Fandango unveiled at new slate of original video series targeting movie fans on Tuesday.
The shows will feature Dave Karger, the awards show veteran that Fandango just lured over from Entertainment Weekly to be its chief correspondent and public face.
The three programs will focus on movie awards season, box office contenders and one program that will boast both A-List actors and below-the-line talent.
Also read: Former Disney Exec Paul Yanover Named President of Fandango
"Fandango users are the purest film fans out there," Karger told TheWrap. "What's exciting about creating this type of video programing is that allows us to have a fresh and exciting way to share Fandango research and metrics with core moviegoers."
The series still have working titles and are listed as in development, but they are "Fanticipation,” which breaks down the weekly box office; “Honored,” a deep dive into Hollywood's award season; “Unsung,” a series featuring some of Hollywood's biggest names along with the folks who help them prep and look great for the cameras (dialect coaches, costume designer, etc.). The videos will launch in the fourth quarter of 2012. Each episode will be only a few minutes in length, although the details are still being hammered out.
The emphasis at Fandango is moving beyond movie ticketing and into original content, said Nick Lehman, the president of digital for NBC Universal Entertainment Networks & Interactive Media. That's evidenced not just by Karger's hire last week, but by the decision to tap former Disney digital executive Paul Yanover to serve in the newly created role of president. Yanover has been given the task of creating a suite of programming for Fandango and its 41 million unique visitors.
Also read: Fandango Names Dave Karger Chief Correspondent
"Our goal with Fandango is to make it the definitive movie-going brand across all platforms," Lehman said. "We want to continue expanding in ways that entertain and inform and video is key to that strategy. Advertisers are clamoring for it because there is a dearth of high quality original video content on the web."
Karger, a 17-year veteran and senior writer from Entertainment Weekly, also served as the Academy’s official Red Carpet Greeter for the 2011 and 2012 Oscars. He officially starts at Fandango this week, and Lehman said that plugging him in across the NBC Universal brands will be key to the company's plans.
Fandango has had a great deal of success attracting major chains to the fold and away from chief competitor MovieTickets.com.
In February, Fandango managed to convince the country's second largest theater chain to jump ship from MovieTickets.com, adding 3,000 more screens to its rolls.
Then, in short order, Fandango announced it has partnered with three MovieTickets.com cohorts, AOL Moviefone, Yahoo! Movies and MSN Entertainment, to sell tickets, putting it substantially ahead in the battle to establish a foothold on the major portals.