Strategic Education
Industry Aligned
Artist Focused
Outcome Driven
Industry to Students
Academia to Industry
We Are Connectors
ELEVATE
INNOVATE
EMPOWER
CEA Executive Team
The people behind the process.
The Centre for Entertainment Arts Executive Team combines industry leadership, creative strategy, and operational excellence. These are the people shaping curriculum, community, and career-ready learning.
Leadership
Diwakar Gandhi
Co Founder & Co CEO
Diwakar Gandhi, an alumnus of the University of British Columbia and the University of Birmingham, has over 15 years of experience guiding international students. At the Centre for Entertainment Arts (CEA), Diwakar’s passion for education as a transformative force drives his efforts to create strong industry connections and emphasize skill-based learning, teamwork, and critical analysis. His leadership ensures that CEA’s curriculum prepares students for competitive careers while fostering career readiness and leadership in the entertainment industry. Diwakar also focuses on emerging global education sectors, viewing education as the spark that drives innovation, economic diversification, and the transformation of industries worldwide. His commitment to aligning education with real-world demands positions CEA as a leader in creative education, empowering students to fuel growth in the global economy.
Diwakar brings 15+ years guiding international students through high-stakes career decisions, and treats education as a practical bridge between talent and industry demand. At CEA he builds partnerships, learning pathways, and expectations that centre on skill-based training, teamwork, and critical analysis — so students leave with more than software familiarity. His focus is career readiness and leadership: helping learners understand how professional standards, feedback, and delivery pressure shape real work, and how to carry themselves inside modern studios and teams.
Leadership
Peter Walsh
Co Founder & Co CEO
Peter Walsh, with a global background across North America, Europe, and the Middle East, brings a future-forward perspective to the entertainment industry. His career includes key roles at Electronic Arts, Microsoft Game Studios, and Sony, where he contributed to groundbreaking innovations in game development. As a leader at the Centre for Entertainment Arts (CEA), Peter focuses on leveraging emerging technologies and anticipating industry shifts to ensure students are prepared for the future. He emphasizes the importance of creating an adaptable education infrastructure that evolves with the rapid rate of technological change.
Peter brings a global perspective shaped by experience across North America, Europe, and the Middle East, with leadership and innovation roots in major entertainment and technology ecosystems. Having worked with teams connected to Electronic Arts, Microsoft Game Studios, and Sony, he understands how production pipelines evolve when new platforms, tools, and business models arrive. At CEA he focuses on building an education infrastructure that can adapt — keeping curriculum, tools, and outcomes aligned to how the industry actually moves, so students learn how to stay relevant as technology accelerates.
Operations
Mabelle Sawaqed
Chief Operating Officer
Mabelle Sawaqed is a seasoned expert in international business development and market entry strategies, with 15 years of experience expanding businesses globally. As Chief Operating Officer at the Centre for Entertainment Arts (CEA), Mabelle oversees international operations, new campus launches, and business development initiatives. Before joining CEA, she served as Senior Trade Officer (Education) at the Embassy of Canada in the UAE, helping Canadian institutions enter the UAE and MENA markets. Mabelle’s extensive experience spans the public and private sectors, having worked in private equity as a Business Development Manager. Her efforts in fostering partnerships and importing education services have been instrumental in her career. In 2023, she was named “Woman Business Leader of the Year” by Women Entrepreneur Magazine for her visionary leadership and achievements in the global education sector.
Mabelle leads CEA’s operations and growth initiatives across regions, bringing 15 years of international business development and market-entry experience. Her background includes public-sector trade work and private-sector business development, giving her a practical lens on how education partnerships actually get built, launched, and sustained. At CEA she oversees international operations and campus initiatives, aligning people, timelines, and stakeholder expectations so students and instructors have stable systems around them. Her work ensures the infrastructure behind the learning experience is reliable, scalable, and partnership-ready.
