MetaMedia Welcomes Premiere Cinemas and Fridley Theatres to its Network Adding Over 350 New Screens

April 20, 2022

MetaMedia, the world’s first global entertainment platform that delivers movies, premium content and live events to cinemas and other venues, today announced that Premiere Cinemas and Fridley Theatres will join its network.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Fridley and Premiere as we continue to help usher in a content and technthology renaissance for the cinema industry,” said MetaMedia CEO Jason Brenek. “Where movie theatres have always been a mainstay of entertainment, now many cinema circuits are finding that with the MetaMedia network, they can also become centers for concerts, sports, faith-based, education, gaming, fan gatherings and other live events. Ultimately, our platform enables cinemas to evolve from being a part of a community, to the center of it.”  

In total, the two additional cinema circuits will add more than 350 movie screens to the MetaMedia network. Premiere Cinemas, which was one of the first cinemas to convert from 35 mm film to digital projectors and the first exhibitor to deploy cinemas without traditional projection booths, operates 266 screens across 18 theatres. Fridley Theatres, an Iowa-based exhibitor, operates 18 theatres and 98 screens. 

 “As an exhibitor that has always leveraged leading-edge technology to provide the most innovative cinematic experience possible, we are excited to adopt MetaMedia’s game-changing technology” said Premiere Cinemas Chief Operating Officer Joel Davis. “We are eager to realize both the operational and expense efficiencies of MetaMedia’s broadband delivery network as well as the new content opportunities that MetaMedia is helping us to have access to.” 

For nearly fifty years, Fridley Theatres has been at the forefront of the Iowa cinema industry, and MetaMedia’s new technology will help us be continue to deliver new and exciting content to our audiences for another fifty more” said Fridley Theatres President Russell Vannorsdel. “With MetaMedia’s technology we can look forward to providing even more of the best entertainment experiences for our guests.” 

As cinemas continue to see attendance rising above pre-pandemic levels, Premiere Cinemas and Fridley Theatres will join Metamedia’s revolutionary cloud-based network, which provides users with access to a variety of premium pre-recorded and live content from a number of content producers and distributors. Over the past year, MetaMedia delivered more than a hundred Bollywood, Japanese Anime and Hollywood Studio movies, premieres and fan events. This includes esports and concerts, involving BTS, Bon Jovi, Florida Georgia Line, Radiohead side project The Smile and more.

Metamedia also maintains an exclusive partnership with Magic Screen, the world’s first interactive platform for animated and live content. The groundbreaking technology, supported by industry leading partners, engages audiences and allows them to have individual, unscripted conversations with live-action and animated characters. It also allows thousands of people in multiple theatres and cities to simultaneously share the same experience, which is all controlled from one centralized location.

About MetaMedia 
MetaMedia is the first global entertainment platform that delivers movies, premium content and live events to cinemas and other venues around the world. Powered by Microsoft Azure, MetaMedia’s cloud-based platform provides for the secure, rapid and cost-effective delivery of big-screen entertainment to cinemas, drive-ins, arenas and other commercial venues. MetaMedia is headquartered in Los Angeles. For more information, please visit www.metamedia.global.

About Premiere Cinemas
Texas-based Premiere Cinemas is among the nation’s largest independent cinema circuits and is known for the state-of-the-art all digital multiplexes it has built throughout the South. Together with its in-house design and construction division, Premiere Development Corp., and its equipment supply division Premiere Projection Technologies, Premiere has positioned itself as a one-stop cinema shop handling all aspects of the cinemaimplementation initiative by focusing on innovation, aesthetics, and functionality and value. For moreinformation, please visit www.pccmovies.com. 

About Fridley Theatres
R.L. Fridley Theatres, Inc. was formed as an Iowa corporation in 1974 and operates 98 screens across its 18 theatres. For more information, please visit www.fridleytheatres.com.

© 2021 MetaMedia Tech Inc., a Delaware Company.

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Jason Brenek

Chief Executive Officer

Leveraging two decades of senior executive experience across multiple sectors of the film and entertainment industry, Jason Brenek assembled a group of powerful industry leaders with incomparable experience and relationships to forge the building blocks of MetaMedia. As Chief Executive Officer of MetaMedia, Brenek focuses intently on realizing the operational, economic and programming benefits of creating a next-generation distribution network, which are mutually-beneficial to content producers and cinemas around the world.

