DISNEY•PIXAR CARS 2 FILM TALENT BRINGS THE CHARACTERS TO LIFE IN CARS 2: THE VIDEO GAME

Spy-Themed Video Game to Feature Voices of Larry the Cable Guy as Mater,

Tony Shalhoub as Luigi, Along with Other Fan Favorites 

LONDON UK, Disney announced today a star-studded cast of celebrities straight from the upcoming Disney•Pixar animated film Cars 2 will lend their voices to Cars 2: The Video Game.  The celebrity voice cast will include Larry the Cable Guy returning as Mater, Emily Mortimer as Holley Shiftwell, Tony Shalhoub reappearing as Luigi and John Turturro as Francesco Bernoulli.

“I’m excited to be back as the character of Mater in the upcoming Cars 2 film and video game,” said Larry the Cable Guy. “That rusty old tow truck can really git r done in Cars 2: The Video Game! I’ve even had the chance to play it and it was a real authentic Cars 2 experience.”

Larry the Cable Guy adds hilarious, down to earth appeal in the role of Lightning McQueen’s best friend, Mater the tow truck. Emily Mortimer’s Holley Shiftwell is a rookie field spy who tries to stick to the rules of her training. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Lightning McQueen’s new opponent -- an Italian racer named Francesco Bernoulli, voiced by John Turturro. In his younger years, Francesco and pals used to sneak onto race tracks, but now he’s focused on taking on Lightning in the World Grand Prix. Another sweet Italian also returns to the game with Tony Shalhoub giving voice to tire specialist Luigi, the Fiat 500.

“The zany, eloquent, and quirky assemblage of characters will bring this game to life in such a fun and engaging manner,” said John Blackburn, vice president and general manager of Avalanche Software.  “When you layer in the amazing cast of celebrity film talent giving voice to the game characters, it amplifies the experience even more.”

Cars 2: The Video Game is inspired by the upcoming Disney•Pixar animated film. The game will allow players to dive into the Cars 2 universe alongside some of their favorite Cars personalities in exotic locations spanning the globe. Cars 2: The Video Game will expand beyond the movie’s storyline as players take on the role of one of more than 20 different Cars characters and train to become top notch spies at the international spy training center, C.H.R.O.M.E. (Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage). Over the course of their training, players will take on dangerous missions, compete to become the fastest race car in the world and use their spy skills in non-stop action packed combat racing and battle arenas.

Cars 2: The Video Game launches on 22^nd July 2011 on all major gaming platforms including PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Windows PC/MAC. 

Please visit www.Disney.co.uk/Cars/  and www.facebook.com/CarsUK.IRE  for more information. 

Released in 2006, Disney·Pixar's feature film Cars has become a leading boys' franchise generating an impressive $2B in annual global retail sales for a total of $8B to date. Winner of the Golden Globe® for Best Animated Feature, Cars went on to gross $462M in global box office sales. It's supported across The Walt Disney Company through films including the highly anticipated release of Cars 2 in Disney Digital 3D, consumer products, live theater productions, park attractions including Cars Land planned for launch in 2012, music, a web site www.Disney.com/Cars, TV including the popular series of short form content: Cars Toons, home entertainment, video games - including Cars and the upcoming June release ofCars 2: The Video Game supporting all major platforms, a virtual world www.WorldofCars.com , and books - with more than 75 new titles releasing throughout 2011 domestically, in addition to more titles on digital books and mobile applications.

Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in Cars 2 when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world's fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British super spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and the stunning rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer). Mater's action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new all-car cast, complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors.

John Lasseter returns to the driver's seat to direct this follow-up to his 2006 Golden Globe®-winning Cars. Cars 2 is co-directed by Brad Lewis, producer of the Oscar®-winning film Ratatouille, and produced by visual effects industry veteran Denise Ream (associate producer, Up; visual effects executive producer, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith). The film hits the track on 22^nd July 2011 and will be presented in Disney Digital 3D(TM) and IMAX® 3D in select theaters.

Pixar Animation Studios, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is an Academy Award®-winning film studio with world-renowned technical, creative and production capabilities in the art of computer animation. Creator of some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL·E, Up and most recently, Toy Story 3, the Northern California studio has won 29 Academy Awards® and its eleven films have grossed more than $6.5 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The next film release from Disney·Pixar is Cars 2 on 22^nd July 2011

© Disney/Pixar. FIAT is a trademark of FIAT S.p.A.

Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

The ‘Telemetry Effect’ is dominating online video advertising across the globe

It’s an established fact that the ‘dot com boom’ is experiencing a second-coming – and this time it is British expertise leading the charge in its inimitable sober fashion, despite the “hype” surrounding multi-million dollar new generation internet companies in the United States, says Anthony Rushton, co-founder of a relatively small British company that has made a massive impact in the red-hot online advertising sector inside of just three years.

Mr Rushton’s company, Telemetry, has a turnover of £24-million predicted for this year, and currently occupies a lofty position in Tower 42 (the former Natwest Tower) in London, while its presence is felt strongly in New York with offices on Broadway, and premises in Hong Kong in the pipeline.

“The United States is positively over the top with excitement,” says Mr Rushton. “Each week a new internet firm emerges with some or other great idea, attracting a massive valuation,” he said. He cited the example of Zynga, the company which has a virtual monopoly on games on social network sites, which has been valued at $9-billion.

“It all sounds fantastically exciting – but for once Britain is not merely observing the phenomenon, but in many respects leading the way,” said Mr Rushton, whose company has just had a prospective valuation which runs into hundreds of millions of US$).

His company, Telemetry, offers a vital one-of-a-kind auditing service for online video advertisers across the world. From a mere acorn in the wilds of the London suburbs the company’s three founders have nurtured their start-up company and grown a mighty British oak.

Currently they are assessing investment opportunities, will open offices in Asia this year and are about to embark on a huge recruitment drive.

Telemetry’s clarion call for transparency and truth in the controversial field of digital video advertising (DVA) has been heeded by the world’s biggest advertiser – the massive Reckitt Benckiser  (RB) corporation which owns dozens of household brands such as Clearasil, Dettol and Nurofen.

Telemetry currently delivers, and uses its unique code-embedded system to accurately measure, the performance of RB’s online video advertising in 29 countries.

RB are not the only Telemetry clients who are reaping the rewards of a terrific return on their ad spend because of the company’s ability to independently audit and cross-verify DVA performance.

So vital is the company that a new term has been coined in the online ad industry – the “Telemetry Effect” is enabling advertisers to pour money into online video advertising.

“We’re the only firm on the planet able to deliver online video into any website in the world, and extract up to 500 verified key metric points per 20 second clip of video. Our data and actionable results save each advertiser tens of millions each year,” said Mr Rushton.

 “I think we can be pretty proud of ourselves,” says Mr Rushton with a grin.

 “We want to become the world’s first and only $1-billion online video business,” said Mr Rushton, who added that Telemetry has delivered in excess of $85-million worth of online video advertising over the past 12 months and has identified and rectified around 47%-worth of inefficiencies.

All in all this is no mean achievement for a company formed by three friends in a small flat. Initially producing online videos for the Internet, they won an Emmy Award for their pioneering work in interactive online video creation, and then directed their expertise and energy into developing the proto-type of the now sophisticated Telemetry Gateway delivery and verification system.

Bigpoint Surpasses 200 Million Gamers Worldwide

Online Gaming Pioneer Credits Diverse Portfolio and Global Distribution for Continued Success; Company Registers Over 250,000 New Gamers Daily

 Bigpoint (www.bigpoint.com), the global market leader in browser-based online games, today announced that it has surpassed 200 million registered users worldwide, doubling from 100 million users in less than 18 months. The rapid growth rate sets a new record for the company, which ranks among the top gaming networks in the world.

“This is another major milestone that our company has achieved in a short period of time,” explains Heiko Hubertz, founder and Co-CEO of Bigpoint.com. “It shows that members of our community recognize our commitment to delivering high-quality games and online experiences, and we want to celebrate that.”

Unlike traditional game developers – and many start-up social gaming companies – Bigpoint has built and perfected a global distribution network that includes over 1000 media partners who promote the company’s games. To account for such widespread distribution, which requires its titles to be localized into 25 languages, Bigpoint has integrated over 180 payment solutions. The company processes over one billion transactions every day.

Bigpoint’s browser-based game portfolio includes titles for every segment in the market, including hardcore, core, and casual games. Popular titles like Seafight (http://www.seafight.com/), Farmerama (http://www.farmerama.com/), and Battlestar Galactica Online (http://www.battlestar-galactica.bigpoint.com/), which alone garnered more than two million registrations in just three months, exemplify the company’s strategy of developing and distributing games for diverse groups of gamers.

Upcoming titles like The Mummy Online (http://www.themummy.bigpoint.com/), Drakensang Online (http://www.drakensang-online.com/), and RamaCity (http://www.ramacity.com/), are also expected to attract legions of new fans thanks to high-end graphics and compelling gameplay.