Brand & Growth
Matthew Holdenried
Chief Marketing Officer
Matthew Holdenried, a content specialist with extensive experience in the gaming industry, has worked with brands like Electronic Arts, Warner Bros, and Square Enix. Since joining the Centre for Entertainment Arts (CEA) in 2019, Matthew has witnessed the transformative power of mentorship, community, and collaboration, which now drives his strategic approach. His methodology emphasizes the importance of deep interactions between students, mentors, and peers to foster self-discovery and professional growth.
Matthew brings a content and brand background shaped by work with global game and entertainment brands, including Electronic Arts, Warner Bros, and Square Enix. Since joining CEA in 2019, his focus has moved beyond marketing outputs into the deeper systems that create student success: mentorship, community, and the day-to-day feedback culture that helps learners mature. His approach is built around making the student journey visible — showing how professional identity forms through critique, collaboration, and shared standards — and translating that experience into clear messaging, partner communication, and growth strategy.
Finance
Felix Wong
Chief Financial Officer
Felix, a CPA and CGA, brings extensive expertise in finance and accounting to the Centre for Entertainment Arts (CEA), where he oversees financial management, strategic planning, and reporting. His leadership ensures the financial health of CEA while supporting its mission of delivering world-class education. With a focus on long-term growth, Felix’s strategic direction enables CEA to expand its impact in the creative industries. Outside of work, Felix enjoys snowboarding and spending time with family, reflecting his commitment to both personal and professional balance.
Felix is a CPA and CGA who oversees financial management, planning, and reporting — ensuring CEA has the stability to invest in long-term educational quality. His role supports the systems students don’t always see but feel every day: resourced labs, sustainable staffing, operational reliability, and growth planning that protects outcomes. With a focus on long-range strategy, he helps CEA expand responsibly while keeping the learning experience strong and consistent. Outside of work he’s often in the mountains, reflecting a balance between disciplined execution and real life.
Elevate
The Artist.
Innovate
The Method.
Empower
The Industry.
CEA Academic
The people who support academic delivery.
The Academic team exists to design learning environments that move students from curiosity to capability. Drawing on decades of experience across education, creative industries, and emerging technologies, the team focuses on how students learn, grow, and transition into professional life. Every program, critique structure, and studio routine is shaped to support progression—helping students build confidence, develop judgment, and understand how their work evolves over time. The emphasis is not on isolated skills, but on long-term learning journeys that prepare graduates to adapt, collaborate, and sustain creative careers in changing industries.
Academic Leadership
Michael Bradbury
Director of Education
With a BSc Hons in Game Design, PGCE, NPQSL, MA in Education, and a PhD in progress in Digital Transformational Education, Michael is a specialist in gaming education and curriculum design. As the first Unreal Authorized Instructor in the UAE, he plays a pivotal role in Dubai’s emerging games ecosystem, collaborating with industry and government to deliver advanced Unreal Engine training. Michael focuses on building robust curriculum structures and supplemental content libraries that empower instructors, sharpen pedagogy, and keep academic quality tightly aligned to industry needs.
Michael is a specialist in gaming education and curriculum design with degrees in game design and education, and a PhD in progress in Digital Transformational Education. As the first Unreal Authorized Instructor in the UAE, he links industry, government, and academia while building curriculum and content libraries that keep teaching tightly aligned to real production needs.
Innovation & Technology
Jamie McClenaghan
Director of Innovation and Technology
Jamie is a game developer, educator, and tech innovator with a Computer Science degree from the University of Cambridge. A well-being app he built during the pandemic quickly gained traction in schools, cementing his reputation as a practical problem-solver. He now connects creative technologists across Europe and the Middle East, using games and interactive experiences as tools for transformation. Guided by empathy and resilience, Jamie treats curiosity and iteration as core professional skills, showing students how bold ideas and disciplined execution can drive real change.
Jamie is a game developer, educator, and tech innovator with a Computer Science degree from the University of Cambridge. After his well-being app gained traction in schools, he began linking creative technologists across Europe and the Middle East, using games and interactive experiences to drive change. He teaches students to pair bold ideas with disciplined iteration.
