executive team

JERRY RIOPELLE
Founder & Chief Creative Officer

Jerry Riopelle was destined to invent the beamz™, he just didn‘t know it. Calling on instinctive engineering skills he got from his father and 40-years of his own experience as an accomplished musician, songwriter and producer, Jerry created one of America's most innovative new products.

Jerry's inspiration for the beamz began with a simple childhood experience - he and his buddies visited the local ice cream shop and played with the store's light-activated door announcer. Decades later, with the arrival of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), Jerry used that childhood memory to spark an inspiration: Why not trigger MIDI musical events by breaking a light beam, much like what happened at the door of his favorite ice cream shop?

An obsessive tinkerer, Jerry started creating the beamz music system in 2001 when he first bought PVC pipe and a handful of laser beams at a local electronics store. Using his deep understanding of music and assistance from software engineers, Jerry worked daily for years to create the sophisticated, patented system that exists today.

Jerry didn't start his career seeking to be an inventor. His lifetime of accomplishment and inner passion revolves around music. Jerry is a well known musician of considerable achievement.

Raised in Tampa, Fla. Jerry moved to Los Angeles to begin his music career in the 1960's by learning the ropes of independent record production. After playing drums for the Hollywood Argyles he signed as a staff song writer for Screen Gems. Upon hearing a single Jerry had written and produced with Clydie King titled "The Thrill is Gone," Phil Spector hired Jerry as a staff writer and producer for Philles Records.

Jerry soon produced a Top 20 hit, "Home of the Brave," recorded by Bonnie & The Treasures. He also produced top 40 singles for recording artists April Stevens & Nino Tempo and The Parade. That success earned Jerry a job as producer at A&M Records as well as a staff writing position at Irving Music.

During that time he wrote and produced for The We Five, Brewer & Shipley, The Parade, Shango, and had songs covered by Herb Alpert, Leon Russell, and later, Kenny Loggins, Rita Coolidge, Meat Loaf and many others. During his years in Hollywood, Jerry also wrote numerous songs and musical pieces for films and television shows.

Today, when Jerry is not working on the beamz, he and his wife Naomi divide their time between homes in Scottsdale, Ariz. and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. They have two children, daughter Angela and their son Paul, who is a co-founder of the beamz system and Vice President of Content Development.

investor relations

executive team &
board of directors

Mike Gaumond
CEO

Jerry Riopelle
Founder and CCO

Paul Riopelle
Co-Founder and
VP Content Dev.

David Martin
VP Production Operations

Julia Francis
VP Marketing

Mike Muhney
VP Business Development

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