Paramount Digital Entertainment's Supernatural Series Circle of Eight to Premiere Exclusively on MySpace on October 27

Paramount Digital Entertainment's Supernatural Series Circle of Eight to Premiere Exclusively on MySpace on October 27

Mountain Dew is Key Collaborator on Breakthrough Series Film Version With Additional Scenes and Surprise Ending Available for Rental Exclusively at BLOCKBUSTER(R) PDE Uses Adobe Flash Platform to Create Unique Interactive Experience Across Multiple Platforms

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Circle of Eight, Paramount Digital Entertainment's (PDE) original supernatural thriller, produced in association with Mountain Dew's Green Label Studios, premieres today exclusively on MySpace. Three episodes will launch the10-part series, which combines unique elements of gaming and social media to propel the story forward.

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Viewers can tune into MySpace at www.myspace.com/circleof8 now to watch the first three episodes of the series. Episodes four and five will be available on November 3, and each week following one of the remaining five episodes will be available to viewers on MySpace through the finale on December 8.

Circle of Eight tells the story of a young woman who moves into an historic building, The Dante, where she encounters an assortment of neighbors harboring a mysterious secret that unravels in a chain of deaths and supernatural interactions. Multiple levels of interactive content enhance the audience's connection with Circle of Eight, including hidden clues, an online and mobile game, and exclusive material that can be unlocked through game play.

"Circle of Eight shows our ongoing commitment to launch studio-quality entertainment on digital platforms," said Thomas Lesinski, President of Paramount Digital Entertainment. "With strong, mutually beneficial relationships with brands such as MySpace, Mountain Dew, Adobe and Blockbuster, we can launch premium quality content in the digital window and continue to monetize Circle of Eight on additional platforms, multiple windows and in international territories."

Along with distributing the series, MySpace's social-networking features allow viewers to share and embed the content, interact with the series through social gaming and content, and broadcast their thoughts via forums and commenting.

"MySpace's exclusive distribution of Circle of Eight speaks directly to our goal of providing content to our users in an innovative and interactive manner," said Jason Kirk, VP of Video and Entertainment. "The program matches up nicely to our strengths within multiple areas of entertainment and with a younger demographic. We're pleased to be working with Paramount Digital Entertainment and all companies involved to bring the series to such a large audience through both online and offline routes."

Following the online run on MySpace, Circle of Eight will be available for rent exclusively at participating BLOCKBUSTER® stores, as well as by mail and through BLOCKBUSTER On Demand®. The full-length film will have additional scenes and a surprise alternate ending.

"We are thrilled to bring such an innovative entertainment experience to our customers," said Bill Lee, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Blockbuster. "This is one more indication of Blockbuster's continued commitment to deliver exclusive content to consumers on as many screens as possible, whether that's through our stores, by mail or through our on demand service."

All sponsoring companies are heavily involved in marketing Circle of Eight to raise awareness for the series and its multiplatform experience.

Mountain Dew plays a critical role in the Circle of Eight storyline. One of the characters in the series joins the Green Label Art community and creates a unique, custom-designed Green Label Art bottle. The bottle is also featured in the online game where it unlocks deeper mysteries in the Circle of Eight storyline. Green Label Art is Mountain Dew's limited edition series of collectable aluminum bottles designed by a select group of artists from the world of contemporary art and culture.

In addition to its organic product integration into the story of Circle of Eight, Mountain Dew is promoting the series at stops on the Dew Action Sports Tour, in movie theaters and on television.

"From the start of our collaboration on this project, it's been essential that Mountain Dew has an authentic purpose within the Circle of Eight storyline and provides value in the interactive experience," said Frank Cooper, SVP and Chief Consumer Engagement Officer, Pepsi-Cola North American Beverages. "Paramount Digital Entertainment and Milchan/Van Eyssen shared our vision and the final result is innovative digital content that we believe is engaging and entertaining."

"Working with Mountain Dew, Adobe and MySpace enabled us to create a richly textured story that takes advantage of the multiple media and resources they made available to us," said executive producer Alexandra Milchan. "Viewers can decide what they want their Circle of Eight experience to be, from passive viewing to passionate involvement."

