A smiling woman and man stand in front of a window. They are leaning into each other. Both wear glasses.

FOUNDERS

ERICA MILSOM and TODD SHAIMAN are Oscar-winning and Emmy-nominated filmmakers who bring a combined 30+ years in leadership at Pixar Animation Studios. Our filmography includes an array of stories that have charmed audiences worldwide in theaters and on Disney+.

Todd is also an industry leader in immersive storytelling and generative AI. He founded Google’s award-winning Immersive Arts team and now leads efforts to develop Google's approach to AI and the future of teamwork.

Erica began her career working in global and local non-profits, connecting with communities to enact change. In film and animation, she has been heralded as a game-changer for her film "Loop" and was recently selected for the prestigious Rockefeller Residency at Lake Como to advance Ryzo's work to drive change through next-generation storytelling & activation.

We started Ryzo Studios to bring together artists from around the globe to tell stories that do more: spark action, foster hope, and activate change.

ADVISORS

Dr. Judy Chu (Stanford University) is a Lecturer in Human Biology and a leading expert on boys' emotional development. Author of When Boys Become Boys: Development, Relationships, and Masculinity. Chair of the Movember Foundation's Global Men's Health Advisory Committee. Her research demonstrates that boys are naturally emotionally intelligent but learn to suppress these abilities to conform to masculine norms.

Dr. Jon Brandt as an Adobe Research Fellow Jon founded the Media Intelligence Lab, contributing vision and imaging technologies across Adobe's product line. He led efforts to re-envision AI-powered photo editing and advanced natural language understanding for PDFs and user interaction. Prior to Adobe, he worked at Silicon Graphics and NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab on the Galileo project. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from UC Davis and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois.

Dr. Gowri Aragam — (UCSF) Harvard-trained psychiatrist and Assistant Professor at UCSF. Co-founder of Stanford's Brainstorm Lab for Mental Health Innovation and former Director of Mental Health Product Development. Partnered with Pinterest to develop compassionate search features. Host and creator of Sense of Self podcast. Expert in translating mental health interventions into technology products.

Scott Shigeoka (UC Berkeley, Eames Institute) Author, Speaker, Curiosity Expert. Internationally recognized curiosity expert, TED speaker, and the award-winning author of Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. His work focuses on how we can strengthen our well-being and relationships. In addition to this work, Scott is a gamer, and a deep thinker in the landscape of boys and youth, Scott has advised on character, story, and gaming.