Team

Founding Partners

Evening Star was incorporated in November 2018. Prior to that, each of the members of the founding team participated in developing Sonic Mania Plus™, a SEGA® game developed by Hyperkinetic Studios.

Dave Padilla

CEO and Producer

As a veteran producer with over 16 years of experience in the interactive entertainment industry, Dave has played a critical role in successfully shipping numerous award-winning projects for major game studios and Fortune 500 companies. In his new capacity as a founding member at Evening Star, Dave will be utilizing the invaluable experience he gained from his years as a CEO to spearhead the creation of a new category of exciting games, while forging strategic relationships with future partners.

Dave looks forward to continuing to build a skilled and diverse team that will establish Evening Star as a major presence in the games industry!

Christian Whitehead

Creative Director and Lead Engine Architect

Best known for his work on the Sonic brand, on such titles as Sonic Mania Plus™, Christian joins Evening Star’s team as Creative Director. He leads the creative vision for Evening Star’s games, providing a wide breadth of experience covering programming, art and design. The Retro Engine, which made Sonic Mania™ possible, has evolved into the Star Engine. It is now Evening Star's primary game engine, for which Christian continues to serve as the Lead Engine Architect.

Tom Fry

Art Director

Tom has spent a decade as an Art Director in games development, serving a key role in devising and shipping multiple titles for console and mobile. He commands a signature sense of style, striving for flair and personality in everything he draws and animates. As a leader, he has overseen productions wielding various approaches, from pixel art to 3D, and deeply understands the balance between vision and execution.

Hunter Bridges

Technical and Audio Director

Hunter is a dual programming and audio expert, joining Evening Star as Technical Director and Audio Director. Having come from a wide-ranging career in software development, he is an innovator who adapts to changing technologies, automates complex workflows and works effectively with distributed teams. Hunter’s knowledge and education in music and sound design also grant him the understanding necessary to oversee the creation and implementation of world-class audio for Evening Star’s games.

Brad Flick

Design Director

With over a decade of experience working on award-winning projects in the entertainment industry, Brad now brings his talent and perspective to Evening Star as Design Director. He has a keen interest in video game history, equipping him with a traditional design sense focused on fun. While his sensibilities are formed from a familiarity with the history of game design, they are balanced by a practical, modern approach.