Circle of Eight creators produced a unique interactive experience for viewers across operating systems and devices using the Adobe® Flash® Platform and Creative Suite® 4 software. Adobe tools and technologies were used in the majority of the workflow stages for both the filmed entertainment and interactive production, including a mobile application and gaming widget. PDE is able to deliver the multiple interactive elements of Circle of Eight to viewers across devices using Adobe Flash Player and Adobe® AIR®, because of efforts by the Open Screen Project, an industry-wide initiative led by Adobe and supported by PDE and close to 50 other industry leaders, to enable people to engage with rich Internet experiences across any device, anywhere.

"Creating and delivering an interactive digital Web series requires a powerful set of tools, and the Adobe Flash Platform combined with Adobe Creative Suite offered PDE a complete end-to-end solution," said Jim Guerard, general manager and vice president for Dynamic Media at Adobe. "Circle of Eight is a highly engaging and interactive viewer experience, and because it will be viewed using Adobe Flash Player, which is on more than 98 percent of Internet-connected desktops worldwide, fans everywhere can easily participate in each new online episode."

A Milchan/Van Eyssen production, Circle of Eight, stars DJ Qualls (Road Trip, All About Steve) and rising stars Austin Highsmith and Ryan Doom. Milchan/Van Eyssen is the collaboration between producer Alexandra Milchan (Righteous Kill, Street Kings) and director David Van Eyssen (BMW Film Series The Hire). The company is located at Paramount Pictures with a first-look producing deal for digital media with PDE, the first of its kind for the studio.

Circle of Eight is directed by Stephen Cragg (Reaper, ER, NCIS), written by Dave Brewman and Brian Horiuchi, produced by Alexandra Milchan and David Van Eyssen and executive produced by Jamie Boscardin Martin (production supervisor for Bruno, Borat). Michael Lohmann (Boston Legal, The Guardian) served as director of photography and April Webster (Star Trek, Mission Impossible 3) and Scott David served as casting director. Interactive creative producer is Sean Naughton, who has served as cinematic director for Microsoft Games Studios and executive producer on Sony's Quantum of Solace interactive site.

PDE also enlisted one of the most talented film composers working today, Mark Mothersbaugh (the upcoming film Ramona and Beezus, Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), to provide original music for Circle of Eight.

About Paramount Digital Entertainment

Paramount Digital Entertainment (PDE) is a division of Paramount Pictures Corporation. PDE develops and distributes filmed entertainment across worldwide digital distribution platforms including online, mobile and portable devices, videogames, virtual worlds and emerging technologies.

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:VIA.B) , a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Worldwide Television Distribution.

About Milchan/Van Eyssen

MILCHAN/VAN EYSSEN is a new media production company with a first-look deal at Paramount Digital Entertainment. MVE specializes in the creation of high-quality interactive content to be launched on the web and distributed across the full spectrum of media in all major territories. MVE's online content is geared for theatrical, TV, DVD and games-console release.

MVE is run by independent film producer, Alexandra Milchan, and producer/director, David van Eyssen, co-creator of the BMW Films Series.

About MySpace

MySpace is a technology company connecting people through personal expression, content, and culture. MySpace empowers its global community to experience the Internet through a social lens by integrating personal profiles, photos, videos, mobile, messaging, games, and the world's largest music community. MySpace is a division of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) (NASDAQ: NWSA) ; . For more information please visit http://www.myspace.com/pressroom.

About Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew is a product of Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages (PCNAB). PCNAB is a division of PepsiCo, which offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200 countries. With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

About Adobe Flash Platform

The Adobe Flash Platform is the leading Web design and development platform for creating expressive applications, content, and video that run consistently across operating systems and devices and reach over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops. According to comScore Media Metrix, approximately 75 percent of online videos viewed worldwide are delivered using Adobe Flash technology, making it the No. 1 format for video on the Web. For more information about the Adobe Flash Platform visit www.adobe.com/flashplatform.

About Blockbuster

Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE:BBI) (NYSE:BBI.B) is a leading global provider of in-home movie and game entertainment, with more than 7,100 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company may be accessed worldwide at www.blockbuster.com.

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Source: Paramount Digital Entertainment

CONTACT: Susan Yin, mPRm, +1-323-933-3399, syin@mPRm.com, for Paramount
Digital Entertainment

Web Site: http://www.myspace.com/circleof8

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Profile: International Entertainment