Darren Lutz

President | Creative Director

Equal parts artist, inventor, mechanic, and visionary, Darren Lutz has stood at the vanguard of his own digital revolution for nearly thirty years. Prolific and passionate about fueling his appetite for knowledge and artistic expression, Lutz co-founded Balance Studios with a simple mission—to apply his unique creative flair and technological prowess to fuel next-generation storytelling to educate and entertain.

His insatiable appetite for knowledge and his love for edu-tainment (educational entertainment) are reflected in the nuances and communication of his art. His work is founded on a life's journey that has created professional and personal relationships around the world, continually fueling his leading-edge innovation.

Darren has conceptualized and designed interactive experiences for countless institutions, including the Smithsonian, Newseum, Museum of Science and Industry, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum to name a few. His passion for immersive storytelling has helped teach visitors around the world about English, Omani History, Les Paul, and even cheese.

Beginning his career in commercial animation during the early 1990s, Lutz conceptualized and developed clay animation, cel animation and stop motion animation for TV commercials, film and interactive CD-ROMs for clients such as Disney, Pacific Bell and Cartoon Network, first for his own production company, Phantasy Lab Productions, and later as lead animator and general manager of John Lemmon Films.

Returning to hometown Green Bay, WI, Darren helped a local animation and broadcast production company triple in size and earn dozens of local, regional and national awards for animation, visual FX and broadcast.

In 2001, he partnered with his wife Tina to launch Balance Studios, initiating over two decades of growth by attracting a national and international clientele with award-winning cross-platform media solutions that span the worlds of storytelling via animation, web, mobile, software, interactive exhibit and more.

Today, Darren leads Balance Studios in reshaping the way brands, educators, and entertainers are using Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Projection Technology, and other emerging technologies to transform traditionally static concepts into immersive experiences.  

Tina Lutz

Owner | Executive Producer

With a dedication to storytelling and an unwavering commitment to pushing creative and technological boundaries, Tina Lutz boasts over 25 years of experience as a producer and executive producer across a diverse range of multimedia projects. Her focus on quality, innovation, and the transformative power of media to inspire and connect individuals to the world around them has been the cornerstone of her career.

Recognizing the need for a fresh approach to media production, Tina co-founded Balance Digital Media Studios 23 years ago. Under her leadership, the company has become a creative and tech trailblazer, known for its unwavering dedication to excellence, creativity, and cutting-edge productions. From pioneering groundbreaking multi-faceted immersive campaigns and exhibitions to innovative gaming-systems and feature film, for clients such as Paramount, ESPN, 7 Fathom Films, Fun Brands, Les Paul Foundation, the Smithsonian, Carnegie Science Center and the Museum of Science and Industry, Tina has led Balance in consistently delivering content that captivates diverse audiences.

As an accomplished executive producer and business strategist, Tina has steered hundreds of successful projects.  Possessing a keen understanding of business dynamics, the importance of collaborator endeavors, and a proven track record of delivering projects on time and on budget, Tina is instrumental in translating high-level strategies into actionable plans. She plays a pivotal role in negotiations, assembling teams, navigating complex production challenges, optimizing production and corporate processes, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring the seamless execution of every production she oversees. 

Guided by the mantra, “Always make the client the hero”, Tina and the Balance team pride themselves on their proactive embrace of new technologies and platforms. By staying at the forefront of design and technology trends, they ensure their clients remain the true 'heroes' in the eyes of their audiences.

Brett Nooyen

Vice President of Application Development

Having almost two decades of experience at Balance, Brett is a key member of the Balance team who has helped create a working environment for interactive designers and developers which fosters creativity and nurtures new ideas.

Brett has extensive knowledge in producing multi-platform interactive applications combining traditional concepts and technologies with the foremost emerging technologies – such as API integration, augmented and mixed reality, beacon, sensor and projection technologies.

For nearly twenty years, he has driven the evolution of web from the early stages of rich media internet applications to responsive web-based applications that function across multiple platforms and devices. This experience was a strong foundation leading Brett on an intense exploration of new development technologies. He has built complex interactive experiences for leading educational institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum.

