MovieLaLa

MovieLaLa was a social platform and movie marketing tool founded in 2013 by artist-turned-entrepreneur Dana Loberg and engineer Sahin Boydas. The venture originated from Boydas's passion for movie marketing and his desire to create a social network focused on upcoming films, a segment where Hollywood studios heavily invest their marketing budgets. Loberg, a Yale University graduate with a background in creative roles at advertising agencies and an internship at Fox Studios, served as the CEO, bringing her experience in large-scale marketing campaigns to the company. Boydas, a graduate of the Founder Institute, provided the engineering leadership.

The platform served a dual purpose. For movie fans, it was a social network to discover upcoming films, follow the projects of their favorite stars, and share excitement with friends. For movie studios, MovieLaLa functioned as a data-driven marketing platform. It provided analytics on user demographics and preferences, enabling studios to conduct targeted marketing campaigns and convert online buzz into ticket sales. A key feature was a patented call-to-action technology embedded at the end of movie trailers, which prompted viewers to follow actors, receive notifications for new trailers, and get alerts when tickets went on sale. The company also developed a GIF maker, initially for internal use, which they later released publicly.

MovieLaLa successfully attracted high-profile investors, securing $750,000 in seed funding from figures such as Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, and executives from Machinima, HBO, and Warner Bros. The company worked with major studios like Lionsgate, Universal, Skydance, and Paramount on marketing campaigns for films including "Terminator," "Mission: Impossible," and "La La Land." Despite reaching millions of downloads, the founders found it challenging to secure Series A funding as some venture capitalists were hesitant about the entertainment sector. In January 2018, MovieLaLa was acquired by Gfycat, a user-generated GIF platform. The acquisition was a strategic move to combine MovieLaLa's studio relationships and marketing tools with Gfycat's large audience of young movie fans, enhancing the promotion of film content through viral GIFs.

Keywords: movie marketing, film promotion, social network for movies, movie fan community, trailer marketing, movie analytics, entertainment tech, studio marketing, audience data, Gfycat, Dana Loberg, Sahin Boydas, upcoming movies, film discovery, entertainment startups, moviegoer engagement, digital movie marketing, social movie platform, Marc Benioff, Founder Institute