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Big Stage Entertainment Opens Beta Site to the Public

PASADENA, Calif.-(Business Wire)-September 3, 2008 - Big Stage Entertainment today debuted its beta version of BigStage.com to the general public. BigStage.com is a free avatar creation service and online platform for instantly expressing the ‘Digital You’ through a diverse array of online media, networks and communities. To register and play, visit www.bigstage.com.

Using three snapshots taken with a standard digital camera, Big Stage maps the detailed contours of your face to create your life-like 3-D replica, called an @ctor™. In about a minute, this incredibly accurate and animated digital version of you is born, seemingly alive through realistic movements and gestures. It can then be styled with any number of accessories, from hair to eyeglasses, hats and more. From here, your @ctor can be projected into everything from movie clips and still images to virtual worlds and video games. It can also act as your profile picture on popular social networks like MySpace and Facebook.

“Selective personal projection in digital media and online activities heralds a new era in Internet entertainment and communications,” said Big Stage president and CEO Phil Ressler. “Social and professional networking online are already entrenched behaviors. Now, with the addition of Big Stage photo-realistic digital @ctors to represent you in everything from photographs and film clips to video games and social networks, consumers will realize an unprecedented level of immersive and engaging interaction for serious and fantasy purposes that will fuel rapid adoption and value.”

Big Stage is ushering in a new era of digital media engagement by making it possible to become a part of the medium itself. The company is collaborating with studios, portals, social networks, advertising agencies and established brands to secure a continuing selection of engaging Big Stage-Enabled (BSE) content and experiences.

The company’s 3-D capture technology stems from advanced stereo reconstruction technology funded by multiple government grants, including the CIA, as part of a nine-year cumulative research project at the University of Southern California.

“As a gamer, I quickly understood the power of the USC-based research and how it could impact all forms of media and entertainment,” said Big Stage founder and Chief Creative Officer Jonathan Strietzel. “From day one, I could easily envision a world where everyone was truly part of the entertainment they consumed, from simple images to video games and virtual worlds. It is why I chose to build a company around this extraordinary technology and why we are so excited about the less obvious applications in the future that will surprise us all.”

General availability is planned for the fourth quarter of 2008.

About Big Stage Entertainment

Big Stage Entertainment is a new generation digital media company enabling vivid personal projection into online media and activities. BigStage.com, currently in public beta, offers breakthrough technology allowing 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. For more information, please visit www.BigStage.com.

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