Los Angeles, CA – September 16th, 2009 – Forbes Magazine today announced the results of their newest list:  America’s Most Promising Companies.  In creating this list, according to Forbes.com, “We didn’t just look for the slickest technology, the largest addressable market, the fastest-growing top lines or the most storied management team.”  Their full methodology is described here, taken from the Forbes.com website:

Forbes went hunting for small, dynamic companies with the kind of growth potential that makes venture capitalists salivate. Other lists of small or privately held companies tend to be ranked according to a single metric: annual revenue, or percentage change in revenue over a given period. Yet every serious investor knows that a cursory glance at the top line is a far cry from what it takes to evaluate the potential of any promising company.

To sharpen our search, Forbes teamed with The Venture Alliance, an advisory to early-stage companies. TVA has devised a rating system for young companies in order to more efficiently determine how fundable they are. The pool of candidates included companies launched within the last 10 years and that had not passed $25 million in annual sales. (Pre-revenue companies were allowed.) Prospects were scored on a host of characteristics, among them the size of the markets they serve, the strength of their intellectual property, the extent to which founders put their own capital at risk, the experience of their management and of their directors (or advisory boards), and their record in hitting product-development benchmarks promised to equity investors.

We collected the data via a detailed survey that takes roughly two hours to complete. Entrepreneurs who had raised outside capital gave business plans to TVA for further vetting; the rest completed an even more exhaustive survey. (Both surveys have subtle double-checks built in, to make sure the companies’ storylines indeed do track.) Our partner also brought in software experts and engineers to evaluate product plans (all signed nondisclosure agreements), and Forbes reporters interviewed all the finalists. The 20 highest scorers, listed here, appear to have a better shot at raising capital–and thus are considered more scintillating than their peers.

“We’re very proud to have been included in such a prestigious list by one of the premier business brands in the world,” said Jonathan Strietzel, Co-founder and President of Big Stage Entertainment. “We know from the hours spent answering questions and filling out forms that this was a very rigorous process. We also know that we have a lot of work to do to build this business, but we’re pleased that our efforts to date have been recognized in this way.”

About Big Stage Entertainment, Inc.
Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. is a media technology company that enables the projection of self into digital life. With Big Stage Entertainment products and services, consumers can create a photorealistic, 3-D, animated @ctor to represent themselves in virtual worlds, video games, video clips and online communities. Through its PortableYou program, Big Stage Entertainment enables third parties to seamlessly integrate its 3-D facial modeling system into video games, virtual worlds, Web sites, mobile apps, kiosk-based systems and more to personalize everything from entertainment to communications. At BigStage.com, anyone can generate a free, animated 3-D @ctor from a few digital photos and save it to use in any Big Stage-enabled media. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, CA, Big Stage Entertainment Big Stage was recently honored by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s top 20 Most Promising Companies.  Big Stage investors include Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures and Tech Coast Angels. For more information, please visit http://www.bigstage.biz.

Source: Big Stage Entertainment, Inc.
On Monday August 31, 2009, 12:35 pm EDT

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MTV, jackassworld.com and media technology company Big Stage Entertainment today launched the “Be A jackass” campaign (http://www.jackassworld.com/pages/big-stage) where fans of the hit MTV show can digitally impose their own recognizable face on Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and others from the jackass gang as they perform the outrageous stunts that made them legendary. The free promotion lets fans create life-like 3-D clones of themselves, called @ctors, that instantly replace the faces of their favorite jackass stars in videos and photos that can be shared via email, Web site embeds and social media. The “Be A jackass” campaign is powered by Big Stage Entertainment’s BackStage product, which offers Big Stage Entertainment’s 3-D face modeling technology to clients and partners for creation of personalized interactive experiences under their own brands.

“For years people have stopped me in the streets to ask if they can be on jackass. Well, thanks to the new Big Stage application on jackassworld, they can!!” said Johnny Knoxville, star of MTV’s jackass. “That’s right you can swallow and puke back up a goldfish or go elbow deep in a cow just like me and the boys!”

Whether being pelted by paintballs or abused by a horde of pint-sized playground rugrats, jackass fans can, for the first time, put themselves into some of the show’s most memorable and shocking scenes. To become a virtual jackass star, fans quickly create their realistic 3-D @ctors on http://www.jackassworld.com/pages/big-stage from a few digital photos uploaded to the site. They can then get into videos of stunts that would truly make their parents proud, and share the delightful disgrace with friends through a number of pass-along tools on the site.

