6 ^th February 2013 Speech Graphics Ltd., the award-winning provider of high-fidelity facial animation and lip sync, recently named game industry veteran Colin Macdonald as non-executive director and Chairman of the Board. Macdonald’s appointment reflects the company’s rapid expansion into the games industry. He plays a decisive role in identifying and exploiting key markets.

The company is also filling several new staff positions as it expands its service operations and its long-running R&D program. New staff include: programmers, experts in speech technology and linguistics, technical artists, marketing personnel and a quality control team.

Macdonald, whose primary role remains his current position as Commissioning Editor for Games at Channel 4, started his own games studio in the early 1990s, and published a number of licenced titles from franchises such as Lemmings and  Prince of Persia. He then joined  Grand Theft Auto developer DMA Design in 1997 as producer on the series, before helping found  Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds. One of Macdonald’s most recent commissions at Channel 4 was the number one Christmas hit game The Snowman and The Snowdog.

Dr Gregor Hofer, co-founder and CEO of Speech Graphics is quoted as saying: “We’re thrilled to have someone of Colin’s knowledge and stature on board as Chairman of Speech Graphics. His previous experience in both games and wider technology is unparalleled, and we could not imagine anyone better suited to working with our team.”

Michael Berger, co-founder and CTO of Speech Graphics added: “The appointment of Colin is a fantastic milestone in the growth of the company. We’re looking forward to making full use of the invaluable knowledge and expertise Colin has accumulated in his lengthy and impressive career.”

Macdonald said: “I couldn’t be happier accepting the position as Chairman of Speech Graphics. The advances they are making in animation and motion technology are truly astounding, and working with such an impressive array of talent is an absolute honour.”

He added: “This appointment is incredibly exciting for me. We look forward to dazzling the industry with our future projects.”