Visionary Leader in Game Production and Creative Development
Craig Derrick is an award-winning Executive Producer with over two decades of experience leading high-profile game development across both publishing and production. His creative leadership has shaped blockbuster, narrative-driven titles that have collectively generated nearly $2 billion in global revenue, including the critically acclaimed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the record-breaking LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, the fan-favorite revival Return to Monkey Island, and the upcoming Star Wars: Eclipse—an ambitious, branching narrative game set in a bold new era of the galaxy.
At The Walt Disney Company, Craig leads a team of producers and cross-functional partners, aligning game vision with audience expectations, franchise strategy, and business goals. He directs the development and execution of a multi-year portfolio for Lucasfilm Games, managing the full product lifecycle across a diverse slate—from AAA action-adventure to live-service and mobile—in collaboration with leading studios such as Bethesda, Epic Games, Quantic Dream, Zynga, and others.
Craig is known for building and mentoring high-performing teams, with a strong eye for talent and a focus on fostering collaborative, inclusive, and resilient cultures. With hands-on experience across all facets of game development—from design and production to art, audio, and narrative—he brings a high level of empathy, trust, and situational awareness to the creative process. This breadth of experience enables him to lead with clarity, anticipate challenges, and create environments where teams can do their best work.
He is equally at home communicating across disciplines and audiences—from studio executives and filmmakers to showrunners, creatives, large internal teams, press, and fans. Whether in intimate writers’ rooms or onstage at global conferences, Craig brings a thoughtful and confident voice to every setting, always aligning creative intent with business goals and player expectations.
Craig previously co-founded Fifth Journey, a startup bridging Hollywood IP with Asian markets, and at TinyCo, he spearheaded the company’s first story-driven, licensed games, including the top-grossing Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff—contributing to its $100 million valuation and acquisition. He also held key roles at LucasArts, where he reimagined legacy franchises and developed original IPs like Monkey Island and Star Wars 1313. He began his career at Parallax Software, creators of the groundbreaking Descent series.
A member of the Producers Guild of America and BAFTA, Craig is deeply committed to mentoring future creators, building purpose-driven teams, and advancing the craft of interactive storytelling for a new generation of players.
EXPERIENCE
- Global, internal, external, co-development, startup, and publishing experience
- 30 years of professional management experience leading, motivating, and driving teams to success
- 25+ years of game production experience creating, directing, and executing multimillion-dollar project plans
- Vast creative development, licensing, and entertainment studio management experience, including collaborations with Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, LEGO, DreamWorks, DC, Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Miramax, Lionsgate, MGM, LAIKA, and Universal Pictures
- Extensive studio and team operations leadership experience, including product development framework, slate, and strategic planning, editorial and qualitative reviews, talent identification, recruitment, resource management, conflict resolution, facilitation, motivation, and recognition
- Mastery of project management processes, including project life-cycle models, project charters, scope assessment, sprint planning, budgeting, scheduling, task tracking, and risk assessment
- Multi-genre experience including free-to-play (F2P), casual, VR/AR, motion-controlled, simulation, first-person shooters (FPS), third-person action/adventure, platformers, extreme sports, and children’s titles
- Successful development track record contributing to over 50 released titles
SPECIALTIES
- Product vision, creative direction, and franchise development
- Studio, project, and client management expertise
- Proven ability to work under rapid development cycles
- Exceptional organizational, communication, and time management skills
- Collaborative, positive and team-oriented
- Certified ScrumMaster
Beyond his work producing, Craig is an active contributor to the game development and academic communities:
AFFILIATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
- Advisory Board Member, IADT | Tampa (2009 – present)
- Advisory Board Member, Full Sail University (2005 – present)
- Advisory Board Member, IGDA Albany, NY Chapter (2005 – present)
- Founder, IGDA Chapter Albany, NY (2002)
- Judge, The Next Game Boss, Season 1 (2012)
- Judge, Independent Games Festival (2006)
- Full Member, BAFTA (2023 – present)
- Member, Producers Guild of America (2015 – present)
- Member, Producers of the Round Table (2007 – 2010)
- Member, IGDA Credit Standards Committee (2005 – 2008)
- Member, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) (2002 – present)
- Member, IGDA (2002 – present)
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- Star Wars Celebration, Guest Speaker & Panelist (2022)
- EXPLO at Yale University, Guest Speaker (2018)
- Pocket Gamer Connects Panel, From Indie to Hollywood – Getting the Best from Third-Party IP (2016)
- San Diego Comic-Con Developer Panel, Panelist w/Jorg Neumann and Seth Hawkins (2011)
- International Academy of Design & Technology | Tampa, Guest Speaker (2009)
- Korea Game Industry Agency (KOGIA), Production Processes and Creative Management Techniques (2008)
- Full Sail University, Guest Speaker (January 2005, October 2005, & October 2006)
- IGDA Albany, NY Chapter, Speaker & Chapter Coordinator (2002 – 2005)
- Game Developers Conference, Beyond Fun: Setting Aesthetic Goals and Sticking to Them (2004)
- RPI Game Festival & Symposium, Panelist w/Ernest Adams, Katie Salen, and Karthik Bala (2004)
