EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--May 1, 2000-- Company Combines Ultra High-Speed Network With Embedded Digital Tools to Enable Online Creation, Collaboration, Editing and Distribution of Entertainment Content.

Targeting the $75 billion global entertainment production market, media.net officially launched its content production portal and ultra high-speed fiber optic network, offering the first global solution to enable real-time, online entertainment production.

Premiering in Hollywood -- the entertainment capital of the world -- media.net will be available in New York City by the end of the year, and plans to expand to 23 cities around the world over the next 21 months, including London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Berlin and Amsterdam. Initial installation sites for the company's service include five major motion picture studios and three major television networks, and the company anticipates an accelerated network build-out over the next 60-90 days to accommodate new customers.

First Media Service Provider (MSP)

With its unique combination of an ultra high-speed fiber optic network and application-specific embedded tools, media.net becomes the industry's first Media Service Provider (MSP). Media.net provides the tools to enable producers to create, edit and distribute all types of content in a digital environment in real time and is able to deliver the content at speeds and video image quality never before possible due to the bandwidth limitations of traditional data networks.

Media.net services enable true collaboration between the various associates involved in film, television and other multimedia content creation processes. The result: more creative control, shorter production schedules, lower production costs and improved quality.

"We're helping the entertainment industry continue its evolution into fully digital production," said Scott Tolleson, Chairman and CEO of media.net. "The industry has been making the move from analog to digital processes over the past few years, but has never had the kind of powerful network that it's needed to actually distribute and collaborate on content."

"Media.net's service has delivered something I am always in search of -- more time," said Ken Topolsky, producer of the Fox television series "Party of Five" and "Time of Your Life." "My dailies are on my desktop in the morning and the picture quality is far superior to my old VHS dubs. I eliminated the need to have my shows shuttled around on tape by courier. Our producers can look at the dailies and review past shows, all without searching for tapes. Media.net's service really streamlines the production process."

Leading Industry Partners

Media.net has agreements with Avid Technology; gettyone, the creative professional channel of Getty Images, Inc.; Creative Planet and Beatnik; and is actively forming alliances with other key multimedia industry leaders.

These partnerships allow entertainment professionals to use media.net's services throughout the entire production process -- from preproduction through post production -- from preparation of budgets and schedules, to accessing stock footage and audio, to tracking projects and collaborating on final edits.

"LaserPacific plans to use media.net's network and tools to offer our clients significant new services such as digitizing and encoding for everything from high definition to streaming media Internet files," said Leon Silverman, senior vice president of LaserPacific Media Corp. "Media.net will become an integral part of LaserPacific's digital media processing laboratory infrastructure."

About media.net

Media.net is an Internet-based Media Service Provider (MSP) that offers an environment that facilitates the creation and distribution of all types of entertainment and media content. With a rapidly expanding number of major industry clients on its roster, media.net is quickly establishing itself as an innovative provider of fast, affordable and high-quality digital creation tools and services. The company, which has received funding from Avalon Investments, Encore Venture Partners, Marconi Communications and GE Capital, is headquartered in El Segundo, California.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is an international, industry-leading provider of digital audio and video tools for information and entertainment applications. The company's products are used by a variety of customers worldwide including film, television and interactive content producers, TV news broadcasters, corporate communicators and consumers. For more information, visit Avid's Web site at www.avid.com.

About gettyone

Gettyone is the creative professional channel of Getty Images Inc., the leading e-commerce provider of imagery, moving footage and related products and services. Gettyone provides imagery and related products to the advertising, graphic design, Web design and corporate communications industries.

The channel's Website, www.gettyone.com, is the place for creative professionals to search, purchase and download digital content in order to work better and faster. Customers can access over 200,000 high-quality images across multiple market-leading brands -- both Getty Images-owned and third party -- and purchase on a single invoice.

Getty Images-owned by gettyone brands include:

-- Allsport "Concepts" -- premier sports photography -- Artville -- royalty-free illustration and imagery -- Energy Films -- licensable moving footage -- EyeWire -- royalty-free visual and audio content and graphics tools -- Hulton Getty -- archival photography -- Image Bank -- licensable contemporary and archive imagery and moving footage -- PhotoDisc Inc. -- royalty-free digital imagery and moving footage -- Stone -- licensable contemporary imagery -- EPG -- licensable contemporary imagery

Third party gettyone brands include:

-- The Bridgeman Art Library -- fine art images -- Illustration Works -- licensable illustration -- FoodPix -- food and beverage photographic stills

About Creative Planet

Creative Planet (www.creativeplanet.com) is the global leader in providing business-to-business Internet solutions to creative professionals engaged in the development, production and post production of movies, television, commercials and music videos including information resources, project management applications and business cost efficiencies.

Creative Planet's vision is the further development and deployment of an integrated web-based production environment that transforms its industry-leading applications, including Movie Magic Budgeting and Movie Magic Scheduling, The Studio System, The Source Maythenyi and the Columbus InfoNet, into an integrated management and procurement system for production.

About Beatnik, Inc.

Beatnik brings interactive music and sound to the Web through its combination of technology, content and community. Beatnik's solution includes a line of applications, production music, sound content and software technologies that enables the integration of interactive audio content into the Web experience, known as sonification. Beatnik develops markets and sells its interactive audio solution to a community of creative professionals, potential licensees of its technology and consumers enabling them to build and interact with music and sound over the Web, on computers and other digital devices.

 

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