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Cecil D. Magpuri is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Falcon’s Beyond. In this role, he directs the company’s endeavors and establishes a road map for the future. He maintains high-level oversight of all significant creative and operational developments. Cecil is also a member of the Falcon’s Beyond Board of Directors.
Before becoming CEO of Falcon’s Beyond, Cecil served as the President and Chief Creative Officer of Falcon’s Treehouse, a company he co-founded in 2000 that was later rebranded as Falcon’s Creative Group and expanded to include Falcon’s Digital Media and Falcon’s Licensing. He molded it into a well-respected and award-winning themed entertainment design firm that collaborated with some of the biggest names in the business to produce innovative guest experiences. Cecil personally led the design efforts for new technology products and attraction systems, which resulted in dozens of patents.
Prior to spinning up his own company, Cecil was the director of attraction development for Clarity Studios, where he assembled a team of professionals to provide turnkey attraction design services to theme parks and corporate clients. Previously, Cecil was a creative director at Universal Studios, where he developed the initial concepts for two major attractions, one of which was Twister: Ride it Out! He played a pivotal role in their development and was responsible for the creative outcome of these landmark projects. He was named co-inventor and was awarded patents for both attractions. While at Universal Studios, Cecil collaborated with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer to conceptualize a brick-and-mortar experience based on the captivating story of Apollo 13.
In the early 1990s, Cecil worked under the tutelage of the legendary and Academy Award-winning Don Iwerks at Iwerks Entertainment, where he held a senior project designer position. It was here that Cecil became interested in combining cutting-edge technology with immersive storytelling to create unique guest experiences.
For three consecutive years, Cecil was named to the Blooloop 50 Theme Park Influencers list, joining the likes of Kathleen Kennedy, Bob Iger, and Joe Rohde. In 2010, Cecil received the Asian Heritage Award for Innovation and Technology. He is an advisory board member for the University of Central Florida’s Themed Experience MFA program. He also sits on the advisory board of the onePULSE Foundation, which was established after the tragedy at Pulse nightclub in 2016. Cecil is an active member of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), the Visual Effects Society (VES), and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).
Cecil received his Bachelor of Arts in applied arts and sciences with an emphasis on environmental design and a distinction in art from San Diego State University in 1991.
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