Prior to MetaMedia, Brenek was President of IMAX HOME at the IMAX Corporation, where he led business and engineering teams around the world to develop and launch multiple new products, technologies, and platforms. Before IMAX, Brenek spent over a decade in senior management roles at The Walt Disney Studios. While serving as Senior Vice President of International In-Home and Head of Global Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, Brenek established partnerships with global brands including Netflix, Google, Amazon, Apple. and Samsung to distribute Disney-owned content across new digital/OTT platforms, television, and retail. Brenek previously served as Disney's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Digital Cinema and Cinema Programming, overseeing the company's global transition from analog to digital cinema. Brenek also developed and co-produced two Disney feature films and multiple live sporting events in cinemas with ESPN. Brenek received his Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Danny C. Stein

Chairman

Danny Stein is a seasoned, growth-oriented media and technology executive with 30 years of operating and investment experience across media, technology, and consumer businesses. Stein has managed across the full life-cycle of deal origination, deal execution, business building and exit for small and mid- cap public, private and distressed companies. Stein is a digital media innovator having built a portfolio of businesses as CEO of Dimensional Associates 2003-2014, including as the Executive Chairman of the Orchard Enterprises, a global music and entertainment company, specializing in media distribution and 1091 Pictures, a digital and theatrical distribution company. From 2015-2016, Stein was the Senior Vice President, Growth Investments of MacAndrews and Forbes Holdings, Inc., a company that acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of public and private companies across various industry segments.  In that role, Stein’s focus was on building and investing in digital media and technology-enabled businesses. Through MacAndrews and Forbes, Stein also served as President of New Media and Corporate Development at Deluxe Entertainment (a wholly owned subsidiary of MacAndrews of Forbes), responsible for Corporate Development, M&A, Strategy, Digital Media and Innovation.

Chuck Goldwater

President, North America

For over two decades, Chuck Goldwater has served as a senior executive in the entertainment and cinema exhibition industry which has earned him incomparable industry-wide trust and respect. As President, North America for MetaMedia, Goldwater draws upon his broad understanding and deep connections to exhibitors and studios across the country to create a robust network of exhibitor and studio partnerships for MetaMedia. He also applies his knack and experience for building successful entertainment startups to MetaMedia's growing infrastructure and success.

Prior to MetaMedia, Goldwater was co-founder and CEO at cinema chain New Vision Theaters. Before that, Goldwater served as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Carmike Cinemas, which acquired Digiplex Destinations, a cinema chain where Goldwater served as Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors. At New Vision, Carmike, and Digiplex, Goldwater was an energetic and effective advocate for alternative programming and “event cinema” as a means of increasing seat utilization and creating incremental revenue for exhibitors. Before Digiplex, Goldwater was President of Cinedigm (formerly known as AccessIT), the company credited with deploying the first digital cinema infrastructure and electronic delivery network. Previously, Goldwater was selected by the then seven largest Hollywood studios to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Digital Cinema Initiatives (“DCI”), a joint venture that created the industry-wide specifications and the technical quality and security architecture for digital cinema systems. Goldwater was also inducted into the industry’s ShowEast Hall of Fame and is a Will Rogers/Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation Board Advisory Member.

Shaiwal “Shay” Priyadarshi

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

A dynamic inventor with over a dozen patents, Shaiwal "Shay" Priyadarshi is a trusted leader and mentor to high-performing tech teams, executives and business partners. For over 25 years, Priyadarshi has assembled and led front-end and back-end engineering teams, developed market-leading products and intellectual property that spans from embedded systems and data centers to leading cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform and Oracle Cloud. As chief technology officer (CTO) for MetaMedia, Priyadarshi continues to maintain his exemplary track record of overseeing innovative products from concept to delivery.

Prior to MetaMedia, Priyadarshi was CTO of IMAX Home, where he developed the world's highest-quality, internet-delivered video playback system needed to support IMAX Corporation’s pioneering technologies. Before IMAX, he served as CTO of PRIMA Cinema where he led the research, development and approval processes of the world's first and only movie service that was authorized to distribute new Hollywood movies to private home theaters. And previous to PRIMA Cinema, he worked as director of engineering at DivX, where he led the development of new technologies that power many leading streaming services today. Priyadarshi received his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Electronics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.