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Lucas Wilson — a sales and business development veteran from Hollywood’s technology community and an alum of companies such as Cameron|Pace Group, 3Ality and Assimilate — has been quietly developing new technology focused on a way of interacting with and monetizing programming.
Now he is getting ready to roll out the work of his startup, Revelens, and gave The Hollywood Reporter an early look at his system, which combines online content with advertising and commerce.
Revelens effectively allows content producers to embed information, advertising or commerce opportunities into an online program. When the program is streamed to a device such as a tablet using a supported platform, the viewers can tap on the screen to bookmark a frame if they see something that they like — for instance, a pair of shoes worn by an actor. Then at any time, they can go back and access information about or purchase the shoes.
“It puts control in the viewers’ hands as they pull what they want to see,” Wilson told THR.
The Revelens system is currently in beta, and discussions have started regarding various series. It’s scheduled to launch in mid-September, starting with use on In Between Men, a web-only series from Qubed Entertainment.
Using the DIY Revelens system, program producers can effectively put the links in their content almost as a finishing pass (Revelens will also embed the information as a service, including providing help to get producers started with advertisers if they don’t have a network in place.) Wilson is looking to launch Revelens as a product for a “nominal fee” and build it into a revenue-sharing model.
The company is also working closely with digital media service provider Keycode Media, its first sales partner.
In addition to use in entertainment content, the system can be tapped by corporations, for instance, that would embed information is training videos or the like.
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