Ideaplatz founder Cheryl Platz (@funnygodmother) is deeply honored to announce that she will be serving on the Awarding Jury for the Entertainment Lions for Gaming at @cannes_lions 2026. She takes the responsibility and privilege of setting the global benchmark for creativity very seriously – and looks forward to discovering the fun in the process!

For those unfamiliar with Cheryl’s work in video gaming, she began her career on the legendary Sims series, shipping The Sims Makin’ Magic (PC), The Sims 2 (PC), The Sims Bustin’ Out (GBA, PS2/XBOX/GC), and The Urbz (PS2/XBox/GC) – and as assistant producer at EA on Urbz: Sims in the City on the Nintendo DS and GBA, she was one of the first game developers to ship a game on what went on to become one of the best selling consoles of all time. (Fun fact: Cheryl was onstage at the North American press launch in 2004.)

After EA, Cheryl went on to become a Lead Producer at Griptonite Games on titles for Disney Interactive Studios, then spent over a decade in the tech industry leading on consumer products like Alexa and cloud services like Azure before returning to gaming as Director of UX for Riot Games in 2021. Since then, she served as Experience Design Director for MARVEL Strike Force at Scopely during which time her team completed work that earned Honorable Mention for Best Visual Achievement at the 2025 Pocket Gamer Awards, and then in late 2024 went on to become Creative Director of the Game Studio at The Pokémon Company International, focused on Pokémon TCG Live. As Creative Director and founder of Ideaplatz, LLC, Cheryl also produces and hosts Enduring Play, a hit game development podcast about creating games that don’t just survive but thrive – which was inspired by her second book, The Game Development Strategy Guide. Cheryl is also an adjunct instructor for video gaming at Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College.

Cheryl is also honored to join the Behind the Jury Room panel on Wednesday, June 24 on at the Cannes Basement Stage.

“As a lifelong learner and passionate advocate for the craft of video gaming, the opportunity to see the best creativity in the world uplifting our work and discussing it with a group of my peers is a joyful prospect. Can’t wait to see you all in Cannes.”

Cheryl Platz, Creative Director, Ideaplatz LLC