Seminal Video from the 20th Century is Enhanced by Breakthrough Technology
for the Next Century
PASADENA, Calif., April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever and
through the magic of technology, anyone can now star in the greatest music
video of all time -- Michael Jackson's Thriller -- as part of the album's
worldwide 25th anniversary celebration! Michael Jackson and Epic/Legacy
Recordings (Sony BMG) have partnered with innovative media company Big
Stage and YouTube to bring this landmark entertainment experience to the
world. Central to the tribute is the ability for fans to easily create a
life-like 3-D version of themselves that literally replaces the role of
Michael Jackson in the music video. This cutting edge technology was
developed by Big Stage. The campaign begins today at
http://www.MichaelJackson.com/mythrillervideo.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060130/LEGACYLOGO)
"This is a great tribute to Michael Jackson, involving one of the
greatest and most innovative music videos of all time," said Jonathan
Strietzel, co-founder and chief creative officer, Big Stage. "We're excited
about working with Epic/Legacy Recordings to demonstrate the first public
Big Stage experience -- inserting a photo-realistic avatar of 'you' into
digital content. This is just a taste of the way consumers will be able to
personalize everything from famous movie scenes to video games, virtual
worlds and social networking sites, when we officially launch next
quarter."
"Michael Jackson is an innovator and a pioneer in the music industry
and so it only makes sense, as part of our anniversary celebrations for
Thriller, to give fans worldwide a new way to experience the video in a way
not even Michael could have imagined 25 years ago," said J.J. Rosen,
Executive Vice-President, SonyBMG Commercial Music Group. "Our partnership
with Big Stage, is an amazing way to fundamentally change people's
interaction with content."
Once users have uploaded their photos to create their personalized
Thriller video, they will be sent a link to a YouTube page where the video
will be posted. From there, it can be shared with friends by email and
posted on social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook. A recent fan
generated video reached the Top 25 viewed Entertainment videos on YouTube,
and most recently, MTV caught wind of the My Thriller Video tool, and
produced a piece with their talent showcasing the process for MTV.com
NewsBlog.
The Michael Jackson Thriller 25th anniversary celebration kicked off in
December 2007 with the release of a new single and continues throughout
2008 with a multi-faceted global marketing campaign featuring high-profile
television, radio and online events around the world. The Big Stage-enabled
Thriller video piece is part of Epic/Legacy Recordings' viral campaign in
support of the album's 25th anniversary release on February 12, of which
the first single was "Wanna Be Startin' Something 2008," a duet between
Michael Jackson and Akon. The album has already sold 2 million copies
worldwide.
With Big Stage's 3-D capture technology, users will take three simple
pictures of themselves with a digital camera and upload them to the Web,
where they will be quickly converted into a life-like 3-D avatar called an
@ctor(TM). Big Stage's proprietary technology will automatically map the
contours of a user's face to generate an incredibly accurate replica of the
user, fully equipped for animation. In under a minute, your @ctor will be
born and fully alive through realistic movement and gestures. Users can
then style it with a host of accessories, from hair to eyeglasses, tattoos,
hats and more.
After users create and style their @ctors, they can drop them into the
library of Big Stage-enabled user and professionally created content or
Scenes. These highly personalized Scenes can then be shared by users across
everything from famous movie scenes, TV shows and video games, to music
videos, short video clips, virtual worlds, still images, user-generated
content, instant messages, e-mails, social networks and more -- instantly.
Big Stage will officially launch to consumers in the second quarter of
2008.
About Big Stage
Big Stage is a media company, currently in Beta, whose breakthrough
technology allows users to easily create and integrate a life-like 3-D
avatar of themselves, called an @ctor, into everything from famous movie
scenes, TV shows and video games, to music videos, short video clips,
virtual worlds, still images, user-generated content, instant messages,
e-mails, social networks and more -- instantly. Big Stage will launch to
consumers in the second quarter of 2008. For more information and to sign
up for the Big Stage Beta program, please visit http://www.BigStage.com.
About Thriller
Epic/Legacy Recordings proudly celebrates the 25th anniversary of
Michael Jackson's Thriller with a newly expanded deluxe edition of the
phenomenal record-breaking pop culture touchstone. The Thriller -- 25th
Anniversary Edition will include the original album in its entirety as well
as seven bonus tracks and a DVD featuring Michael Jackson's groundbreaking
short films from Thriller ("Thriller," "Beat It," and "Billie Jean") and
the artist's Emmy-nominated breakout performance of "Billie Jean" from the
legendary "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever" television special.
Additionally, the newly expanded version of Thriller premieres six tracks
previously unreleased in any form: "Beat It 2008" with Fergie; a new Kanye
West remix of "Billie Jean"; a new 2008 version of "Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'" with Akon; will.i.am remixes of "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T.";
and "For All Time," a rare unreleased cut from the original Thriller
recording sessions, newly mixed and mastered by Michael Jackson. Originally
released in the United States 25 years ago on November 30, 1982 by Epic
Records, Thriller, Michael Jackson's sixth solo album and second with
producer Quincy Jones, rocketed the former child-star lead singer for the
Jackson 5 into the stratosphere of international superstardom. In 1985, the
Guinness Book of Records named Thriller the Best Selling Album of All Time,
an achievement which remains unsurpassed to this day.
SOURCE Epic/Legacy Recordings
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Related links:
http://www.MichaelJackson.com/mythrillervideo
http://www.legacyrecordings.com http://www.BigStage.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060130/LEGACYLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Michelle Mikoljak of Fleishman Hillard,
+1-213-489-8213, Michelle.Mikoljak@Fleishman.com; or Lois
Najarian O'Neill of THE DOOR, +1-718-383-1708,
Lois@TheDOORonline.com; or Tom Cording of Legacy Media Relations,
+1-212-833-4448, LegacyMediaRelations@sonybmg.com
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