According to recent smartphone market analysis from
International Data Corporation, global units shipped rose 16 percent year over
year for Q1 2015 to over 334 million. Samsung (OTC: SSNLF) extended its lead
over Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) by nearly 6.3 percent market share, due in part to
the growing ubiquity of Google’s (NASDQ: GOOGL; GOOG) Android OS, which
represented some 81.5 percent of the market last year alone. With tools like
Myriad’s Alien Dalvik, a virtual machine port that allows Android apps to be run
on non-Android phones, it is little wonder that Google continues to dominate in
areas like mobile, traffic acquisition and core search, as indicated by the
recent earnings release which trounced analyst expectations, leading to an
all-time high of almost $700 a share on July 17, as the company added roughly
$65 billion market cap in a single day.
With mobile gaming set to finally overtake the console
market by as much as 14.8 percent this year according to Newzoo, generating
around $30.3 billion in revenues worldwide, it is important to understand how,
in an industry where content is king, the $4 billion and $3 billion Apple and
Google pulled down last year respectively, is really just the beginning of
what’s to come. Contrast those figures for instance with a company whose very
name is historically synonymous with gaming, Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY), which did
just $2.4 billion last year and is moving more and more toward portable gaming
instead of the console market, and it is easy to see how big mobile gaming
already is.
Because content is king in the world of gaming (not to
mention the broader world of digital media), the strategy being deployed by
WRIT Media Group (OTC: WRIT), which acquired legendary brand Amiga Games in
2013, makes a great deal of sense. The company’s focus on bringing retrogaming
content to mobile platforms, as well as to the console, PC and set-top market,
building on storied brands like Amiga and Atari, is an ingenious way to tap
into this increasingly hot space by publishing classic games which already have
an existing fan base, and which have proven they can resonate with end users.
The company has even negotiated a Channel Application Development and Games
Distribution Agreement with Roku, whose streaming player set-top box has sold well
over 10 million units to date. In this same vein, WRIT’s acquisition of Front
Row Networks, which is engaged in production, distribution and financing for a
variety of entertainment, such as family programs, music documentaries and live
concerts, puts the company is a solid position to capitalize on the
increasingly broad array of devices consumers use to enjoy media (as well as
capitalizing on the ever-lucrative theatrical release market).
The company’s approach to the rapidly changing digital media
market would not be possible without the leadership of guys like Eric Mitchell,
WRIT’s chairman and CEO, whose two plus decades of business development,
finance and strategic planning expertise are the cornerstone of the company’s
over-the-horizon strategy. Historically, Mitchell was instrumental in helping
Sony (NYSE:SNE) Pictures Entertainment division, Tri-Star, acquire the
theatrical distribution rights for such blockbusters as Cliffhanger ($190
million gross profit worldwide) and the comedy Weekend at Bernie’s II ($5.7
million gross profit), as well as multi-picture distribution rights with
Carolco Pictures.
The Carolco deal brought home over $250 million in profits
for Sony and led to such Verhoeven classics as Basic Instinct ($303 million
gross profit worldwide) and Total Recall ($196 million gross profit
worldwide).With over $500 million of production financing arranged across 46
feature films in his role as an advisor to Ascendant Pictures and VIP Media
Fund, this Carnegie Mellon University graduate with an M.S. in management from
MIT’s Sloan School, provides exceptional guidance at the helm of WRIT, allowing
the company to judiciously execute their dual media vectors in mobile gaming
and entertainment. And Eric Mitchell is just the tip of the talent iceberg for
WRIT Media Group.
Patrick Roberts, WRIT’s president and COO, who heads up the
company’s wholly-owned Retro Infinity and Amiga Games subsidiaries, is no less
astute, bringing to the table more than 30 years in business development, as
well as computer graphics and software development, with a particular emphasis
on such key areas as compression and mobile optimization. Having previously
developed software for such family entertainment giants as Dreamworks (NASDAQ:
DWA) and having been a supervising effects animator for Disney’s (NYSE: DIS)
Animation Studios, as well as having won a Vanguard Award for his work as
Senior 3D Animator at EDS Digital Studios, Roberts is the kind of visual artist
needed to ensure that WRIT’s content looks as good as it feels.