Brett leverages his broad skillset of multi-language programming to apply the best possible combination of logic and design to develop the architecture of virtually any interactive application. Whether authoring a web driven application, developing a software application, or integrating the two platforms through robust CMS’s, he understands the goals set out beforehand and architects the development pipeline to produce an exceptional experience. To round out this extensive background, he also builds and maintains secure databases, pulls in information from existing ones through API’s, or can write the needed APIs for integration. He is the essence of full stack developer.

One of Brett’s most notable skillsets is his ability to bridge the gap between creative artists and programmers, acting as a conduit for creativity to flow between the teams while maintaining a high level of logic and order. He continues to push the boundaries of what is achievable in the interactive world to present user-friendly, beautiful application to a global audience.

Heidi Klessig

Vice President of Client Relations

With over 16 years of experience producing digital media engagements at Balance, Heidi utilizes a broad set of skills to help develop powerful stories that grow from her work effectively connecting client teams with the team at Balance. Innately curious with an inherent quest for knowledge, Heidi focuses on creative storytelling through a digital lens. Letting the story drive what new media can do rather than force fitting experiences into a new media environment, she excels in finding the perfect media to tell compelling educational stories in ways that connect with audiences. Though her passion for discovering new concepts or technologies in the interactive realm she often brings new ideas into projects to create a unique guest experience.

She has supported the development of a broad range of interactive media projects, including websites, mobile apps, touch-screen experiences, augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality experiences, multi-gestural technology, and sensor-based experiences. 

Heidi shines in making complicated, advanced technology projects fun and relatable for our clients. Specializing in user experience, usability and functionality, interactive technologies, new-and-upcoming technologies, project management, content wrangling, and production, Heidi oversees complex multimedia exhibits from ideation through installation. 

Heidi has fostered a long-term relationship with numerous museums and institutions, helping them bring exhibition topics and stories to life. 

Her outgoing and charismatic personality is a cornerstone of our team’s ability to build successful client relationships. As a producer, Heidi excels in working with both the production team and clients on a day-to-day basis making sure communication and production stay on schedule. That role also includes client relations and regular communication which ensures the client is involved and understands every step of the project.

John Hackman

Art Director | Animation Specialist

A maestro of visual storytelling, John Hackman, is a seasoned Art Director and Animator, leading the company’s art department to bring creative visions into reality, and whose creative prowess has left an indelible mark on the world of art and animation for Balance Digital Media Studios and its clients for his ability to breathe life into ideas, creating visually stunning narratives that resonate across diverse audiences.

As valued member of the Balance’s creative team for over 16 years, John brings a collaborative work style and a sharp eye for storytelling to a wide range of creative work, including character design and concepting, storyboarding, 3D model design, animation and motion graphics, and has demonstrated an exceptional ability to shape and guide the visual aesthetics of projects. His keen eye for design, color, and composition have been instrumental in creating cohesive and visually striking narratives that evoke emotions and captivate audiences.

Serving both as a creative and a creative facilitator, his work has been characterized by a unique blend of artistic vision, technical skill, and an unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling for client such as NatGeo, ESPN, Paramount, MeySen Academy, Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Dillion Nature Center, and Carnegie Science Center delivering immersive and unforgettable visual journeys.

Eric Mikula

Interactive Application Developer

Eric’s expertise and versatile capabilities are a result of over 15 years working with diverse platforms, ranging from animation to character rigging to the development of complex scripting, control systems, coding, and advanced interactive technology. One key aspect of Eric’s experience is developing entertaining and educational game experiences for interactives.

Eric’s background in calculus and computer science, as well as his in-depth work in both animation and development, lends itself to a seamless merger of artistic and technical components. His passion to learn new software and procedure has made a direct impact on the progressive technologies including Balance’s proprietary technologies such as DigiPucks, Augmented ARtwork, and ARena™.

Using his experience in animation, gaming and high-end development, Eric is able to bring visitors into virtual worlds, such as the Red Sea, the EAA (an aircraft museum) and BounceU’s Imagination Zone, to learn and explore.

