Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Big Stage Emerges From Beta

Pasadena-based Big Stage Entertainment, the venture-backed startup which is developing photo-realistic avatar technology, has exited its beta and officially launched its site. The firm said the official launch will allow users to create what the firm calls an "@actor" -- a 3D avatar which can be inserted into movie and TV clips, music videos, still images, and elsewhere. The firm had launched a beta of its site in August. BigStage is venture backed by Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures, and the Tech Coast Angels, and is based on research from the University of Southern California; the firm's CEO, Phil Ressler, was formerly a venture capitalist at Clearstone Ventures, and the firm was co-founded by Jon Snoddy and Jon Kraft, who also helped co-found music service Pandora.

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