BEN WHO?
From games, comic books, plushies, T-shirts and Comic-Con appearances, the BATTLE BEARS characters have entertained millions of people around the world. Fans love the story of Oliver, Riggs, Wil and the rest of the crew as they find a way to survive the zombie infestation of Pink Huggable Bears trying to hug them to death.
Vu’s work has been featured by major tech giants, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and Qihoo 360. His achievements have earned him awards such as Pipeline’s Innovator of the Year, AIM Technology Innovator of the Year, and recognition in the Midlands Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Awards.
Vu has spoken at multiple Game Developers Conference (GDC) events, a member of PocketGamer.biz Mobile Mavens, and lectured at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Ball State University, Creighton University and the University of Nebraska.
Before his career in gaming, Vu was recruited straight out of CalArts to join Phil Knight’s LAIKA Studios, where he was among the first employees to work on the Academy Award-nominated films CORALINE and THE BOXTROLLS.
Vu has a Master’s degree from CalArts and a Bachelor’s degree from Ball State University where he completed the college’s first computer animated short film and co-managed the 1995 Men’s Volleyball Team which made it to the NCAA Final Four and was inducted into the Ball State Hall of Fame.
Vu’s family came to America as boat people refugees from war-torn Vietnam and settled in the small town of Norfolk, Nebraska. Vu’s father first worked as a hospital janitor where he was able to bring home free printer paper for Ben and his brother to endlessly draw on. Vu’s father then got a job at the Goodyear factory. Growing up a few houses down from Johnny Carson’s childhood home, Ben was fascinated by media production and named his company SkyVu after the nearby SkyView Lake. Vu’s family later moved to Omaha where his father got a boiler room job with Mutual of Omaha. Living just a mile from Warren Buffet’s house, Ben and his brother attended St. Cecilia’s Elementary and graduated from Creighton Prep High School.