Karol David

Animation Generalist

Karol’s expertise in multiple skillsets across a variety of creative media drives her own artistic flair. With almost 20 years of experience as a designer, game artist, 3D artist, character modeler and animator, she specializes in creating a cohesive look and feel for interactive experiences with their physical counterparts. 

As Lead Artist, Karol works alongside the production team to creatively link technical needs with beautiful graphical elements. Her aspiration to understand and utilize new interactive media techniques leads to inventive and unparalleled creations.

Scott Tuinstra

Associate Creative Director

Guided by a belief in the transformative power of design, Scott stands at the intersection of creativity and technology, shaping immersive digital experiences that captivate and engage users for a broad spectrum of clients.

With a style characterized by a commitment to innovation, collaboration, and a relentless pursuit of excellence in the digital space, Scott plays a pivotal role in leading, designing and producing digital designs with an emphasis on compelling user-interfaces combined with seamless user-experience interactions for multi-platform interactive projects and immersive digital campaigns for mobile, web, wearables, desktop and an array of sensor-based, touch and multi-touch applications that not only capture attention but also leave a meaningful impact.

Scott’s moto is ‘never settle for less’. He approaches all projects with creative problem solving, is an avid learner exploring and understanding how to integrate new tech into his designs, creates opportunities for the Balance team to excel and inspires them to work smarter to produce the best possible experience for clients.

He has demonstrated the innate ability to blend artistic vision, story-telling and technical expertise with the unique talent of connecting and demystifying the creative, tech, and user-experience for a wide spectrum of clients including the University of Illinois, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Indiana State Museum, The Packer Hall of Fame, and Boeing.

Amelia Pawula

QA Analyst | Production Assistant

Amelia is thoroughly-dedicated to making sure software development processes are top-notch as our Quality Assurance Analyst & Production Assistant. Her background in quality assurance and project coordination gives her a unique mix of tech know-how and organizational skills.

Maintaining the highest standard of quality is Amelia's top priority. Excelling at catching the small stuff, her attention to detail plays a big part in making sure the software we publish is reliable and user-friendly.

Craig Balke

Digital Media Project Manager

Communication is not just the most important thing... It's everything! Craig prides himself on his ability to make quality connections with the teams he works with. From that emphasis on communication Craig becomes a conduit; taking clarification from your team into actualization from our team.

Craig has worked with leaders in various industries throughout his career, and with that experience comes the ability to ensure that no ideas get lost and the best possible experiences come to fruition. He is involved with all projects we work on, from the initial stages of design through quality assurance and beyond.

With a diverse management background ranging from small scale daily operations to large scale governmental projects, Craig has the know-how to keep projects running smoothly and efficiently, with regular communication ensuring that every client is involved and understands every step of their project.

Noah Doperalski

Junior Web Developer

With a knack for backend technology and experience with development for Android, Noah brings a unique set of skills that have been adapted to a Web development environment.  A couple key skills include SOLID principles, .NET Architecture and relational databases.

Growing up, Noah always loved computers, machines, and creating. With a determination to create, Noah started his career with a Computer Science degree and began by developing applications for Android with Kotlin.

Here at Balance he's responsible for developing various backend management systems - include many that power one of the largest sustainability museum exhibits in the nation

Noah brings a lighthearted, outside the box view to the studio.  He brings that human touch to a world that is missing it.

Zane Brown

Junior Unity Developer

Zane Brown is a Unity whiz and all-around game dev enthusiast currently bringing digital worlds to life at Balance Digital Media Studios. A Game Design major at Bradley University with a focus on Game Programming, he’s fluent in C#, C++, Unity, and Unreal Engine—and just as comfortable crafting immersive environments as he is building fast-paced games.
 
Whether he's coding gameplay mechanics, tweaking physics systems, or experimenting with new tech, Zane is always looking for fresh ways to level up the user experience. He has a knack for solving tricky problems with a smile.
 
Zane is passionate about collaboration, curious by nature, and driven to keep learning—all with the goal of creating interactive experiences that are not just functional, but fun. If it involves creativity, innovation, and a bit of imagination, he’s all in.