Need PHP Mysql Optimization Now - CSS, Ajax, JS, GFX Later

Requirements: 1. Based in U.S. 2. Willing to sign a confidentially agreement (about our code, code you write, our ideas shared with you, any design you create). 3. Knows php,mysql,css,ajax,javascript well to very well. 4. Portfolio/links to previous work 5. Able to start work ASAP Pluses (Would be good, but not absolutely required to get the job) 1. Has knowledge of modules that may help optimize or speed up the processing of our website and/or code. 2. Has graphic designing ability, or if you're a company, has someone to do graphic design. Looking for something as equally impressive as [login to view URL] (not a clone by any means, just of that graphical quality, but still looking more web 2.0 like [login to view URL] or [login to view URL] 3. htaccess writter / Keeping our current urls working with new code, and better SEO urls to work as well. 4. Able to create RSS feeds from our posted content. 5. Protect posted flash games from would-be stealers. I am the owner of a large flash games arcade. Our site uses an old version of [login to view URL] script to power our arcade. This old version has very little, to no caching. We've added new features, and we've grown. Our Alexa rank is currently under 18,000. We have recently had an influx in visitors that continues to bring our site down. Our host tells us that we have had 4000 concurrent mysql calls. We need our php and mysql optimized so that they have better caching. As of right now, and as far as I know, the script has no caching. If somebody visits the site and we need to show them 50 game thumbnails, 50 game titles, 50 game descriptions, and gameplays on 50 games, the script actually goes and gets all that from the database every time somebody visits that page that shows all that. It's the same for any other data that's pulled. First and foremost we need this code optimized so that our site stops crashing, hanging, slowing, etc. Later on we want to use the same programmer to help us rewrite the rest of the script to add new features, and hopefully even create a new design for the site. In the end, this will be an entire site overhaul of both the code, and the look of the site. We would like to get one programmer that we can stick with through the entire project. We also own a network of websites that we would likely use you for as well later on. Basically we are looking for a long-term partnership as we have the funds to pay for new features we need added to our network of sites. The biggest of which, is our flash arcade site. We are looking for somebody capable of coding a lot of database rich features into the site later on. Including having the website show top 10 played, ranked, favorited, sent to friend, etc. games for today, the week, month, 3 months, 6 months, year. Later on we will need registration accounts that ties and saves all this together. After this, we have plans to monitor which games people are playing to determine which genre of games they like the most, and to recommend ones that they've never played that are in that same genre, that perhaps have high rankings, or have been favorited and/or sent to friends a lot. All this will be later though, but we would like the same person to be capable of all this. Right now we need the caching problem fixed ASAP so our server can maintain the influx of visitors our site is receiving. Post your portfolios so I can look at your previous work. If you just post links, please describe to me what you did for each site so I can clearly look at that aspect of that site. I know that this job cannot have an accurate bid on it until you view our source code. Before I decide who to send our source code to though, I want to know you meet our other requirements.