We partner with talented creators who bring a unique and fresh perspective to storytelling for our diverse, contemporary audience. Studio Tapas Originals are more than just comics–they’re authentic, accessible, and meaningful elevated genre stories that reflect the passions of our reader and creator community. Our mission is to lift up the next generation of storytellers and bring their stories into the spotlight.
About Us
”At Tapas, we set out to share stories that you can’t find anywhere else by creating a global, open publishing platform for independent storytellers. We debuted the platform in 2012 with seven creators, and over the years, we’ve built a strong relationship with the creator community. We are proud to say that now over 57,000 creators call Tapas their home.
As a platform, we not only cultivate meaningful connections with our community, but also incubate and elevate diverse stories through utilizing technology and data in order to empower the next generation of storytellers. At Tapas, our goal is to serve these creators by forming powerful partnerships in the entertainment community to propel these stories across the global content landscape.
Gabrielle LuuEditor in Chief
At Studio Tapas,
Meet Our Team
Michael Son is the VP of Content at Tapas Media, overseeing Studio Tapas by helping develop the mandates and slates for all Originals across webcomics and novels. Michael graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and joined Tapas in 2012. From editorial, social media management, graphic design, business development and more, Michael has had the great fortune to grow alongside Tapas. He made his editorial debut by helming Cheshire Crossing by Andy Weir and Sarah Andersen. His favorite genre is modern romance and has an affinity for melodramas.
Gabrielle Luu is the Head of Studio Tapas, directing the new development and strategy of Originals series on Tapas. Since her start at Tapas in 2015 and after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, she's brought in hit titles spanning several genres, such as The Beginning After the End, The Dragon Prince's Bride, Born Sexy Tomorrow, and His Barcode Tattoo. She loves a good story that is lighthearted and fun, leads into a deeper message, and can make her feel all the emotions. She is excited to provide creators with more opportunities to build and grow their careers.
Kevin Nicklaus - Head of Creative Development. An executive with a background in film and television development, most recently with a production company based at Warner Bros., responsible for the department, but with a personal focus on film, television, podcasts and video games. His previous work has also helped to produce series such as BATES MOTEL (A&E) and PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT (Showtime) and event limited series such as the recent, reimagined, Emmy-nominated ROOTS (History, A&E, Lifetime), which featured Rege-Jean Page, Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, and Anika Noni Rose and was produced with Will Packer and LeVar Burton, Stephen King’s SALEM’S LOT (TNT), THE MISTS OF AVALON (TNT), HELTER SKELTER (CBS), SYBIL (CBS), A WILL OF THEIR OWN (NBC), THE BAD SEED (Lifetime) and more.
Alex R. Carr has spent almost two decades in publishing and content strategy, across international locales, mediums, and genres to drive initiatives at franchise and global levels. A background in editing, combined with an early start in sales and analytics, led Carr to join as a founding editor on Amazon’s pilot program for original content, Amazon Publishing. There, he developed content strategies to launch global, multiplatform imprints, including Montlake Romance, followed by 47North – a Science Fiction & Fantasy imprint, and then Jet City Comics. After leading these teams, along with Kindle Serials, he relocated to the United Kingdom to spearhead the Non-Fiction publishing initiative.
Next, Carr joined the Warner Bros. Entertainment/DC Comics team to help launch two initiatives in the Young Reader space, recontextualizing legacy franchises for new audiences, and acquiring New York Times bestselling talent to develop these stories. In addition, he also led the Justice League group of titles in DC’s periodical business, working with talent and developing worlds-colliding stories that would make his younger self proud.
Alex is always looking for the next story to scare him.
Michael Paolilli has always had a deep passion for art, comics, animation, and games. Upon receiving his BA in character design and animation, he turned that passion into a career of over 15 years in publishing, entertainment, and production, leveraging his experience in manga and comic publishing with companies such as TOKYOPOP, Disney, Cryptozoic Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. He strives to help his teams and creators craft authentic and memorable content to share with fans across the globe.
As a founding member of Studio Tapas, Hayden has helped creators and talented teams across the globe create over 150 series at Tapas. A graduate of San Francisco State University’s Creative Writing program, Hayden believes technology is a tool for elevated storytelling and that stories have the power to connect those who read them. Before Tapas, Hayden contributed to various independent literary magazines such as Transfer and ZYZZYVA. At VIZ Media, Hayden helped edit many major manga titles including Pokémon, Naruto, Bleach, among other popular series.
Beyond production, at Tapas Hayden has helped develop and edit titles such as Summoner, Whispers of the True King, Love Algorithm, and more. In collaboration with the celebrated Japanese video game developer SNK Corporation, Hayden wrote, edited, and produced a webcomic adaptation of the cult classic fighting game series, The Last Blade.
When he's not working on or helping others create stories, he’s probably playing old video games or watching dumb (but fun) action movies and would love to hear your recommendations!
Brooke Huang is an Executive Editor at Studio Tapas, and works with creators to help their storytelling reach its fullest potential and advance their creative careers. A graduate of Duke University, she has been with Tapas since 2017 and worked with creators on stories of various genres. Her development and editorial credits include Magical Boy, Happiness Theory, Lost and Found, and Timeless Melody. She has also worked with publishers to bring print comics such as BOOM! Studios’ Heavy Vinyl and Vault Comics’ Heathen to Tapas readers in a digital-optimized format. She’s looking for relatable, emotional, and character driven stories that grab you and don’t let go.
Gavi H.B. Klein (they/them) is an editor working on Studio Originals and helping comics creators realize their visions. After graduating Stanford in 2018, H.B. spent three years in WEBTOON editorial before joining Tapas Studios in 2021. At WEBTOON, they developed and launched a variety of top titles including Everything is Fine, High Class Homos, and Purple Hyacinth, and managed the WEBTOON print partnership with Harper Alley to launch Hooky Vol. 1 and Crumbs. At Tapas, they help manage a wide range of Originals titles including Sharpe & Rabbit, The Girlfriend Project, Night Fragments, and Innkeeper Chronicles. They're always seeking exciting new stories in the medium and stories that defy genre. When they're not working, you can catch them playing Dance Dance Revolution and watching Sharknado for the thirtieth time.
C. Wen Zhang is an Associate Editor at Studio Tapas. They joined Studio Tapas in 2020 as an Editorial Intern and have since edited a personal catalogue of Tapas Originals including Sound of Bread, Pandora's Devils, Peach and Her Papas, Office Gods, and The Prince's Personal Physician. Wen is driven by the joy and social good of diverse storytelling, and they're always ready to help creators both vivify their visions and advance their professional careers. They are proud to lead projects that embody, above all, empathy and humor.
Tapehlyn has immersed herself as a creative in the world of film and television during her time in college. She’s previously worked from literary management companies like Level 1 Entertainment to reality tv companies like A. Smith & Co. working on American Ninja Warrior Jr., making her well-rounded early in her career. She grew up reading and writing webcomics and novels which sparked her interest in being involved with digital media. She likes the freedom digital media gives you as an artist to create works of art beyond the depths of your imagination.
Mary is an Assistant Editor at Studio Tapas. After graduating from UCLA in 2020 with BAs in English and Japanese, she joined Tapas as an Editorial Intern. Since then, she has worked not only on original novels but also original comic titles such as The Beginning After the End, The Witch's Throne, and Love by the Book. She loves action-packed stories with a good dose of comedy, and has a soft spot for battle fantasies and cooking manga. After work, you can find her grinding for achievements at the arcade or identifying mushrooms on hikes!