We were lucky to catch up with Joey Lee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Joey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Pixel Canvas started out as a video game studio back in 2018. We’ve released an award winning VR horror game Reiko’s Fragments and have enjoyed some success and was awarded the Epic MegaGrant. However I decided to pivot the company towards virtual events during the Covid 19 quarantine period around March 2020. The decision had a lot to do with my personal background and professional experience in physical event design and 3D visualization. I’ve spent over a decade at event design agencies such as George P. Johnson (GPJ) and the idea for virtual events was because during March of 2020 the events industry was in panic trying to find a solution to quickly translate canceled physical events into a virtual experience. For me the solution was crystal clear because what I was already doing at GPJ was designing and rendering physical exhibit booths and environments inside a game engine the Unreal Engine. This is also the engine I used to build Reiko’s Fragments with my team in Pixel Canvas. So for me I knew if I simply added a few of my programmers from pixel canvas to add some interactivity to the 3D designs you can simulate the exhibit booth experience. After spending many years in the event design industry I’ve finally merged it with my passion with interactive video games and the result is a truly engaging virtual events platform that can be experienced through your web browser from any device no downloads required. We launched our first virtual event with Verizon in Sept 2020 and since we’ve delivered multiple virtual events for big brands such as Warner Media, LG, British Telecoms and many more.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My background professionally for many years is 3D art and design. I’ve spent most of my career in the events industry designing and visualizing physical events before they are physically built. The problem was I’ve always wanted to break into the gaming industry because that is where my true passion is. I not only loved playing games but loved creating levels within games such as Little Big Planet. The biggest challenge was location because I spent most of my years in Washington DC and the amount of game industry opportunities there was very rare and I found myself stuck in the event industry for 7 years before I decided to move to Los Angeles. The city was exactly what I was missing all those years. I quickly met so many gaming industry professionals and creative people in the first couple months. Some who are now my closest friends inspired and pushed me to start my own game company. I think the biggest lesson learned for me is location does matter and the people around you can lead you in very different directions in life.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

My background is 3D design and creative directing. I had to unlearn all of that to truly step into the new role of CEO. I had to learn how to raise capital through 2 investment rounds so far and be a founder led sales person until we can figure out a replicable model to start hiring up a full time sales team.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Covid forced the pivot for many including myself. I was furloughed from my day job and decided to go full time into Pixel Canvas and started to build virtual events during a time where the demand was at an all time high.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pixelcanvas.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pixelcanvasinc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pixel-canvas/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pixelcanvasinc