TV has always been a passive entertainment format. Other than a few fun experiments with choose your own adventure movies on Netflix and kids shows like Dora The Explorer “Do you see the lizard, That’s RIGHT!” But a growing movement is combining video games and the TV world in a way that could reshape how people interact with their favorite TV characters and movies one day. One company at the forefront of this movement is Genvid Entertainment LLC. The company is a subsidiary of Genvid Holdings, Inc. and the first publisher devoted to bringing massively interactive live events (MILEs) to market. MILEs are a new category of audience-driven, worldwide, live events that offer immersive stories with the viewers instantly influencing the world and characters in ways big and small to help decide the outcome and shape canon.
Genvid announced Thursday that longtime games and digital entertainment executive Andrew Schneider has joined the company in a dual leadership role. Schneider, who will serve as both Chief Marketing Officer of the parent company and President of the Entertainment division, joins from FOX Bet & PokerStars USA, a division of Flutter Entertainment where he served as CMO. Previously, Schneider served as SVP of Marketing for Disney Streaming Services where he oversaw global performance marketing efforts in support of the launch of Disney+ and ESPN+. Earlier in his career he spent eight years as president and co-founder of Live Gamer after holding executive roles at Sony Pictures and NBCUniversal. As CMO of Genvid Holdings, Schneider will guide both the entertainment and technology divisions’ marketing efforts. As President of Genvid Entertainment, he is responsible for overall operations of the direct-to-consumer publishing division that will bring new MILEs* to market. (*Massively Interactive Live Events, such as the recently announced The Walking Dead: Last Mile)
“Genvid is establishing a whole new entertainment genre allowing fans to help shape and influence new stories involving worlds and characters they love,” Schneider said. “The opportunity to work with the talented entrepreneurs at Genvid and a roster of beloved franchises to establish MILEs in the hearts and minds of consumers worldwide is exhilarating.
Video games have long been the closest thing to interactive TV and the interventional blending of mediums could play very well to an audience that kicks back to watch people play through video games from first-person shooters to simulations. And we could see this whole concept grow into streaming platforms as access to high-speed internet picks up and the performance of the services gets better. If the concepts continue to prove popular streaming will be the next logical step. Companies like NVIDIA, Microsoft and Sony might just be licking their chops at the idea of a streaming market specifically built around interactive games as unlike low-cost streaming devices, they are made for games.