“For years, MTV has insisted that fans of jackass ‘not to try these stunts at home,’” said David Gale, Executive Vice President of MTV New Media. “Finally, we can let them try jackass stunts right from the comfort of their own homes … virtually, of course. The audience that loves their jackass also loves technology, and we are pleased to bring them a groundbreaking (as opposed to a neck-breaking) way to combine those two passions.”

“MTV’s partnership with Big Stage Entertainment showcases their commitment to connecting with audiences through innovative and immersive digital experiences,” said Jon Kraft, Co-founder and COO of Big Stage Entertainment. “As one of the first to companies to offer our new BackStage technology, MTV clearly recognizes the appeal that campaigns like “Be A jackass” have among its tech-savvy, irreverent fan base, as well as the unprecedented levels of viewer engagement that BackStage experiences offer their brand.”

By allowing the audience to be the “star” in connected content, Big Stage Entertainment’s BackStage product lets clients create branded media experiences and viral campaigns that drive reach, relevance and engagement. BackStage allows visitors to a brand’s website to create animated 3-D versions of themselves, called @ctors. The @ctor can then be instantly accessorized with hairstyles, eyeglasses, shirts, hats, and more, and inserted into content such as video clips, commercials, trailers, games, motion comics and posters. The content can then be shared with friends, family and colleagues through email, embeds and social networking tools.

About MTV:
MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 27 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries—giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for P12-24. Online, MTV.com grew a healthy +9% from 1Q09, averaging 23.6M unique visitors for the second quarter of 2009. The site continues to grow video content streams, up significantly from 1Q09 by +15%, generating a whopping 262.2M streams in Q209, a +7% increase from the same time period last year. And MTV’s successful sibling networks MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA – News, VIA.B – News), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in… http://www.mtvpress.com.

About jackassworld.com:
jackassworld.com is the definitive place on the Interweb for you and your dumb little buddies to hang out, screw around, and keep in touch with all the stupid and silly things happening in the world of jackass and Dickhouse Entertainment (including Nitro Circus, Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory, Steve-O: Demise and Rise, and The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia). The website features daily updates consisting of all-new original video content, behind-the-scenes clips, photos, articles, interviews, farts, naughtiness, exclusive merchandise, live webcasts, nonsense, music, and total bullcrap from the jackass cast and crew, as well as an extensive archive of all the jackass, Wildboyz, and Nitro Circus television shows and specials with never-before-seen and previously unreleased material. Users are also able to join the jackassworld community and interact with the cast, crew, and other community members in previously unimaginable ways. Suck it.

About Big Stage Entertainment, Inc.
Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. is a media technology company that enables the projection of self into digital life. With Big Stage Entertainment products and services, consumers can create a photorealistic, 3-D, animated @ctor to represent themselves in virtual worlds, video games, video clips and online communities. Through its PortableYou program, Big Stage Entertainment enables third parties to seamlessly integrate its 3-D facial modeling system into video games, virtual worlds, Web sites, mobile apps, kiosk-based systems and more to personalize everything from entertainment to communications. At BigStage.com, anyone can generate a free, animated 3-D @ctor from a few digital photos and save it to use in any Big Stage-enabled media. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, CA, Big Stage Entertainment investors include Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures and Tech Coast Angels. For more information, please visit http://www.bigstage.biz.

LOS ANGELES, CA — June 25, 2009 — Big Stage Entertainment, Inc., the leading platform for consumer projection of self into digital life, today released a beta version of Blabber for Skype, a free plug-in to the Skype Internet phone system that animates your photo-realistic, Big Stage 3 D avatar (called an @ctor) and automatically lip synchs spoken words as part of real-time virtual character conversation.  Users can accessorize their @ctor with hair, glasses and cool backgrounds, as well as conveying moods through a dashboard of animated gestures and expressions.

“Through the launch of a Big Stage-enabled Skype plug-in, we’re extending our advanced 3-D avatar technology into the realm of real-time expressive communications and further advancing our goal of projecting ‘self’ into digital life.” said Big Stage CEO Phil Ressler. “The estimated 450 million people using Skype can have fun speaking as an ultra cool version of themselves instead of using chat, or substitute Blabber for video when for any reason they aren’t ready to face their web-cam or need to conserve bandwidth. Blabber debuts our voice-sync engine, which we intend to leverage as we extend a similar capability into video games, virtual worlds, virtual conferencing, and social networks like Facebook.”

