Trilogy Studios’ Michael Pole builds virtual worlds

admin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:38:00 -0400

The gig: Chief executive of Trilogy Studios, which moved to Sherman Oaks from a Santa Monica warehouse this week. The company has 32 domestic employees and 300 workers in Shanghai who develop multi-player online games and virtual worlds. In one, the "Pimp My Ride" world for MTV, more than 3 million subscribers personalize avatars that upgrade virtual cars. Other clients include Coca-Cola Co., Toyota Scion and Viacom Inc. Pole co-founded the private company, whose gross revenue is expected to grow 200% this year, with Rick Giolito in 2005.

Disney: When You Wish Upon a Startup

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:49:39 -0400

Its media-oriented VC fund, Steamboat Ventures, is quietly nurturing entrepreneurs
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) can fire up one of Hollywood's best-oiled marketing machines to promote Hannah Montana or High School Musical. But when it comes to one of its latest profit centers, Steamboat Ventures, the media giant dials down the publicity. Located in a nondescript building two miles from Disney's Burbank headquarters, the $575million venture capital firm has quietly nurtured 25 startups in an aggressive effort to seed new ideas.

Kung Fu Panda beats projections

admin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:27:02 -0400

"Kung Fu Panda" kicked Adam Sandler's butt at the boxoffice this weekend, as the DreamWorks Animation comedy opened even bigger than expected with an estimated $60 million domestically.

Sony's comedy "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" -- starring Sandler as an Israeli commando turned New York hairdresser -- bowed about as anticipated, with $40 million, in second place.

Industrywide, the weekend marked a welcome 29% uptick from the same frame a year ago with $175 million in collective boxoffice, according to Nielsen EDI.

Trilogy Studios Marks Expansion with Lease on New Space

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:34:25 -0400

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. – Leading casual MMO and virtual world developer/publisher Trilogy Studios has signed a lease for an 8,180 square foot office space in the TriCenter Plaza in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Three times the size of Trilogy’s current workspace, the new office space will accommodate their rapidly growing team. Total consideration for the five-year lease was $1.25 million.

Scion Allows Consumers to Redefine its Brand in Virtual World There.com

admin — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:12:49 -0500

SAN MATEO, Calif. – Makena Technologies, creator of the popular social virtual world There.com, today announced that Scion plans to continue and expand on its successful campaign in There.com, with a unique focus on user-generated content. Scion already runs a popular venue in There.com called Club Scion, a large-scale nightclub setting built inside each of the Scion xD, xB and tC models where members socialize, party and can interact with Scion content and explore the car interiors.

Trilogy and Makena Combine Gameplay and Virtual Worlds

admin — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:44:27 -0400

We reported yesterday that Trilogy Studios had secured $3.2 million in Series B funding with Chichen Itza Ventures, the group behind Makena and There, leading the way. The announcement mentioned that the funding would help Trilogy expand its development of casual MMOs and virtual worlds. We spoke with Trilogy CEO Michael Pole about the distinction. He considers the platforms they build, for Virtual MTV for example, a hybrid of the two. "They're basically one and the same in some respects," said Pole. "The terminology used by brand companies and media companies are a little different. We're bringing a lot of the functionality that you'd see in an MMO into a casual MMO. Questing systems, skill trees, the ability to buy and sell, a whole host of things."

Trilogy gets $3.2MM of Series B Funding

admin — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:41:19 -0400

Santa Monica, Calif. – Videogame and virtual world development company, Trilogy Studios, announced today the completion of its second round of independent equity funding, totaling $3.2 million. The funds will be allocated to expand the company's virtual world and casual massively multiplayer online (MMO) businesses. Founders Michael Pole and Rick Giolito also named Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies and producer of There.com, to Trilogy Studios' board of directors.

MTV Invests over $500M in Games

admin — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:36:25 -0400

MTV Networks announced that it would invest "well over $500 million" in games over the next two years and will consider game development in conjunction with any new programming. Some of that money is certainly going to traditional video games, like its upcoming Rock Band, but MTV has also been heavily involved in the virtual worlds space. In July, MTV discussed its dedication to virtual worlds and, along with Nickelodeon, announced an investment of $100 million into casual games and virtual worlds. It also worked with Doppelganger to create the Virtual Lower East Side, and with Makena and Trilogy to create a white label Pimp My Ride world, which it is currently expanding. [via Reuters]

Makena and Trilogy Creating New IP

admin — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:31:48 -0400

Yesterday we reported that Chichen Itza, the lead investor in Makena Technologies and There.com, had made significant investment in Trilogy Studios. We spoke with Michael Pole, CEO of Trilogy Studios, about how the investment would affect the two companies' future. "There are three activities we're working with on the team at Makena," he said. "We're working to further the There platform. We are working together on white label projects with several large media clients that both of us have brought to the table. And we're also investing a lot of our time in creating original IPs for the Makena platform with a couple of clients. One is a music-based product and one is related to sports."

Chichen Itza Ventures Invests in Trilogy

admin — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:52:52 -0400

Chichen Itza Ventures, the lead investor in Makena Technologies, who created There.com, announced a significant investment in Trilogy Studios today. Trilogy's background is in next-generation console games, but it has become a major player in developing white label worlds like MTV's Virtual Pimp My Ride in partnership with Makena. It recently announced that it would continue to work with Makena to expand Pimp My Ride. When we spoke with Michael Wilson, There CEO, in July, he confirmed that they would continue to develop white label worlds as well. "We see a wealth of opportunity in new financial and distribution models for interactive entertainment, and There.com and Trilogy are building the infrastructure to support these new efforts," said Michael Wilson. Trilogy's Michael Pole outlined some of those new transaction models for us in July.

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