University of Utah students Tan Nguyen and Tobias Mache have one goal: revitalize the movie-going experience. They are the founders of Cineractive, a company working to create interactive display technology for movie theaters to use as an alternative to traditional static posters.
The idea came from Nguyen’s love of going to the movies.
“My family couldn’t really afford to travel to the Disney parks, so movie theaters felt like that magical place for me,” he said.
While leaving a movie, he wondered why movie posters don’t reflect the experience inside the theater. He found the static posters boring and outdated and saw a solution.
By animating the movie posters and utilizing high-quality touch screens, Cineractive’s technology will elevate movie promotions and create an immersive experience in movie theaters.
Nguyen, a graduate electrical engineering student, and Mache, a computer science student, met in an entrepreneurship class, where they worked on the idea in a group. Their professor loved the idea, and they knew they had something worth pursuing.
“Starting a company is nerve-wracking but we’re trying to stay grounded,” Nguyen said.
The founders are excited about the future of their company. The founders hope their product will bring joy to their users while bringing more people into movie theaters.
“If I’m able to have a little kid walk up to our screen and have fun with it, I’ve done my job,” Nguyen said.
More articles like this in ‘Student Innovation @ the U!’
Find this article and a lot more in the 2025 “Student Innovation @ the U” report. The publication is presented by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to celebrate student innovators, change-makers, and entrepreneurs.
