With Twenty Year Media acquisition, Mobio looks to change the script

Venture exchange hopeful Mobio (Mobio Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSXV:MBO) today closed an $819,960 private placement it says will allow it to acquire a company it hopes can resurrect its flagging fortunes.

Vancouver-based Twenty Year Media aims to make use of the thousands of unoccupied movie theatres across the world each day. The company wants to use advanced data to predict which content would help put bums in seats, a strategy made possible by the fact that three-quarters of screens worldwide have been converted to digital delivery.

While there are about 40,000 screens in the United States today, most are empty during the day and some may attract just a smattering of people in the evening. The company says this is partly due to the inefficiencies of film industry’s top down structure.

“Right now, Hollywood has a big hammer approach to just put movies in every theatre they can, spend lots of money on marketing and hope you go see it,” says Twenty Year Media Executive VP Ryan Nadel. “We come at it from the other side: program great-quality cinema based on our data and be more profitable.”

In January, Twenty Year Media acquired New York-based Emerging Pictures, which had built a potentially valuable partnership with a network of digital cinemas it has supplied content such as opera and ballet to.

Twenty Year Media says the nature of its technology means its will not be limited to such highbrow offerings.

“The original Emerging Pictures technology was about removing friction on the distribution side,” says CEO Mark Rutledge. “With our new tools, we’ll be removing the friction on the marketing side by putting the data in the hands of the exhibitors and completely automating the process from booking all the way through delivery. This new technology will give audiences a wider selection of movies, and generate higher box office returns for both theatre owners and content creators.”

Meanwhile, Mobio, a former venture exchange high-flier when it was known as LX Ventures, thinks Twenty Year is the perfect fit for its core offering, Strutta, which it describes as a platform that connects brands to consumers. Bringing eyeballs to Twenty Year’s data-dependent platform will be a key challenge for the company.

“Twenty Year Media is an innovative media and technology company that uses predictive data and social intelligence to attack the excess capacity issues of the $40-billion North American cinema market,” said Mobio CEO Michael Edwards. “Through its Emerging Pictures network, TYM uses data and analytics to align content with audience and screen. Strutta, Mobio’s current flagship product, is an excellent complement with TYM’s business and strategy. Customer engagement is a key driver to this business and the Mobio suite of engagement tools will add great value to the entire process.”

To acquire Twenty Year Media, Mobio will issue Mobio will issue it 20 million shares, with another 20 million held in reserve if the company meets certain milestones.