Management Team / Advisory Board Bios
Lenny GotterPresident, CEO, and DirectorLenny Gotter founded 1985 Games in 2019. Under his leadership as CEO, the company has consistently executed a series of successful product launches on Kickstarter as well as building a fulfillment and distribution network in the US and abroad. An avid gamer since 1985 he loves to run and play role playing games as time permits. When he saw Jeremiah Crofton’s ideas for Dungeon Craft he immediately saw the opportunity.
Lenny has spent his life identifying opportunities ahead of the curve. As a trailblazing entrepreneur, Lenny founded Eastside Distilling Inc. in 2008. He served as the CEO up until June 2014 and then board member until 2016. During his time there, Eastside Distilling grew every year and in 2013 achieved $830K in sales and profitability. At that point he secured $2 million in investment as part of a reverse merger, which would eventually lead the company to being listed on NASDAQ in 2017 under the symbol, EAST.
Additionally, Lenny operates his own private consulting firm where he advises clients on building a successful business in the spirits or related industries. He brokers sales of companies and scouts acquisitions for major brands. He brings extensive experience in marketing and sales, product development, and strategic thinking to all of his clients. In 2020 he advised Skunk Brothers Spirits on a successful $1 million dollar Start Engine fundraise.Jeremiah CroftonCreative Director, Secretary, and DirectorJeremiah Crofton is the heart of 1985 Games. As the Creative Director and Product Leader, Jeremiah believes a good product starts with recognizing gaps in the market and crafting great products to fit in those gaps. He feels that his work is not complete until the community is happy with 1985 Games products. He focuses his time on designing new releases for the company and truly enjoys the craft of it. It is important to him that even the smallest products receive the right amount of time in development. This means that extensive time and energy are put into every step of a product’s design. His goal is to make certain that 1985 Games’ customers and community feel like each product is worth having.
Jeremiah brings his extensive experience in the tabletop industry from over half a decade working in the gaming space at trade shows and his time spent working with game stores directly at Dark Horse Comics., Justus HughesOperations ManagerJustus is a lifelong gamer, beginning with Monopoly in grade school and evolving his tastes as new gaming experiences were discovered. He has been working in the gaming industry for six years. Before that, he was a combat veteran and an instructor for the US Air Force. He has extensive experience with the management of operations, logistics, events, community management, and world-wide coordination of staff, stock, and sales channels.
Kym AlbroDigital Marketing StrategistKym Albro is a social media wizard and Google Ads guru with 9 years of experience. She volunteers her time by helping local non-profits create a digital presence in her community
Benjamin BennettSales ManagerBenjamin Bennett has over 20 years experience in sales and sales management working with some of the top beverage alcohol brands, Importers and wholesalers. Living in southern Arizona he operates a small marketing company and manages our retail relations. When not helping our clients and developing new retail outlets he enjoys birding and things with two wheels.Shelby Ann DavisContent StrategistShelby Ann Davis is the content strategist at 1985. While new to TTPRGs, she has played board games for 3 years and been a fangirl for life. She mostly contributes to the 1985 Games blog and Reddit, but also picks up side quests along the way. On her freetime, she writes for her blog and edits her fantasy novel.
Christopher JayawardenaLead VideographerWith years of experience in Portland's independent film community, Christopher's multifaceted skill set allows for unique perspectives, while keeping up with the cutting edge of media. He has worked as a cinematographer, editor, and behind-the-scenes videographer on various independent productions, with more skillsets he's developed in between. This breadth of experience is invaluable for keeping up with current trends, while his vast knowledge of movies and stories brings new possibilities to the table.
Brittani-Pearl Eaton-Koch AdvisorBrittani-Pearl Eaton-Koch first discovered the joys of tabletop gaming in the fourth grade, when her uncle went off to college and made the mistake of storing his Magic: The Gathering cards, Dungeons & Dragons books, and Star Trek goodies in her closet. Depending on who you ask, it was either all downhill or uphill from there.
As Secretary of her school’s Dungeons & Dragons club and a three-year varsity cheerleader, Brittani-Pearl has long combined her love of geek culture with her talent for spreading the word and building hype. Her time in academia left her with a B.S in B.S. (and Chemistry) and a Masters in Cell & Molecular Biology. Luckily for the world at large, she turned away from this obvious supervillain origin story and put her extensive research skills to work in the gaming industry.Chris R. RappleyAdvisorChris R. Rappley has spent his life building businesses and working with creators, artists, inventors, and makers to build their dreams. In the ‘90s, he was advising and developing startups in Israel during the first tech boom. He then spent the ‘00s at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. After escaping academia, he has advised a variety of firms and academic labs in bio-tech, healthcare, and educational services.
After spending decades as a dedicated game player, actually working with the games industry was a refreshing change of pace. He founded Other Stuff Games (OSG) as a Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to working with independent designers, artists, creators, and publishers to develop sustainable business models and the strategy and planning to grow and develop these businesses. His team at OSG works with clients ranging from pre-revenue creators with just a dream in their pocket to established artists and creators to industry leading publishers.