USC links with Unity Technologies; FabFitFun secures $80 million; Ebsen out at Snap

Subscription Firm Lands $80 Million for Global Expansion

Beverly Grove-based subscription company FabFitFun Inc. announced Jan. 30 it secured a $80 million Series A led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The Business Journal reports this latest round brings FabFitFun’s total capital to roughly $94 million since its 2010 launch and the company reports it will use the funds to expand membership offerings.

USC Adds Online Game Design Course

USC’s School of Cinematic Arts will now offer an eight-week, $79 online game design course with assistance from San Francisco-based 3D game engine developer Unity Technologies. Professionals at Unity will provide guest lectures for the program, which aims to teach students how to design and publish original games. Socaltech reports Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. will also encourage its Disney Imagineering engineering team to contribute guest lectures for the program.

Former Snapchat Creative Lead Joins Big Block Media

Rylee Ebsen, former director of creative media at Snap Inc.’s Snapchat, has left the firm after six years for a job as a live action commercial director at El Segundo-based digital production studio Big Block Media. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ebsen was a key component in Snap’s early creative content, including an augmented reality project with artist Jeff Koons and is a patent co-holder for her work on Snapchat’s A.R. geofilters.