Former MoviePass CEO and co-founder Stacy Spikes is trying his hand at PreShow, a new film platform that would allow users to get free, invite-only movie screenings in theaters. So far, the company has raised more than $18,000 to solidify its launch and surpassed its $10,000 funding goal on its KickStarter campaign. To get free movie tickets, users select which film they want to see in theaters within the app, and PreShow plays a 15 to 20-minute video of branded content. PreShow provides users with a digital credit card that the company uploads money to each time a customer watches an ad. After the card is credited, users can use it to order movie tickets online with no restrictions or blackout dates within the app. Users are free to attend movie showings on Fridays and weekends without worry. Here’s the catch: PreShow will use facial recognition to track if users are actually watching the ads. The AI monitors the range of attention users are giving to ads. The app will also use...
Today, Hulu and Spotify announced an expansion of their partnership, where they’ll be offering bundles at a rate that’s hard to ignore. Now, existing Hulu users can sign up for Spotify Premium and get the service free for 30 days. After the trial period, Spotify Premium subscribers basically get Hulu for free when it’s bundled with the music streaming site’s $9.99 charge. This is not Hulu and Spotify’s first time teaming up. The companies used to offer promotions and discounted prices to students and later expanded the package to include ShowTime streaming. The partnership comes after hints of a brewing rivalry between Netflix and Apple. Later this month, Apple is set to host an undisclosed event. Rumors say the event relates to Apple launching its own streaming service to compete with Netflix. After its release, its also possible that Apple will choose to bundle its video service with Apple Music. Traditional music streaming services now how a target on Netflix’s back. The...
For moviegoers everywhere, MoviePass has been a game-changer. The subscription service became well-known for allowing users to sign up to watch one movie per day at participating theaters for just $9.95 per month — but that stellar offer is gone, at least for the time being. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , CEO Mitch Lowe said he didn’t know whether that original plan would return or not. And to be fair, MoviePass claims that 88 percent of its users see a maximum of two movies per month anyway. “Every time we try a new promotion, we never put a deadline on it,” he said. But later, MoviePass clarified what that uncertainty means. The company noted that they made some updates to the Terms of Service in order to limit fraud (For example, you can currently only use the pass to see movies once — so no going back to see Avengers: Infinity War over and over again). In addition, they clarified that although the current bundle includes four tickets per month and a three-month...