Fandango has long been a popular resource for moviegoers. More than 42 million mobile and Web users visit Fandango each month to purchase movie tickets and access other movie-related content.
The company just announced the formation of FandangoLabs; its new research and development unit. FandangoLabs is an effort to enhance the movie-going experience through related products and services.
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Film and entertainment industry leaders, including Dave Hollis, Walt Disney Studios EVP, theatrical distribution, George Dewey; head of digital marketing, 20th Century Fox; David Doyle, chief information officer, SVP, Regal Entertainment Group; Alwyn Hight Kushner, president and COO, TCL Chinese Theaters; Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions; and Jennifer Panasik, portfolio director, media & technology, IDEO will sit on the FandangoLabs advisory board.
FandangoLabs will seek ways to incorporate the latest technologies to add to the movie-going experience and deliver an entirely new set of products for moviegoers. These technologies include the use of location-based services on moviegoers’ mobile devices, social commerce, virtual reality, interactive video and more. The new services and products will start rolling out in 2016.
“At Fandango, we’re at the intersection of entertainment, technology and consumers, and we are excited to help drive innovation for the industry,” said Paul Yanover, Fandango president. “We’ve formed FandangoLabs so that the industry and consumers can benefit from our unique position in the movie ecosystem to foster the development of engaging new products and experiences for the millions of moviegoers and fans who use Fandango.”
Fandango already has partnerships with several major technology companies, including Apple, Google, Samsung, and Amazon. With these partners, Fandango has intersected the movie experience with technology by offering high-tech services, for example; delivering tickets and movie-related content via mobile, Web, TV, set-top boxes such as Roku, and other platforms.