Users download and install the Blabber for Skype plug-in from www.BigStage.com/Skype .  Skype users who have already created an @ctor simply enter their logins and click to place a 3 D avatar call to another Blabber user.  Those without an @ctor simply take and upload one to three photos of their face to get started.

“Blabber’s advanced facial modeling and real-time animation makes voice over IP lots of fun,” said Tom Keating, CTO, VP, Founder of TMC Labs. “It’s a compelling example of the role the animated digital version of people will play as ever more advanced virtual world capabilities converge with voice and video in the connected online world.”

About Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. is a media technology company that enables the projection of self into digital life. With Big Stage Entertainment products and services, consumers can create a photorealistic, 3-D, animated @ctor to represent themselves in virtual worlds, video games, video clips and online communities. Through its PortableYou program, Big Stage Entertainment enables third parties to seamlessly integrate its 3-D facial modeling system into video games, virtual worlds, virtual character conversations, Web sites, mobile apps, kiosk-based systems and more to personalize everything from entertainment to communications. At BigStage.com, anyone can generate a free, animated 3-D @ctor from a few digital photos and save it to use in any Big Stage-enabled media. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, CA, Big Stage Entertainment investors include Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures and Tech Coast Angels. For more information, please visit www.bigstage.biz.

Legal Disclaimer: @ctor, Blabber for Skype, BackStage, iStage and PortableYou are trademarks or registered trademarks of Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. All other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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LOS ANGELES, CA — June 24, 2009 — Big Stage Entertainment, Inc., the leading platform for consumer projection of self into digital life, today announced the opening of Big Stage Studio, a free and easy-to-use online training and support environment for content creators looking to develop and publish original programming to BigStage.com.  Users can then insert their animated 3-D likeness, called an @ctor, and share the personalized result via email and social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

To become a Big Stage Studio partner, register for approval at BigStageStudio.com.  Upon acceptance, partners are granted full access to educational videos depicting how to Big Stage-enable content.  Users of leading 3-D graphics and animation tools can quickly learn the steps necessary to mask and motion-track the facial images in stills and video. Big Stage’s @ctor technology can then seamlessly map the animated, 3-D facial models it creates for consumers into the action.

“Big Stage Studio is our initial response to the demand from studios, agencies and other content sources to @ctor enable their material for widespread distribution over the social web.” said Jonathan Strietzel, Big Stage co-founder and Chief Creative Officer.  “The process is straightforward for digital artists using high-end graphics tools like Maya and Photoshop. In the future, we’ll make it truly simple for average consumers to visit BigStage.com and @ctor-enable their own photos or videos for free.”

“The tutorial videos on Big Stage Studio make the process easy and clear,” said Venna Pratap, COO, AniThing Studios. “We love how easy it is to prepare exciting content for consumers to insert themselves into to provide a truly immersive entertainment experience.”

About BigStage.com.  On BigStage.com, anyone can easily create a sophisticated, animated, 3-D model of their face called an @ctor by uploading one to three photos taken with a digital camera. @ctors can be customized with accessories and then inserted into a growing selection of movie scenes, TV clips, music videos, virtual worlds, social networks, still images, video games, advertisements and more to share with friends, family and colleagues.

About Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. is a media technology company that enables the projection of self into digital life. With Big Stage Entertainment products and services, consumers can create a photorealistic, 3-D, animated @ctor to represent themselves in virtual worlds, video games, video clips and online communities. Through its PortableYou program, Big Stage Entertainment enables third parties to seamlessly integrate its 3-D facial modeling system into video games, virtual worlds, virtual character conversations, Web sites, mobile apps, kiosk-based systems and more to personalize everything from entertainment to communications. At BigStage.com, anyone can generate a free, animated 3-D @ctor from a few digital photos and save it to use in any Big Stage-enabled media. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, CA, Big Stage Entertainment investors include Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures and Tech Coast Angels. For more information, please visit BigStage.biz.

