990113mne

First-Ever Made for the Internet Movie Makes Jump to Television At NATPE

MULTIMEDIA NEWS
01/13/99
By MULTIMEDIA NEWS - AMNEWSWIRE

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COMMENTARY
A brief mention of Xena (as a topic of another multipath movie) in a report on Brilliant Digital Entertainment at NAPTE.

PRIMARY SOURCE

    Kaleidoscope Media Group, Inc. has entered into an agreement with Brilliant
Digital Entertainment for the distribution of "Gravity Angels," the Internet's
first full-length, 3-D digitally animated movie, according to Henry Siegel,
Kaleidoscope Media's CEO, and Kevin Bermeister, president of Brilliant Digital.

    The two-hour science fiction thriller will be offered at NATPE for domestic
and international distribution. Home video rights are also available through
KMG. Gravity Angels, which presently is a available via Brilliant's web site
(http://www.multipathmovies.com) as an interactive, 3-D digital Multipath Movie,
represents the world's first ever Internet production to be offered for sale to
the broadcast and direct-to-video markets.  

    Brilliant Digital Entertainment is the production studio responsible for
creating Gravity Angels and Multipath Movies, a new genre of interactive
entertainment. Multipath Movies are three dimensional, animated stories each
with multiple user-influenced plot alternatives that lead to a variety of
distinct conclusions. Brilliant's proprietary production technology is
scaleable, allowing for the creation and distribution of its entertainment
products via Internet, CD-ROM, DVD, television and home video. From a cost
perspective, Brilliant can create products with multiple 3-D output formats,
both interactive and non-interactive, all for about the same price as
traditional 2-D animation. And because Brilliant's interactive productions have
multiple plot turns and twists, one episode can be exported into a variety of
broadcast versions, creating a number of unique "re-runs" for each episode.

    Henry Siegel commented, "In Gravity Angels Brilliant Digital has
demonstrated its ability to cost effectively produce top quality animated
entertainment that translates well into a variety of formats including
broadcast.

    Further differentiating Brilliant from other animation producers is its
Multipath production architecture which enables the creation of multiple
versions of the same episode. This capability is particularly exciting for the
television syndication market because each episode can have a number of
different versions, increasing its shelf life and value in the re-run market."

    "The ability to easily and cost effectively convert and sell Internet
products into the broadcast and home video world is made possible by our
proprietary animation software tools. Our tools allow us to create scalable
animation in one production process," said Brilliant's Kevin Bermeister. "This
means we can produce for the Internet and CD-ROM and then scale-up the output
resolution for direct-to-video, DVD and broadcast platforms. Importantly, we
can reach all of these end markets for less than it typically costs to produce
one half-hour of traditional cel animation for broadcast, and our tools also
facilitate international distribution as we can easily accomplish digital lip
synchronization for different languages."

    Gravity Angels is an original movie created by Brilliant's own production
team. It takes place in the year 2098 on the moon Ganymede where six misfits of
Earth's society have been banished for twelve months. The only problem is that
most people on Ganymede turn up dead.

    Brilliant's Internet site currently offers sixteen Multipath Movie episodes
based on characters such as Xena, Ace Ventura and Popeye. These titles are also
available as CD-ROMS.

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