"TheBlu and the Planet Participation Platform provides a 'world stage' for students of the digital arts to show case their work, gain real-world experience with feedback and mentorship, and collaborate with other students worldwide in a wonderful, novel application of media technology,” said Kathy Smith, USC School of Cinematic Arts Chair.

"With theBlu, Wemo Media is pioneering a new form of art and entertainment on the web fusing best practices from movies, games, and social media. TheBlu provides an interactive forum for ETC students to explore the convergence of media with professional input. We're excited to be collaborating with Wemo Media on this great project,” said CMU Entertainment Technology Center director Drew Davidson.

“Bringing theBlu into some key pilot classes has turned out to be a very enriching experience for the participating students and from the perspective of curriculum development. Combining a traditional approach, of teaching a skill, with the incentive of applying those skills to a real world project has proven to be a very dynamic formula,” said Hans Westman, Academic Department Chair, Media Arts & Animation, Game Art & Design, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Wemo Media Quotes

"The largest team I've had was probably on Avatar working with about a hundred animators and artists. TheBlu is the possibility to work with thousands or tens of thousands of artists around the world. The concept of this online world socially growing on the web is a really big idea that's never been done before,” said Andy Jones, Academy Award winner (for Avatar).

“Our platform bridges the social web with traditional media production while celebrating what’s humanly possible by creating a marketplace and new home for a global community of “makers.” We believe that this is the new model for digital entertainment creation,” Said Neville Spiteri, co-founder, Wemo Media.

"This would have been hard to do just a couple of years ago, I think right now is the right time to do this," said Joichi Ito, MIT Media Lab, Director.

TheBlu Times Square Launch Event Details

On May 4^th between 5:00pm and 11:00pm EST, (22:00 GMT), “theBlu” will be displayed on the NASDAQ and Thomson Reuters video screens every 30 minutes for a special five-minute show. Participants in Times Square can log in to “theBlu” with their smartphones and join others around the globe in celebrating the beauty and significance of the world ocean –and the launch of “theBlu.” Location: Times Square at 43^rd Street. This special event is co-produced with Times Square 2. www.timessquare2.com