Well, I know that one shouldn’t begin an article with «Four years ago…», but hey, bare with me here. It’s really worth it, because what happened in the last few days with the Swiss start-up Ctrl Movie, started – yes, you guessed it – three years ago.

I was part of the 2015 jury for the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia, together with Ru Weerasuriya, head of Ready at Dawn studios (The Order 1881), Fiorenzo Scaroni of Innosuisse and Jana Reinhardt (Rat King Games). We were looking at game concepts and prototypes of the Call for Projects, among which were later bestsellers like Niche and potential hits like Deru aka Schlicht. And then there was this thing. We were not quite sure what it was. We saw a trailer with stunning visuals of London by night, some action sequences of what looked like a glossy thriller. Even though the budget was rather moderate the production value seemed high. But what was a movie doing in a call for projects for video games?

An interactive movie of a different kind

The trailer was showing off a movie called «Late Shift». The story focused on a math student who gets involved with a robbery at an auction. Nothing special so far, but producer Baptiste Planche and director Tobias Weber promised that «Late Shift» will be an interactive movie. Well, we have heard and seen that one before. Few decisions, pauses, loading times – yawn – and maybe two different endings. And: bad acting.

Baptiste and Tobias talked about seamless transitions, no pauses or loading time thanks to their revolutionary technology called Ctrl Movie. They were looking for additional founding to complete their tech. The jury was divided as the request didn’t really fit the traditional project profile. But yours truly fought the good fight. I was absolutely convinced, that if these guys could pull it off – and from what they had presented, it looked like it – it could revolutionize the entertainment business. My enthusiasm and arguments brought the necessary late shift – pardon – and Pro Helvetia – next to Swiss television SRF – founded Ctrl Movie. The Swiss cultural department dismissed it, as it didn’t fit the movie or another format. So much for innovation.

Taking partial control of Ctrl Movie

Following the saying «Put your money where your mouth is» I bought a share of Ctrl Movie in May 2016. The shareholder meetings were held in a bland building at the end of the world, Altishofen. It was a motley crew of investors driven by the belief that Ctrl Movie will change the world of cinema. Baptiste and Tobias as well as Ivo who took care of investor relations were passionate about their work. They rolled out Late Shift in Switzerland’s cinemas and showed it at festivals around the world, where they garnered praise from movie critics and got the attention of studio heads.

The possibility to share an interactive movie with an audience is one like no other. With the help of an app that is downloaded onto the smartphone the audience can place a vote on what the main character should do next. This moment of insecurity in which direction the democratic decision would take the story adds an extra layer of suspense. Sometimes an audible groan can be heard in the auditorium when the over ruled party realizes that it has «lost» and that the story will proceed in a different, unexpected way.

Getting into trouble with Chinese bad guys is just one option.

Going all in

Even though the investments for cinemas to implement the Ctrl Movie technology are very moderate – basically an Apple TV station is enough – years and months went by with promises and tentative deals, but none came through. As an investor it was tough to see Tobias and Baptiste struggling, trying to get this start-up off the ground. Contacts were made with US companies, Russian cinema owners, Bollywood producers and so on, but nothing got concrete. So Tobias went all in: He moved with his family to Los Angeles, convinced that only by being present, he could nail a deal with an interested party and safe the company as well as the invested money. Baptiste stayed with his family in Switzerland.

Under the moniker Kino Industries Tobias got to talk to wanna-be investors and truly interested parties. The suspense was building up, when the investors were asked to cease the right of ownership in case of a sale of the company. It was make or break time. Get your money back – maybe with some interest – or simply lose it.

Now finally end of April the deal went through: «Asset management company Aviron Capital has acquired a substantial equity stake in Kino Industries, developer of CtrlMovie, a patented interactive movie experience that gives audiences seamless control over the direction of movie narrative via a smartphone app. Aviron Capital, financed primarily by BlackRock, the world’s largest wealth management company, also funds film distribution company Aviron Pictures. The involved parties have agreed not to disclose any financial details of the deal.»

Choose Your Own Adventure based on Ctrl Movie tech

But not only that happend in the last week of April. What Tobias mentioned during some earlier meetings and what nearly sounded to good to be true became finally true. At CinemaCon 20th Century Fox announced, that it will be using Ctrl Movie technology for an upcoming feature based on the iconic 1980s book series «Choose Your Own Adventure». According to Fox the series has sold over 260 million books worldwide.

With regard to this surprising step Chris Aronson, 20th Century Fox President of Domestic Distribution, said: «Bringing game-changing, innovative technology to audiences and enhancing the cinematic experience has always been the cornerstone of the Twentieth Century Fox brand and our next venture is the outstanding CtrlMovie technology we are utilizing for Choose Your Own Adventure. This interactive experience, and the passionate, creative team behind this project, will allow the true spirit of the beloved book series to fall into the hands of fans around the world.»

So the future looks bright for Kino Industries as well as Tobias Weber who will certainly stay on board for the next two years and be involved with upcoming Kino Industries projects. To this adventure I have chosen I pull my hat. It was an unique ride and an experience where I had the chance to meet to extraordinary people: Tobias and Baptiste. Thank you for your innovative idea and especially your tenacity.