Early Life: Small Town, Big Dreams
Hey there, I’m Jasper Bennett – born and raised in the thriving metropolis of Kamloops, BC (population: enough people to fill a decent concert venue). Yeah, that place you’ve never heard of unless you’ve driven through it on your way somewhere more interesting.
Born in 1988 to a print shop worker dad and librarian mom, I was the kid who asked for a computer for Christmas instead of hockey gear. My parents thought I was broken – what self-respecting Canadian kid doesn’t want to spend winter mornings in a freezing arena at 6 AM?
Personal Timeline
| Year | Age | Life Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 0 | Born in Kamloops, BC (sorry, world) |
| 1994 | 6 | First computer – ancient Windows 95 machine |
| 2000 | 12 | Created first “game” in MS Paint (still my proudest moment) |
| 2006 | 18 | Escaped to University of Toronto |
| 2010 | 22 | Graduated with CS degree, minor existential crisis |
| 2013 | 25 | Met Sarah at a terrible tech meetup |
| 2016 | 28 | Founded company, Sarah thought I was insane |
| 2018 | 30 | Married Sarah (she said yes despite the business) |
| 2021 | 33 | Daughter Emma born (now my toughest critic) |
| 2023 | 35 | Son Oliver born (future gaming buddy) |
Education: Surviving Toronto
Somehow convinced University of Toronto to let me in for Computer Science in 2006. Mom was thrilled – “Finally, a real career!” Dad was confused but supportive. I picked up Graphic Design as a minor because, honestly, making things look pretty was way more fun than debugging someone else’s spaghetti code.
University was where I learned three valuable life lessons:
- Red Bull is not a food group (despite what my transcript suggests)
- Procrastination is an art form (I perfected it)
- Following your passion beats following the money (took me a while to figure this one out)
The Entrepreneurial Epiphany: Why I Started Bla Bla Bla Studios
The Corporate Disillusionment (2014-2015)
Picture this: I’m 26, working at a mobile games startup after escaping the soul-crushing machine that was Ubisoft Toronto. The pay was terrible, but at least I could wear holes in my socks without HR getting involved. That’s where I first encountered the wild world of online casino games.
The moment everything clicked: I was reviewing slot machine graphics for a client project, and I swear to God, everything looked like it was designed by someone who’d never seen the internet. We’re talking early-2000s clip art levels of bad. Flashing cherries that gave you epilepsy, card symbols that looked like they were drawn with a mouse, and don’t even get me started on the “bonus round” animations.
The Market Research Rabbit Hole
Being the obsessive perfectionist I am, I spent the next three months diving deep into the online casino industry (Sarah still makes fun of my browser history from that period). What I discovered blew my mind:
The Numbers That Made Me Drool:
- Global online gambling market: $60+ billion annually
- Visual quality: Stuck somewhere in 1995
- Client budgets: Actually decent (shocking!)
- Competition: Virtually non-existent for quality animation
The “Holy Shit” Moment
It hit me during a particularly brutal team meeting in December 2015. My boss was explaining why we couldn’t spend “extra time” making our characters look good because “mobile users don’t notice.” Meanwhile, I’m thinking about casino operators who were literally throwing money at anyone who could make a slot machine not look like digital vomit.
The revelation: There’s an entire industry desperate for quality visual content, with budgets to match, and nobody’s serving them properly. It was like finding a twenty-dollar bill on an empty street.
The Terrifying Decision
Sarah and I were dating seriously by then, and when I told her my plan to quit my stable job to make “pretty pictures for gambling websites,” she looked at me like I’d suggested we move to Mars.
Her exact words: “So you want to leave your shitty job… to start your own shitty job… making games for degenerates?”
My response: “Yeah, but I’ll be MY OWN BOSS making games for degenerates!”
Somehow, she didn’t dump me on the spot.
The Leap of Faith
January 2016 was when I officially lost my mind and founded Equinox Digital Entertainment Ltd. The name “Bla Bla Bla Studios” came from a brainstorming session where I was mocking pretentious agency names. “What if we just called ourselves ‘Bla Bla Bla Studios’?” I joked.
