Alex Westerman

Career

Alexander Westerman started out as a prop master and art director. Westerman's experience ranges from television to movie and theater productions. He was an executive in charge of development at Bona Dea Productions, a production executive of The Weissberger Theatre Group, and a year as an assistant to producer Fred Zollo. In 2000, Westerman left his job at Disney to found a start-up called RadicalZoo. RadicalZoo was to be a destination for independent filmmakers.

RadicalZoo folded in 2003. Westerman joined the staff of Nickelodeon in 2004 and went on to create award winning sites and applications for the company. In 2009, Westerman left Nickelodeon to become Creative Director Worldwide Marketing and Communications for Mattel.

In 2007 - 2008, Westerman created an Adobe Air application as an Adobe launch partner. The application was the first game to be created using the air runtime. The game allows users to engage in a scavenger hunt, collecting jig saw puzzle pieces and assemble and solve the puzzle offline in the Air runtime.

In 2012 Westerman joined Guthy-Renker as head of digital creative.

In 2015 Westerman joined Spark Networks as head of creative.

Westerman is also the publisher of a popular amusement park and roller coaster website; ThrillNetwork.com. ThrillNetwork is large community dedicated to provide news and information about the amusement park industry. The site contains one of the most comprehensive databases of statistical data on almost every park and ride in the world.

Personal life

In the Spring of 2014, Westerman married David Gleason, Senior Vice President of research for E! and Esquire Network

Early Work

Westerman's background is diverse. He was classically trained as a ballet dancer studying at The School of American Ballet in NYC. While attending Ithaca College he choreographed ballets for the dance school, two of which were critical successes: La Belle et la Bete and Flight of Icarus.

At Nickelodeon

Westerman served as Production Director of Nicktropolis. Nicktropolis is Nickelodeon's massively multiplayer online game and massively multiplayer online role-playing game that is part of Nick.com.

Transformers Game - A Transformers Game and area, based on the popular Hasbro toys, is being developed. Teams will compete for Nickpoints and prizes. Game players will have to choose which team to join, evil DECEPTICONS or the noble AUTOBOTS? These two opposing teams will battle it out for control of the elusive Energon Cubes. The area will contain brand new rooms, features, and gameplay, this is sure to be the next evolution of games in Nicktropolis.

Awards for associated websites

Patents

Parental control for multiple virtual environments of a user
United States US20110219084 A1
Issued March 7, 2011

A computerized method is for controlling a virtual environment of a user and includes providing, over a communications network, a plurality of virtual environments in which a user is able to interact with other users using electronic messaging. The computerized method also includes transmitting, from an authentication server, information about the plurality of virtual environments to a first computing device associated with an agent in response to user request for access to a restricted electronic messaging format associated with one of the virtual worlds. The computerized method further includes receiving, at the authentication server, an indication of authorization from the first computing device, wherein the indication of authorization includes a separate indication of authorization associated with each of the plurality of virtual environments.

System and method for controlling a virtual environment of a user
United States 11,840,647
Issued August 17, 2007

A method and a system for controlling a virtual environment of a user, e.g., a child is provided. In the virtual environment, users are able to interact with other users using messages. Each message is made up of one or more items contained in a dictionary. Information is transmitted, e.g., by e mail, to an agent, e.g., a parent. The transmitted information is information that may be used to authorize the agent to control the virtual environment of the user. The virtual environment of the user is controlled by setting a level of interaction at which the user is permitted to interact with others. The messages may include pre-written messages and messages composed by a user using items contained in the dictionary. A message checker bars unsuitable combinations made up of items contained in the dictionary. Inappropriate language and personally identifiable information may be excluded from the contents of the messages.

Selected projects

Selected theater and filmography