TimePlay moves interactive entertainment into the movie theatre

Toronto-based TimePlay Entertainment Inc. is transforming entertainment in venues around the world. The company's patented interactive entertainment system takes the theatre experience to a new level.

"This system offers an entertainment experience that really is unrivalled," says Jon Hussman, the founder and CEO of TimePlay Entertainment Inc. "We can present content that appeals to existing theatre-goers and offer new experiences that will draw new customers."

Hussman knows entertainment. In 1996, he co-founded and was CEO of Playdium Entertainment Corporation, another pioneering venture that took the arcade to an entirely new level.

"You might say this is the evolution of Playdium," he says. "That concept wasn't scalable, because you need a lot capital to build the infrastructure. With TimePlay, we are using other people's venues: cinemas, hotels, ships, casinos, to deliver entertainment. The concept works anywhere in the world that there is a theatre."

TimePlay's Cinelynx interactive cinema platform is a turn-key system that takes interactive entertainment out of the rec room and into public spaces. Audience members, or players in this case, use wireless handheld controllers to interact with content and determine what comes up on the big screen. The controllers have a 10" colour touch-screen, a magnetic card reader and encrypted data link for credit-card payment.

"It can be used in so many ways," says Hussman. "Our platform supports a whole range of interactive content that can be used for entertainment, business and even education. You can have hundreds of people playing a game in a theatre, or even against people in another location. It's social, participatory entertainment that's never been done. You are involved in the game as never before."

TimePlay sold its first interactive system to a large theatre chain in the U.K. in 2007. The commercial pilot project saw the system installed in two Odeon theatres, with a mix of bingo, movie trivia and card games.

"It's a gaming-friendly market in the U.K.," says Hussman, "so it was a good opportunity for us, catering to an existing audience that was already going in to play bingo and keno. We gave them a much more entertaining version of something they were already doing. We learned a lot from it, and we are tweaking it for version two, which we will release in a few months."

TimePlay has also licensed the system to entertainment giant Rank Group PLC, which now uses it in bingo halls will soon be adding new systems to casinos in the U.K. TimePlay's big breakthrough is on the horizon, with a pending deal in the Entertainment Capital of the World.

"We are very close to finalizing a deal in Las Vegas, with one of the big three casinos," says Hussman. "We expect to launch a partnership in the fourth quarter of this year (2008), where we will be in one of their theatres with an exciting game show format with audience participation."

TimePlay is working closely with partners that include Hollywood game studios and publishers to develop new content and applications and rework existing products for the new platform. Other partners include advertisers and direct marketers to create sponsored interactive content that will both entertain and deliver a sales message.

As Hussman notes, TimePlay is a scalable concept that can easily be ramped up to serve new markets. Launching in the US this year, the company is also expanding in the UK, and looking at European markets, South Africa and Asia in the future. TimePlay currently has 30 employees, and also outsources some development work.

"We want to keep as much of the work in Canada as we can," says Hussman, "and we definitely see ourselves expanding here. Our engineering group is in Toronto, and we have good talent coming out of schools like the University of Waterloo."

"The Greater Toronto Area is the third largest television, film and digital media cluster in North America," says Laurie D'Souza, International Trade Consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. "And the Ontario government has identified digital media and information and communications technology as a target sector in its new Strategic Opportunities Program. The result is that there is strong support for these companies from start-up right through to the export marketing stage, where we can provide assistance."

TimePlay brings to mind another Ontario entertainment industry success story: IMAX. That company revolutionized large screen cinema when it premiered at Expo 70 in Japan. To date, almost a billion people have seen an IMAX film.

Website: www.timeplay.com