VFX & 3D
Priyank Murarka
Director of VFX & 3D Programs
Priyank leads CEA’s Visual Effects and 3D programs, drawing on more than a decade of experience as both a VFX artist and senior production leader. He designs curricula that fuse technical rigor with creative storytelling, preparing students for real roles on film, series, and cinematic projects. Priyank reinforces industry readiness through guest workshops, exposure to current tools and workflows, and deliberate career mentoring — helping students understand how to build portfolios that speak the language of modern VFX and 3D pipelines.
Priyank leads CEA’s Visual Effects and 3D programs, drawing on over a decade as both VFX artist and production leader. He designs curricula that fuse technical rigor with storytelling and uses guest workshops, current tools, and focused mentoring to help students build portfolios that speak studio language.
Animation
Jon-Jon Atienza
Director of Animation Programs
Jon-Jon is an animation and FX artist whose credits include award-winning shorts such as “Skin for Skin” and the Oscar-nominated National Film Board short “The Flying Sailor.” After more than a decade with Fifteen Pound Pink Productions, he now teaches full-time at Bow Valley College’s Centre for Entertainment Arts. Jon-Jon emphasizes character, form, and performance, helping students understand how subtle choices in motion and design can bring animated work to life — and how to carry that craft into both independent and commercial production environments.
Jon-Jon is an animation and FX artist whose work includes “Skin for Skin” and the Oscar-nominated NFB short “The Flying Sailor.” After more than a decade at Fifteen Pound Pink Productions, he now teaches full-time, focusing on character, form, and performance to help students bring animated work to life.
Film
Subhadarshi Tripathy
Director of Film Programs
Subhadarshi is a media and entertainment executive with more than 20 years of experience building global content platforms. His track record spans trend analysis, collaboration with high-calibre production teams, and delivering shows and formats that travel. He has received the Prix Jeunesse and the Asian Television Awards’ Best Talk Show Award, and served as lead animator on India’s first animated feature. His short film “Another Reminder” screened at Hiroshima and Mumbai International Film Festivals. In the classroom, he turns that experience into guidance on story, audience, and long-term creative careers.
Subhadarshi is a media and entertainment executive with over 20 years of experience building global content platforms. Awarded the Prix Jeunesse and Asian Television Awards’ Best Talk Show Award, and lead animator on India’s first animated feature, he now channels that experience into teaching story, audience, and long-term creative careers.
Games
Sean Lynch
Director of Game Programs
Sean is the Director of Games Programs at CEA, with a Master’s in Computational Media Design that bridges computer science and fine arts. A lifelong gamer, he has taught programming, game design, and educational games, and has designed escape-room experiences. Sean is a published author in information visualization, human–computer interaction, and computational music. He leads students into alternative interfaces and experimental play, treating game technology as a language that will shape future communication, interaction, and how people experience complex systems.
Sean is Director of Games Programs at CEA, with a Master’s in Computational Media Design bridging computer science and fine arts. A lifelong gamer, he has taught programming and game design, designed escape rooms, and published research in HCI and visualization, guiding students into experimental interfaces and future-focused game technology.
Esports
Gary Tibbitt
Director of Esports Programs
Gary has more than a decade of experience in video games and esports, and helped develop the world’s first accredited esports qualification. As Director of Esports Programs at CEA, he builds partnerships across institutions and industry, working with companies like Riot Games, Tencent, Microsoft, and Dell. Gary treats esports as a training ground for cognitive skills, teamwork, and community-building, showing students how broadcast, competition, and content can unlock inclusive, global opportunities in a fast-scaling sector.
Gary has over a decade in video games and esports and helped develop the world’s first accredited esports qualification. At CEA he links institutions and major partners like Riot, Tencent, and Microsoft, treating esports as a space to build cognitive skills, teamwork, and global career opportunities.
