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Howie Mandel Brings Bobby Back at May 12 HITS Spring

Actor, comedian and producer Howie Mandel will take the stage May 12 at the Hollywood Innovation and Transformation Summit (HITS) Spring event to introduce new technology that reimagines the moviegoing experience … and to reintroduce Bobby, his iconic character from the Emmy Award-nominated animated series “Bobby’s World.”

Mandel will take part in the panel discussion “Reimagining the Moviegoing Experience” with Joel Sloss, senior program manager for Microsoft, and Brent Young, president and creative director for Super78 Studios, as they put on a special interactive unveiling using Magic Screen, which aims to allow audiences to talk directly to characters on screen, and is a joint venture between Mandel’s production company Alevy Productions and Los Angeles-based Super 78.

Technology partners Microsoft and NVIDIA supply the hardware and software to power Geppetto, a proprietary real-time animation system built by Super 78 that renders the 3D version of Bobby.

”Whether it’s the beloved character Bobby I created over 30 years ago or the incredible library of characters we will introduce in the months ahead, Magic Screen provides a unique and engaging experience for audiences on a huge screen with state-of-the-art sound and picture, something that you simply can’t get at home,” Mandel said. “Nothing beats the energy that comes from my in-person interactions with audiences when I perform live. Magic Screen will bring that experience to local movie theater audiences everywhere and Bobby will introduce a new era of in-theater programming to the world. I’m so excited to bring Bobby back in such a magical and innovative way.”

Dina Benadon, co-founder and CEO of Super 78, said the theatrical business will require new business models and programming innovation, and Magic Screen is uniquely positioned to lead the way, creating new revenue streams from live shows, interactive ads and trailers, immersive games and standup comedy events.

“In all his creative endeavors, Howie consistently demonstrates a masterful ability to entertain audiences and understands how immersive technology enhances the consumer experience,” Benadon added. “Our collaboration will bring the real-time animated theme park level shows we’ve been creating for decades to your local cinema.”

HITS Spring is programmed under the guidance of the content advisors of the Hollywood IT Society, and is produced by MESA and the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), in association with the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) and the Smart Content Council.

The event is presented by IBM Security with sponsorship by Genpact, Irdeto, Tata Consultancy Services, Convergent Risks, Equinix, MicroStrategy, Microsoft Azure, Richey May Technology Solutions, Tamr, Whip Media, Eluvio, 5th Kind, LucidLink, Salesforce, Signiant, Zendesk, EIDR, PacketFabric and the Trusted Partner Network.

As a special offer to readers of the M+E Daily, we have a complimentary invitation to HITS Spring via this link.

To activate a HITS Spring sponsorship contact Evie Silvers at [email protected], or Garrett Finley at [email protected]