Why it stuck:
- It was honest (cutting through industry BS)
- Memorable (clients never forgot it)
- Approachable (no corporate intimidation factor)
- My ego needed deflating (starting with the company name)
The Reality Check
The first six months were absolutely brutal. I was working 80-hour weeks from my apartment, living on ramen and whatever dignity I had left. My first major client ghosted me with half the deposit. My second project turned into revision hell that lasted four months.
Sarah’s patience level: Saint-like (I don’t deserve her)
My parents’ reaction: “Maybe you should go back to school?”
My bank account: Crying softly
But here’s the thing – even when everything was falling apart, I knew I was onto something. Every terrible client experience taught me what NOT to do. Every failed project showed me where the industry gaps were. And every late night reminded me why I’d rather fail at my own dream than succeed at someone else’s.
Family Life: The Real Success Story
Meeting Sarah (2013)
Met my wife Sarah at the world’s most awkward tech meetup in 2013. She was there for her marketing job, I was there for free pizza. Somehow convinced her I was charming despite spending 20 minutes explaining why her company’s website navigation was “criminally bad UX.”
She’s now a Digital Marketing Director at a fintech startup and still regularly reminds me that my design opinions are “aggressively unsolicited.”
The Kids
Emma (born 2021) is 4 and already critiques my animation work with the brutal honesty only a preschooler can deliver. Last week she told me my dragon design “looks sad and needs better colors.” She wasn’t wrong.
Oliver (born 2023) is 2 and mostly interested in trying to eat my laptop. Different artistic vision, I suppose.
Personal Philosophy & Values
Work-Life Balance (Actually Real)
After burning out spectacularly in 2022, I figured out that being present for Emma’s bedtime stories matters more than fixing client feedback at 11 PM. Revolutionary concept, I know.
My Rules:
- Family dinner is sacred (phone goes in the drawer)
- Weekends are for living (not debugging)
- Vacations mean actually vacating (shocking, I know)
Creative Philosophy
I believe in:
- Making boring stuff interesting (online casino games don’t have to look like 1995)
- Quality over quantity (one amazing project beats five mediocre ones)
- Honesty in business (radical concept in our industry)
- Teaching what you know (knowledge hoarding is for losers)
Hobbies & Interests
When I’m not animating slot machine symbols, you’ll find me:
- Teaching Emma to code (she’s already better at logic than most junior developers)
- Hiking around BC (Sarah insists fresh air is good for me)
- Playing vintage video games (because nostalgia is a hell of a drug)
- Still using MS Paint (don’t judge me, it’s therapeutic)
Personal Achievements & Recognition
Speaking & Community
- Guest lecturer at University of Toronto (2020-present)
- Keynote speaker at Canadian Gaming Summit (2023)
- Mentor for Toronto tech incubators
- Regular contributor to industry publications
Awards & Recognition
- “Rising Star in Gaming Animation” – Canadian Digital Media Awards (2019)
- “Best Small Studio” – iGaming Excellence Awards (2021)
- “Innovation in Casino Graphics” – SiGMA Awards (2023)
Current Personal Projects
Teaching & Mentoring
I teach a “Creative Coding for Non-Coders” workshop at local community centers. Watching 60-year-olds discover they can make digital art is honestly more rewarding than any client project.
Writing
Working on a book: “Pixel Perfect: How to Build a Creative Business Without Losing Your Mind” (tentative title, Sarah thinks it’s too long).
Life Lessons Learned
- Your first idea is probably terrible (embrace it, iterate)
- Saying no is a superpower (took me 35 years to learn this)
- Kids don’t care about your startup stress (they want you present)
- Small towns breed big dreams (or desperate escape plans)
- Success isn’t just money (though money doesn’t hurt)
Random Personal Facts
- Still can’t play hockey (disappointing my entire lineage)
- Addicted to terrible sci-fi movies (the worse, the better)
- Makes world-class pancakes (according to Emma and Oliver)
- Owns 47 different styluses (digital artist problems)
- Once debugged code for 18 hours straight (don’t recommend it)
If you want to chat about animation, parenting, or why Kamloops is actually pretty cool, hit me up. Just don’t ask me about hockey.