IAAPA Presents: Universal Studios Japan (SOLD OUT)

Andre is the Sr. Project Director with Universal Creative, currently heading the Universal Studios Japan’s upcoming project. As the Sr. Director for Construction for Creative’s Orlando Portfolio, he had a hand in delivering several attractions over the last six years to include Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure, The Bourne Stuntacular, and VelociCoaster. 
Prior to joining the Creative team, Andre served as a Partner and SVP with Cortina Solutions, a Systems Engineering and Project Management Company providing technical solutions for the Defense and Aerospace sectors. Prior to joining the private sector Andre spent 22 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.
 

Daniel Mitchell began his career as a costumed character performer while attending university. Over three decades, he has lived and worked in multiple places around the world to lead teams across all aspects of live entertainment from creative development to daily operation. In addition to the intellectual properties he worked with during his time with Universal in the United States, Dan also has had the opportunity to work abroad with a number of IPs as both a licensee and as a licensor. While in Finland, he helped the creators of the Angry Birds franchise, Rovio, bring the iconic mobile brand from the digital world to the physical world. In the Middle East, he was responsible for adapting IPs into entertainment attractions and events at the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Warner Brothers World Abu Dhabi theme parks. Having been part of the opening of Universal Studios Japan in 2001, Dan returned to Universal, and to Osaka, in 2018 where he currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Entertainment.

Daniel Perez is a live entertainment industry leader experienced in the strategic planning, creative development, and management of complex and high-profile shows, events, and attractions. He is the Vice President of Entertainment Creative at Universal Studios Japan, where he has led a team of directors, designers, choreographers, producers, and writers in the development of over 200 new live entertainment shows and attractions. He has directed the creative development of live entertainment projects that have brought to life iconic brands such as Pokemon, Curious George, Despicable Me, Sailor Moon, Doraemon, Nintendo, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Jurassic World, and more. He has been featured as a speaker for IAAPA Expo Asia and TransWorld Halloween Attraction conferences.

Daniel is a Colorado native and attended Stanford University in California where he studied International Relations and Environmental Engineering. Daniel began his career at Walt Disney Imagineering R&D working on Sustainability issues. While at Disney, he produced updates to Turtle Talk in Anaheim, Orlando, and Tokyo. In late 2017, he moved to Japan to join Universal Creative and worked as the Associate Producer on Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge. Following Mario Kart, Daniel spent a year in China working on Universal on Parade before returning to Japan to join the upcoming project.