Lionsgate to Offer Sign Language Interpretation Via Mobile App for Its 2017 Film ‘Wonder’

Film stars Julia Roberts and Jacob Tremblay

Wonder Julia Roberts Jacob Tremblay
Lionsgate

A new mobile app is designed to sync up movies with sign language interpretation, and “Wonder,” the 2017 film starring Julia Roberts and Jacob Tremblay, will be the first live-action, American feature film to make use of it.

Lionsgate, the studio that put out “Wonder,” announced Tuesday that it teamed up with the mobile application company Actiview and deaf advocate Nyle DiMarco, which provides film accessibility solutions for the blind, deaf and foreign language speaking audiences, to make “Wonder” compatible via the company’s app.

Here’s how it works: users watch “Wonder” on their TVs using any available platform, and then the app, via a second screen like your phone or tablet, “listens” to the movie in the same way an app like Shazam listens to songs or commercials in order to figure out where in the movie the viewer is. The playback with the sign-language interpretation then matches the film accordingly.

Lionsgate also plans to release all four “Hunger Games” movies in this way, providing audio description, multi-language dubs, subtitles, captions, and amplified audio.

“I am so excited about working with Lionsgate and Actiview to make the inspiring film ‘Wonder’ accessible to everyone and offer them an ASL viewing option,” DiMarco said in a statement, who won “America’s Next Top Model” in 2015. “It allows me to take a huge step forward in my campaign to make increasing accessibility a priority in the TV and film industry.”

“Wonder” follows the story of the Pullman family, whose youngest child, Auggie, is born with facial differences. When Auggie enters mainstream elementary school for the first time, his journey unites his family, his school, and his community, and proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

The Actiview app is available on iOS devices. “Wonder” is available now on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital.

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