Music and Youth
Disney, Fox, Lionsgate invest $50 million in Atom Tickets
MUMBAI: Three Hollywood studios namely The Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate have invested $50 million in a theatrical mobile ticketing platform and app company Atom Tickets.
Atom Tickets is a social, mobile ticketing platform designed to make movie-going simple. Movie fans can use the service to purchase tickets and concessions, coordinate and invite friends without having to pay for them, and skip the lines at the theater. The app is available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
“We’re thrilled to partner with some of the most forward-thinking media companies, exhibitors and trailblazers in the entertainment business. By bringing convenience to consumers and innovation to theaters, we will enhance the movie-going experience and bring additional revenue to studios and exhibitors,” said Atom Tickets co-founder and executive chairman Matthew Bakal.
“The Atom Tickets app and platform is bringing innovation to the ticketing market by empowering social networks and mobile devices to make the movie-going experience seamless and convenient. Their technology not only adds value to the consumer, but also helps movie studios and theaters by providing deep consumer insights, advanced analytics, and concession and ticket couponing,” added The Walt Disney Company chief strategy officer Kevin Mayer.
“Our innovative e-commerce platform utilises cutting edge data analysis and targeting techniques to help connect movie-goers to films that they and their friends will love,” said Atom Tickets co-founder and CEO Ameesh Paleja.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us and more importantly, for our audiences. Atom Tickets provides an enhanced social experience for consumers to discover and purchase tickets to movies, designed for ease of use on mobile devices. Atom’s unique interface and integration with movie fans’ social networks creates a streamlined, fun way to go to movies with friends,” said 20thCentury Fox chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos.
“We believe that Atom Tickets has the potential to revolutionize the way audiences go to the movies, and we’re delighted to partner with blue chip studios like Disney and Fox in this cutting edge initiative for the theatrical business. More than four billion seats go unsold in theaters each year, and Matthew, Ameesh and the Atom team have developed a state-of-the-art app that offers exciting new opportunities to pre-purchase tickets and concessions as well as paving the way for the successful introduction of dynamic ticket pricing,” said Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns.
Established in 2014, Atom Tickets’ Series A funding was led by Lionsgate. The app is currently available in select test markets, with a full national rollout planned for later this year.
MUMBAI: Mumbai is about to witness something it has never seen before. The Global Youth Festival arrives on 6-7 December at Jio World Garden with 15,000 attendees and 60-plus experiences sprawled across six sprawling arenas. On its sixth edition, this is no ordinary jamboree—it is a carefully orchestrated collision of wellness, adventure, arts, music, yoga and social change.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis will throw open the proceedings with a landmark ceremony, signalling the state’s backing for a movement that has already mobilised youth across 20-plus countries and 170-plus cities. The sheer scale is staggering: 500-plus volunteers powering the machine, 600,000-plus volunteer hours logged across previous editions, and millions of lives touched annually.
The speaker roster is formidable. Diipa Büller-Khosla and Dipali Goenka, chief executive of Welspun India, will share the stage with Malaika Arora in conversations spanning leadership, creativity and culture. Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Mansukhbhai Mandaviya will also attend, reinforcing GYF’s reach into the corridors of power.
But this is not mere talk. The Solaris Mainstage promises concerts from renowned Indian artists. Innerverse delivers a 360-degree LED spectacle of art, technology and sound. The Love and Care Arena houses hands-on projects spanning women’s empowerment, child education, rural upliftment and animal welfare. India’s largest outdoor sound-healing experience awaits. An inflatable obstacle course, neon drifter karts and open-sky bouldering cater to thrill-seekers.
Some have branded GYF the “Coachella of Consciousness.” Others call it “India’s Largest Sober Festival.” Spiritual visionary Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, who inspired the festival, will deliver the Wisdom Masterclass. Every rupee goes to charity.
After Mumbai comes Kolkata on 14 December. New York looms next year. For one weekend in December, Mumbai becomes the epicentre of youth-driven change—and nothing will be quite the same after.
Tickets available on BookMyShow. Visit youthfestival.srmd.org or follow @globalyouthfestival on Instagram.
