kings Quest: Mask of Eternity, pioneering with one of Sierra's in-house programs called ZED. ZED? Don't ask, but the program has the potential to be a smoking 3D program.

So to make a short story longer -- I'm potato fed, I'm educated, I work on ZED.

There, now that's ten minutes of your life you'll never get back.

Marc Vulcano
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Marc Anthony Vulcano was born in Ankeny, Iowa, to a poor Italian immigrant spaghetti farmer, Antonio Vulcano, and his then wife Shirley Maclain. His mother, who had a love for the stage, continued on to a life of acting, leaving his father and 7 children to fend for themselves. Almost to the point of broke-ness, his father's luck suddenly changed. One evening during dinner, in the midst of slapping Marc's older brother Guido, Antonio knocked a jar of jalapenas into the simmering pot of the family spaghetti sauce -- thus the accidental invention of picante sauce.

With their newfound financial freedom, the Vulcano family, with Marc at the ripe age of 6, embarked on a nationwide marketing road campaign and a countless series of talk shows. Their success rose to such heights that their once-estranged Mother re-entered the picture. With her lounge experience and influential contacts in high places, they formed a Las Vegas stage act known as the "Spaghetti Western Players" and were an immediate success.

Eventually their fame opened the doors to television where they were featured in their very own live PBS series of diet exercise techniques and re-enactment's of famous scenes from Sergio Leone films. Tragically, one night during a performance of the shoot-out scene in "A Fist Full Of Dollars", live ammo was accidentally used and Marc, now 13, was orphaned.

Sadly the high cost of the elaborate sets and Union Labor bankrupted the Vulcano fortune and Marc was forced to return to farming. After completing high school and a four-year stint in the Civil Air Patrol, Marc was accepted to the Italian Clogging Academy, which brought him to his current home in Seattle, Washington. He graduated Phi Woppa Slappa and was voted Valedictorian. He is said to be the inspiration for the film "Dirty Dancing" and is the self-proclaimed inventor of the "Wave".

He currently works at Sierra On-Line as a 3D animator by an art degree he received via mail order.

Todd Bryan
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I grew up in Madison, Connecticut, which is right on the Long Island sound. Spent most of my summers windsurfing and sailing makeshift rafts that I and my brother used to make out of lumber we stole from construction sites. In high school, I played the bass guitar in a local rock band called Legacy. Even though we were still in high school, we usually had two or three gigs each week at local clubs along the shoreline.

Ever since I was five, I have loved to draw (mostly super heroes; sometimes naked women). I got a degree in Graphic Design, with a minor in Illustration, from Memphis State in 1990. I spent the following summer in LA, trying to get a job in the graphics arts field. Unfortunately, the market was pretty tight. My girlfriend (at the time) had an internship at the Museum of Natural History, which needed volunteers for their cetaceas department. So in my spare time I did volunteer work dissecting whales and dolphins that had washed ashore.

Needless to say, things improved after I moved to Seattle in 1991. After juggling various jobs as a cook, kitchen manager, and waiter, I eventually got my first job as a graphic artist at a small graphic design and prepress studio. After that, I worked as a contract artist on several titles, including Sammy's Science House, Mixed Up Mother Goose, and Adi. I started working for Sierra in 1994. My first project was as an Art Tech on Torin's Passage. Right now I am working as a 3-D Terrain and Interior Artist on Mask of Eternity. Currently I live with my wife, Ruth, and two pets (Shelby and Laslow) in a 50's-style brick rambler within the city. And, on occasion, I still draw naked women and comic book heroes.

Ben Houge
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Ben Houge has been working for Sierra as a composer and sound engineer for about a year. Ben has written music in a variety of styles for different ensembles, most recently a setting of Psalm 104 for choir, organ, and synthesizer that was premiered in Seattle last May. In his dubious spare time, he is working on several other compositional projects, including a symphony, a prelude and fugue for organ, and his third album of pop songs.

Influences on Ben's music are wide-ranging, including Elvis Costello, Pierre Boulez, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, and the Artist Formerly Known As Prince. Last spring, Ben graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Theory and Composition. Some of Ben's admittedly few non-music-related interests include cooking and French. Ben's most recent project for Sierra is the charming romantic comedy, Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail (that's him asking for bean dip in the casino).

Check out Ben's home page!

Jennifer Keenan
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Before I came to Sierra On-Line, I worked for a travel agency company doing technical support for their accounting system. When I had the opportunity to work in Sierra's technical support department, it didn't take long for me to choose games over accounting software!

After two years in technical support, I became the Team QA person for Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail, where I spent the first month blushing continuously. ("What do you mean I'm supposed to test Strip Liars Dice?!") In addition to Mask of Eternity, I have also cracked my QA whip over Birthright and Betrayal in Antara.

After playing games at Sierra all day, I go home at night and work on spreadsheets to relax. Well, actually, I go home and play more games. It's a tough job, but someone has got to do it.