Bios and Background

Bios and
Background

The creation of two in-love Seattle CEOs, Super Bubble Pop developed in late summer 2000. Victoria Gentry of Vain International and Mark Long of Zombie VR Studios both wanted to produce an innovative product within their respective industries. Why not work together? The novelty of a styling gum and a PC game teamed together proved to be an irresistable idea.

And so, Super Bubble Pop burst onto the scene.

Victoria Gentry

Victoria Thomas Gentry, owner and style driver of Vain International, is valedictorian of the punk rock school of hair dressing. With her "do-it-yourself" philosophy in hand, she began coloring and styling hair in the early 1980's, experimenting on herself and her brave friends with a range of unusual products and homemade concoctions. After studying at William Patterson College and the Artistic Academy in New Jersey, she worked in salons in Hudson County, New Jersey and in New York's East Village. Gentry gained increasing recognition for her unique vision and styles. She quickly developed a loyal following of nonconformist clients devoted to the edgy, original looks Gentry created.

Recognizing the opportunities offered by the growth of the high-tech industry in Seattle, Gentry moved to Seattle from New York City in 1996 to open Vain. The company began as a small boutique, expanded to include a salon, and then launched its own line of products suited to the needs of clients and customers looking for something more from their hair products. Vain products are carried by retailers throughout the country and are also sold at www.vain.com. Super Bubble Pop sweet styling gum marks the latest addition to the Vain line.

Outside of the salon, Victoria has served as a stylist and style consultant for numerous photo shoots and fashion shows nationwide. Her work has been seen on the pages of Resonance magazine, the Seattle Weekly, and at fashion and art shows in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and elsewhere. Victoria is also a devoted activist who uses her business to raise awareness of women's issues. She is the co-founder of Hero Sisters, an alternative career mentoring program for women and girls, and has served on the advisory board of Home Alive, a women's self defense education and awareness collective.

Mark Long, Zombie's president and designer, established the web and game development studio in 1994 with co-founder Joanna Alexander. Based in Seattle, Washington, Zombie has designed and/or produced fifteen original titles for DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000ME, Macintosh OS, Playstation, and Dreamcast formats. Zombie has also designed and developed a motion-based real time 3D ride for Disney's new DisneyQuest center in Orlando; and produced an award-winning MTV music video for KMFDM and Wax Trax Records.

In his time at Zombie, Mark has served as Executive Producer of Super Bubble Pop, the SPEC OPS series, Rainbow 6: Covert Ops, Atlantis, Shrapnel, Bodyglove's Bluewater Hunter, Spearhead, DisneyQuest's Cyber Space Mountain attraction, ZPC, Activision's Zork Nemesis, Locus, and Ice & Fire. Zombie's SPEC OPS: Stealth Patrol was the number-one selling Playstation title for third quarter 2000. The SPEC OPS series has sold more than one million copies worldwide.
Previously with Sarnoff Labs, Long's background is in defense simulation. As a member of Silicon Graphic's Advanced Products division technical advisory board, Long advised SGI on the technical requirements for virtual reality systems, collaborated with the National Science Foundation on a report to Congress on Virtual Reality, and co-chaired, with NASA and the Stanford Research Institute, a conference on next-generation virtual reality research. Long received a BS at the University of Texas, where he also received his commission in the U.S. Army.

Mark Long