Roberts also co-founded one of the pioneering third-party
mobile developers in the industry back in 2002, Lower Mars, which focused on
entertainment middleware and smartphone apps for such companies as Nokia (NYSE:
NOK) and Motorola (NYSE: MSI). Later, Roberts went on to co-found advisory and
development services firm MediaPlasm, which has assisted such media juggernauts
as Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA;FOX) TV with monetization of their
social media and over-the-top content platforms, providing similar services to
other big clients and partners, such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Target
(NYSE: TGT).
Behind the lens at WRIT’s entertainment media subsidiary,
Front Row Networks, is creative director Andy Morahan, who cut his teeth in the
directorial game working with such artists as George Michael and the English
electronic pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Morahan later went on to work with such
high-end production companies as Propaganda, RSA/Black Dog and Vivid, directing
videos for music legends like Aerosmith, Guns’n Roses and Van Halen, as well as
world-famous artists like Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, winning multiple
MTV Video Awards for his work.
Morahan didn’t stop there, he branched out into commercial
work after establishing himself as a music video director par excellence and
scored a homerun right out of the gate, directing the iconic Guess Jeans ad for
Great Guns that starred Juliette Lewis and Harry Dean Stanton. A commercial
which garnered over 60 awards, including six Clios, a Silver Lion at Cannes,
and five D&AD’s (Design and Art Direction). Morahan then went on to direct
commercials for clients such as Barclays (NYSE: BCS), Ford (NYSE: F), and
Toyota (NYSE: TM), before forming his own shop, Bikini Films, one of the top London-based
media production houses in the game today, specializing in commercial and music
video production.
Also on the team at Front Row Networks are John Diaz
(advisor) and Bob Johnson (strategic business consultant), both of whom have an
impressive professional track record. Diaz has more than four decades doing a
wide variety of music and video production and distribution, stretching all the
way back to his early days as a non-paid stage manager at the original
Woodstock festival. One of the top pioneers in events for broadcast and music
videos during the heyday of MTV, Diaz has handled television production for
domestic and international markets on some of the biggest music events of all
time, doing specials for the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and The
Rolling Stones. One of the first employees at mp3.com and later an executive VP
at VUNET, the internet division of Vivendi (OTC: VIVHY), Diaz has been on the
cutting-edge of digital music distribution since the origins of the space.
Johnston on the other hand is a logistics-focused 3D
production maven, with a résumé that includes live action feature programming
work for top names in the industry like IMAX and Lionsgate. With extensive
experience handling everything from budgeting and scheduling, to mapping out
post-production workflows on some 300 plus stereoscopic projects, including the
requisite capture/playback hardware technical development and consultation for
both public and private venues, Johnston is instrumental at Front Row Networks
when it comes to keeping projects moving forward and within budget.
Considerable work in international markets like Brazil and Korea, where he was
vital to getting the 3D market up and running via work with TV Globo and
Skylife 3D, underscores a career that also includes physical production and
promotion work for massive multi-day music festivals, featuring numerous top 40
acts.
From Barry Manilow and Fleetwood Mac, to Ozzy Ozbourne and
Rush, Johnston has been a key asset when it comes to making large-scale events
go off without a hitch, and he was also vital in handling various aspects of
early tour development for the initial solo tours of such world-renown artists
as Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson. Add to this Johnston’s experience in
frontline project development from commercials and television, to music videos
and feature films, where he obtained production credits ranging from production
manager/supervisor, to producer/associate producer on big budget gigs for
outfits like Disney, Dreamworks, Fox, Paramount and others, and you have the
portrait of a top industry professional who brings a great deal of strategic
experience and vision to the table at WRIT. Johnston’s portfolio of projects
includes such hits as “Alien Resurrection” and the pilot for the “24” TV series
starring Kiefer Sutherland.
WRIT Media Group’s strategy is clearly powered by a deep
bench of seasoned industry talent and the company deserves a closer look by
investors who are interested in playing off the burgeoning mobile gaming and
digital content distribution markets.
Find out more at www.writmediagroup.com
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