Academy of Interactive Entertainment

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272990527
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lafayette, LA, USA
Phone
3372056604
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,137,824
Expenses
$1,937,598
Assets
$925,634
Liabilities
$132,237

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • John De Margheriti (President and Treasurer)
  • Victoria De Margheriti (Vice President and Secretary)
  • Emily De Margheriti (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Vicki Templet (Head of School): $101,471 total reported compensation
  • Daniel Franks (Financial Controller): $92,771 total reported compensation
  • Robin Couvillon (Head of School): $1,200 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

AIE trains students for employment and career opportunities in 3D animation, game development, and related fields through the provision of world class education as well as acting as a catalyst to build these industries.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Academy of Interactive Entertainment - LA (AIE - LA) was founded in 2010 to provide world-class education in 3D animation, game programming, and digital visual effects. AIE - LA offers three certificate programs and three Associates in Occupational Studies (AOS), including: 1. Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development - Game Art & Animation (CIP Code 11.0803). 2. Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development - Game Programming (CIP Code 11.0804). 3. Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media - 3D Animation & VFX for Film (CIP Code 10.0304). 4. The AOS adds a fifth semester in which general education classes are taught. The AOS is a concise, comprehensive, and intensive five-semester career track providing students with skills necessary to obtain an entry level position in the gaming industry. AIE believes that adding the AOS to its offered programs will add value to a student's training and produce a better prepared job candidate. Students earn a technical Associates Degree upon completion of the general education studies. All courses were developed to support industry needs, driven by extensive consultation with local and international game development studios and visual effects professionals. Each program includes a two-year full-time course, providing individual and team centric training in the processes of developing the competencies and skills necessary to gain employment with game and film studios, related industries, and the development of graduates' independent games. In academic year 2024-2025, AIE - LA had 69 students enrolled in its courses. Game artists design the environments, create the characters and craft the vehicles for the games that you love to play. They can specialize in modeling, texturing, animation, and level design. Game art development is a dynamic medium to showcase creative ability. Students work with other artists and programmers to design and create their own unique entertainment experiences using cutting-edge game technology. Game programmers drive the game development process, creating the framework, functionality, and interaction in the game. As the essential ingredient in the development process, game programmers are highly valued and in high demand. In contrast to Game Art, 3D Animation & VFX for Film students acquire skills necessary to develop exciting careers in game development, film, and TV. It is a practical course designed to give students top-tier technical training to work as 3D artists using the latest state-of-the-art technology.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 79% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - Most voting board members are independent and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 57.4%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.4%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52% of revenue deployed · 57.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 6 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.