Howie Mandel And Super 78 Studios Partner With Metamedia To Deliver The World's First Interactive Content To Movie Screens

Magic Screen Allows Audiences to Interact with Animated Characters and Celebrities on Movie Screens

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Aug 18, 2021, 16:58 ET

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MetaMedia, one of the world's fastest growing entertainment technology companies, and Howie Mandel's Alevy Productions and Super 78 Studios, an award-winning studio that develops immersive content, today announced a groundbreaking partnership to bring Magic Screen, the world's first interactive platform for animated and live content, to cinemas and other out-of-home venues around the world.

"Magic Screen is taking immersive technologies to the next level," said Howie Mandel. "With Magic Screen, our animations that used to take 6 months can now be written, recorded and produced in real time. Thanks to our partners at Super 78, Microsoft and MetaMedia, we're going to revolutionize the moviegoing experience in a way that will allow trailers, advertisements, gameshows and more to be seen like never before."

"Following the introduction of digital cinema, 3D, and immersive audio, we view Magic Screen as the next leap forward for cinemas," said MetaMedia CEO Jason Brenek. "By providing audiences direct access to their favorite characters and celebrities and allowing them to interact alongside fellow fans, the social experience in cinema can continue to be the best place to enjoy entertainment."

"Magic Screen is a disruptor on a global scale," said Super 78 CEO Dina Benadon. "Together with Howie Mandel and MetaMedia, Magic Screen is uniquely positioned to be first to market in creating new revenue streams for theaters beyond their traditional model. At Super 78, we've produced interactive theme park shows for decades and now with Magic Screen, audiences can engage in custom experiences at local movie theaters."

"On the road to post-pandemic recovery, the film exhibition business will require new business models and programming," said Magic Screen General Manager Jay Williams. "All from one location, MetaMedia and Magic Screen will provide consumer-facing interactive original shows, ads, trailers, immersive games and standup comedy events to exhibitors in cities around the world. Magic Screen's interactive platform is a one-of-a-kind solution that's available for studios, producers and IP holders to showcase their content and characters to consumers in a truly custom and memorable way. "

Following today's announcement, the partners will provide Magic Screen entertainment, also called interactives ™, to hundreds of cinemas, starting in major U.S. and Canadian cities in Q4 2021. MetaMedia's MetaMedia Entertainment Network will serve as the exclusive platform for Geppetto-powered Magic Screen interactives^TM. The first phase of the Magic Screen rollout will feature shows from top global theme parks and will include many shows that have not played in the U.S. Magic Screen will also work with studios and other content creators and celebrities to create short-form interactive content such as live-comedy shows, game shows, trailers, advertisements, and other branded content. This includes providing out-of-home entertainment for private events, parties, education events and corporate events.

Supported by Microsoft, NVIDIA, Unity and other technology partners, Magic Screen builds on Super 78's Geppetto, a proprietary live-character animation and show-control system that allows audiences to have individual, unscripted conversations with animated characters. Geppetto, which Super 78 Studios developed over a decade, powers interactive shows in theme parks around the world including Donkey Live! at Universal Studios Singapore, Smurf's Village Playhouse at MOTIONGATE Theme Park in Dubai and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: An Interactive Adventure at Moody Gardens in Texas which was nominated for the first Producers Guild of America (PGA) Innovation Award in 2019.

The MetaMedia Entertainment Network is the world's first global, cloud-based distribution platform for studios, cinemas and other out-of-home venues. Powered by Microsoft Azure, the MetaMedia service provides for the secure, rapid and cost-saving delivery of live-streamed events, movies and advertising. In addition to Magic Screen interactive content provided by the Super 78 and Alevy Productions partnership, MetaMedia recently expanded its platform to deliver movie DCPs and trailers from major Hollywood Studios to more than 1,000 cinema screens via partnerships with many major global cinema chains. The company also partnered with Harena Data, Inc., a data analytics, league development and player management tool for the esports industry and Encore Live's Encore Drive-In Nights for live concerts at drive-in venues and select cinemas.

About MetaMedia
MetaMedia is an entertainment technology company that creates next-generation technologies and new revenue-generating opportunities for content producers and cinemas. MetaMedia created and launched the MetaMedia Entertainment Network^TM the first global, cloud-based distribution platform to out-of-home venues. Powered by Microsoft Azure, the MetaMedia Entertainment Network ^TM provides for the secure, rapid and cost-effective delivery of movies, trailers, advertisements, live-streamed events, interactive content and other big-screen programming to cinemas, drive-ins, arenas, and other out-of-home entertainment venues. MetaMedia is headquartered in Los Angeles. For more information, please visit www.metamedia.global.

About Magic Screen
Magic Screen is a joint venture LLC between Super 78 Studios and Howie Mandel's Alevy Productions. It was created as a new way for consumers to interact and engage with live content in movie theaters. Magic Screen - The Live Interactive Cinema Experience is powered by Microsoft Azure, NVIDA,Unity and Super 78's award-winning Geppetto animation control system.

About Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel has remained a constant force in show business for more than 30 years and his versatile career has encompassed virtually all aspects of the entertainment spectrum including television, film and stage. Mandel has served for over a decade as a judge on NBC's hit talent competition series America's Got Talent. His documentary Howie Mandel But Enough About is currently streaming on Peacock and in July 2021 launched a glasses collection with SEE eyewear. He also currently hosts the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast alongside his daughter Jackie and continues to make videos for his 8.7 million followers on Tik Tok. Previously he served as executive producer and host of the CNBC game show Deal or No Deal and has appeared in St. Elsewhere and Bobby's World, and wrote the 2009 memoir Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me. Mandel has done countless comedy specials both on cable and network television. He also performs as many as 200 stand-up comedy shows each year throughout the U.S. and Canada.

About Super 78 Studios
Super 78 is a team of award-winning artists and technical innovators who develop and produce entertaining, immersive and educational visual stories and technologies. With 20+ years of experience, the award winning creative, production and design studio extends well-known brands and intellectual properties into special venues and the experiential marketplace. Super 78 is a producer of media-based theme park attractions for a broad range of global markets including the US, Europe, China, UAE and Singapore. https://www.super78.com

About Microsoft Azure
The Azure cloud platform is more than 200 products and cloud services designed to help you bring new solutions to life to solve today's challenges and create for the future. Build, run and manage applications across multiple clouds, on-premises, and at the edge, with tools and frameworks of your choice. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/

Media Contact: Charles Chamberlayne
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SOURCE MetaMedia