ASIA Japan : ROK Entertainment announced it has acquired a 51% controlling interest in Los Angeles-based Fun Little Movies (FLM) for a combination of cash to be paid in monthly installments through September 2009 and shares in the company.
Under the terms of the agreement, ROK and FLM will jointly offer made-for-mobile content, such as comedy short films, to network operators worldwide.
FLM specializes in the development, production and distribution of original mobile-oriented comedy for global distribution. In its nomination for Best Video Producer at the 2007 ME Awards, Mobile Entertainment Magazine said FLM “pioneered the advertiser-funded concept” for mobile video.
ROK’ s management team gets it. They see the same potential for the mobile space that we do,” said Frank Chindamo, FLMÂ’ s President and Chief Creative Officer. We are excited about the new synergies created by joining with a company that understands ‘synergyÂ’ the way we do.”
Mr. Chindamo founded FLM in 2004 and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California (USC), teaching “Mobile and Internet Viral Screenwriting and Producing.”
“We love what Frank Chindamo and his team at FLM have been doing in the mobile entertainment space. They really understand the medium and what people want from mobile movies,” said Laurence Alexander, President and Chief Executive Officer of ROK. “We look forward to expanding the footprint of FLM content worldwide and going forward to develop a whole new portfolio.”
FLM distribution deals include Sprint, Verizon and ATT, as well as several handset makers and overseas partners, from China and Japan to Europe, Africa and South America. ROK will be its primary distributor worldwide.
In addition to marketing ROK TV through Mobile Operators such as Vodacom South Africa, Avea Turkey, Telenor Pakistan and AIS in Thailand, ROK’ s service is also available direct-to-consumers via Nokia Downloads on the Nokia E series handsets across Europe.
About ROK
ROK Entertainment Group, formed in 2003, is a world-leading mobile technology and applications developer.
With 170 staff worldwide, ROK has filed more than 40 international patents for its suite of innovative mobile technologies.
With 3 billion mobile handsets in use worldwide, the mobile TV industry is forecast to become a multi-billion dollar business within a few years.
ROK TV enables the streaming of live and on-demand TV to mobile phones over mass-market 2.5G, as well as over 3G and Wi-Fi.
ROK Entertainment Group, a U.S. publicly-traded company, is formally known as Cyberfund, Inc. (OTC BB: CYFD), and is in the process of changing its corporate name.
About FUN LITTLE MOVIES
FLM specializes in the development, production and distribution of original content for global distribution on mobile phones, the Internet and portable devices. Its mission is to contribute to love and to laughter by providing fun, funny, family-friendly comedy to every person on Earth. Fun Little Movies was the first U.S. company to produce comedic films for mobile phones worldwide. FLM’ s “Fun Funny Phone Films” have won 20 awards including finalists' places at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Short and the 2006 and 2007 Mobile Entertainment Magazine Awards for Best Video, as well as CTIA's "World Smallest Film Festival." Fun Little Movies have played numerous TV networks worldwide including HBO, Showtime, CBS, Playboy, MTV and Comedy Central. FLM’ s mobile comedy can be watched on Sprint, Verizon, Ericsson and ATT mobile phones, on Veoh.com, Revver.com and RooTV.com, and on other mobile and Internet platforms. FLM has been a cover story or featured in Forbes Magazine, the L.A. Times, the NY Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, CBS and Wired Magazine. www.FunLittleMovies.com.