Legal Disclaimer: @ctor, Big Stage Blabber for Skype, Big Stage Studio, BackStage, iStage and PortableYou are trademarks or registered trademarks of Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. All other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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LOS ANGELES, CA – June 9, 2009 – Big Stage Entertainment, Inc., the leading platform for consumer projection of self into digital life, has licensed its proprietary 3-D facial modeling technology to Virtual Space Entertainment for their new high definition, photo-realistic 3-D virtual universe, Blue Mars 2150. Blue Mars 2150 launches August 2009 with support to follow from innovative interactive museum exhibits, television and a million dollar race around a transformed virtual planet that is ready for colonization.

A user’s animated 3-D likeness seamlessly enters and explores Blue Mars 2150’s amazing landscapes including futuristic cities by Syd Mead and other artists and major attractions from renowned organizations such as the National Association of College Stores, the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Visitors can socialize with friends in hip entertainment venues, explore the planet Mars as transformed into a blue paradise, and play unique social networked version of games including Tetris.

Big Stage’s breakthrough technology, which makes it simple for users to create animated 3-D likenesses of themselves, will allow millions of Blue Mars 2150 visitors to star in and share an unprecedented range of virtual experiences. A track with robotic 120-feet-tall dogs, college reunions in the garb of your alma mater and visiting the tomb of the first emperor of China are among the many Martian attractions.

“Big Stage technology allows us to realize a highly innovative and personalized experience whereby visitors can immerse themselves as their recognizable digital selves into our educational and entertainment creations,” said Virtual Space Entertainment (VSE) CEO Richard Childers. “We are excited to partner with Big Stage and are looking forward to realizing our ambitious ‘22nd Century’ goals for Blue Mars 2150.”

“The world VSE has created is absolutely stunning, unquestionably worthy of the highest content standards demanded by institutions such as The National Geographic Society, NOVA and a host of others,” said Phil Ressler, Big Stage Entertainment CEO. “We’re proud that the talented designers at VSE have augmented their base development platform with our PortableYou technology to literally project visitors into the fabulous digital experiences they’re creating and further differentiate this ambitious project.”

Big Stage Technology Advanced with Morphing and Kiosk Breakthroughs
The project incorporates Big Stage Entertainment’s proprietary technology, which instantly maps the contours of a user’s face. The resulting realistic, animated 3-D model, called an @ctor, is inserted by Big Stage’s PortableYou software into digital media or virtual worlds such as Blue Mars 2150.

One of the Blue Mars 2150 virtual exhibits will feature a Big-Stage enabled morphing game as part of a landmark exploration of man’s ancestry. Museum visitors will quickly and easily create their high-definition @ctors using Big Stage’s revolutionary new kiosk-based avatar-creation solution. Both online and in-person visitors will see their @ctors recognizable and yet transformed to resemble, move and act like the era of human ancestors they are exploring, from using the first tools to painting buffalo on cave walls. NOVA is using VSE footage from this virtual exhibit as part of a 3-hour television special on man’s origins.

About Big Stage Entertainment, Inc.  Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. is a media technology company that enables the projection of self into digital life. With Big Stage Entertainment products and services, consumers can create a photorealistic, 3-D, animated @ctor to represent themselves in virtual worlds, video games, video clips and online communities. Through its PortableYou program, Big Stage Entertainment enables third parties to seamlessly integrate its 3-D facial modeling system into video games, virtual worlds, Web sites, mobile apps, kiosk-based systems and more to personalize everything from entertainment to communications. At BigStage.com, anyone can generate a free, animated 3-D @ctor from a few digital photos and save it to use in any Big Stage-enabled media. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, CA, Big Stage Entertainment investors include Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures and Tech Coast Angels. For more information, please visit www.bigstage.com.

About Virtual Space Entertainment.  Virtual Space Entertainment (VSE) is a Bay area based production studio developing the world’s first high definition (1080p), real time virtual world. VSE is lead by CEO Richard Childers, with more than 25 years of pioneering achievements in interactive computer graphics and animation, and Artistic Partner Syd Mead, best known for his work on the film Blade Runner. The team they have assembled brings unmatched and award-winning expertise in storytelling, commercial direction, special effects, animation, digital communication, 3-D model making for films, video game creation, courseware, and broad-band-based entertainment to bear in creating immersive massively multiplayer virtual worlds. VSE creations provide marketers and consumers a unique digital environment in which to sample, test, share, learn and purchase. For more information, please visit www.virtualspaceentertainment.com.

Legal Disclaimer: @ctor, BackStage, iStage and PortableYou are trademarks or registered trademarks of Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. All other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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