Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief HONG KONG – Alivenotdead, the Hong Kong-based online Asian talent community, has been acquired by social media group mig33.
Established in 2007 by Rotten Tomatoes co-founders Patrick Lee and Stephen Wang, as well as Asian celebrities including Daniel Wu, Alivenotdead operates as an online talent showcase for film and music artistes in the Asia-Pacific region. Its 1,800 members include Wu, Jet Li, Karen Mok, VanNess Wu and Khalil Fong.
The company organizes media events, sponsorship deals and latterly the site has begun to operate as a transaction medium for fan interactions as well.
Mig33, founded in 2006, is a mobile and internet business focused on social entertainment and networking in emerging markets. Currently based in Singapore, the company expects to become publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange in May following the proposed reverse takeover of listed company Latin Gold.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed, though they are understood to be a mix of cash and mig33 shares. Vendors include Lee, Wang, and Wu. Alivenotdead’s COO Raffi Kamalian becomes CEO.
“We’ve already started experimenting with bringing our artist database to the mig33 platform for chats, contests and other fan activities and the results have been great. Looking forward, there are lots of opportunities for promotion into some of mig33’s key South Asian strongholds,” Kamalian said. Mig33 is seeking expansion in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and East Europe.
Lee and Wang sold Rotten Tomatoes to IGN Entertainment in 2004. In early 2010 IGN sold Rotten Tomatoes to Flixter, which was later acquired by Time Warner in May 2011.
