AI Game Show Development & Technology Company Gamechanger Pacts With Black Box Mgmt For U.S. Expansion

EXCLUSIVE: In a moment when AI is opening doors and raising big question marks in Hollywood and beyond, Gamechanger, the Israel-based content development and technology company led by mentalist Nimrod Harel and VFX pioneer Yaron Yashinski, has retained Black Box Mgmt to help lead its expansion in the U.S. market.

Under the pact, Black Box will be focused on packaging and selling original game show formats and introducing Gamechanger’s groundbreaking technology to third party production partners and studios with the goal of collaborating on AI-powered productions of legacy gameshows. This year has been a big one for the company already, with the recent launch of Tic-Tac-Dough and Bingo Blitz, two new shows powered by Gamechanger’s tech.

So, what does Gamechanger do, exactly? With backing from Wix co-founders Avishai Abrahami and Nir Zohar, the company has developed a virtual studio technology with the potential to reduce production costs by up to 90%. Unlike traditional virtual production methods, Gamechanger’s does not rely on a green screen, requires no on-set technicians or specialists, and does not use any special hardware — the entire process is automatically handled in post-production.

Click below for a look at the behind-the-scenes process on Bingo Blitz, along with before-and-after GIFs from set.

Gamechanger’s patented technology, known as Logged Reality, utilizes an everyday laptop on set to systematically log all events during filming. The rendering process then generates additional camera angles, and allows for corrections, timing adjustments, and even language changes post-filming. Additionally, it supports creating skins to alter the set’s appearance and enables the production of large-scale spectacles and set designs that would otherwise be impossible to realize. The system enables faster rendering at twice real-time speed, allowing the production of a full show across all cameras in about two hours.

Already, the technology has been used to produce over 400 episodes across four different shows, demonstrating its scalability and efficiency.

Harel first began tinkering in the game show space in 2015, when he created the interactive series The Big Picture, which was distributed by Talpa and broadcast in the Netherlands, Turkey, and Thailand. The show uses dual-reality technology, a technique derived from the world of mentalism, to support the illusion of real-time interaction with a pre-recorded program. Helping Harel to realize his vision on the tech side was Yashinski, a groundbreaking technologist in the field of visual media, who specialized in large-scale exhibitions and visual effects for films and music videos, working with artists such as Beyoncé, Coldplay, and Maroon 5.

The duo’s first format, Beat the Grid, was produced in collaboration with ITV and served as proof of concept for the feasibility of their technology. A year later, again with ITV, they developed the game show Family Piggy Bank, produced by Fremantle, which aired in Portugal and ran for over 300 episodes.

In 2023, gaming giant Playtika approached Gamechanger to develop a game show based on its hit game Bingo Blitz, utilizing a 30-foot-high Bingo machine. The show was sold for broadcast in Mexico via Imagen Televisión, in what’s believed to be the first instance of a gaming company adapting one of its properties into a virtual television game show. Bingo Blitz was later acquired by Game Show Network in the U.S., where it’s set to premiere this April. At the same time, a remake of Game Show Network’s Tic-Tac-Dough powered by GameChanger’s technology was also developed.

Gamechanger has set its sights on entering even more American broadcast outlets beyond Game Show Network — from major networks to streaming platforms — whether it’s by taking existing formats, giving them a facelift, and scaling them up, or by developing entirely new formats from scratch. In all their projects, the guiding principle is clear: a significant increase in production value while drastically reducing production costs. With all the discussion around runaway production, as with Rob Lowe and his Fox competition series The Floor — which sent production to Ireland to cut costs — this technology can perhaps be part of the solution. Even if the public dialogue on how to take financial benefit from AI while preserving jobs will, of course, be ongoing.

Gamechanger and Black Box’s pact was mediated by Tal Shaked of the Tel Aviv-based Shaked-Perri Management, which has a strategic partnership with Black Box, whereby they co-rep certain clients and projects in the U.S. and Israel. Gamechanger’s Harel is among Perri’s clients.

“We are extremely excited to be leading Gamechanger’s business development efforts here in the US,” said Mike Dill and Lowell Shapiro of Black Box. “The technology Nimrod and Yaron have created truly lives up to its name – it is gamechanging.  As the demand for cost effective content continues to trend upward, we believe Gamechanger is perfectly positioned to deliver its high quality services to a broad range of customers.  We have always looked to foster relationships with companies and individuals who we believe will have a major impact on our industry – we believe Gamechanger fits squarely into this description.”

The duo said that their expansion into tech consulting, at a time in entertainment where adaptability is a must, “is just a small example of how effectively we are able to pivot into new areas of our business. We cherish the spirit of entrepreneurism and are happy to have partners in Nimrod and Yuval who have ambitions as big as ours.”

In his own statement, Shaked Perri Management principal Shaked said, “The partnership between Nimrod Harel’s Game Changer and Black Box Management reflects our commitment to recognizing groundbreaking talent and innovation. By uniting visionary genius with strategic expertise, we are creating a truly game-changing collaboration that will make a lasting impact on the world of television. This partnership is about more than just innovation—it’s about technology, content, and the creation of original formats that create  magic at the push of a button.”

Founded by CAA veteran Dill and WME alum Shapiro, lifelong friends after meeting at summer camp, Black Box reps a diverse roster of writers, directors, actors, comedians, documentarians and visual content creators across film, television, digital and branded content. Notable clients include John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal), Harper Dill (Marry Me), Lisa Cortes (Little Richard: I Am Everything), Luke Korem (Milli Vanilli) and Casey Fisher (Walker), to name just a few.