Neil Patrick Harris joins film tech startup Cinapse
The five-time Emmy® award winner has invested in Cinapse and joined its Board of Advisors.
Los Angeles, Calif. - August 8, 2022 - Cinapse, an app that streamlines workflows for film and television crews, cast members, and studio employees, announced today that Emmy® award winner Neil Patrick Harris has invested in the company and joined its advisory board. Along with Harris, Hollywood executives Sandy Climan (Universal, CAA), David Anderman (Lucasfilm), Ginny Nugent (HBO), and Jim Kleverweis (HBO) also serve on the Board of Advisors.
Cinapse raised over $2.5M following Demo Day at Y Combinator, the world’s top accelerator program, having backed major companies including Airbnb, Twitch, Reddit, and DoorDash. Additional investors include Gaingels, RenderedVC, Unpopular Ventures, Twenty-Two Ventures, Zillionize, Y Seed, and Halo Ventures. Angel investors include current and former executives from Netflix, Lucasfilm, Creative Artists Agency, Universal, members of the Directors Guild of America and other major entertainment unions.
Cinapse was founded by members of the Assistant Directors (AD) Department from HBO’s “Silicon Valley” and Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian" and entrepreneurs from California’s Silicon Valley. Since its private beta launch in September 2020, it has been used by some of the largest studio productions in Hollywood and has enjoyed high praise from producers, unit production managers (UPMs), ADs, set production assistants (set PAs), and crew members alike.
Neil Patrick Harris is a five-time Emmy® award winning actor who is best known for his work across TV, film, and theater, including starring roles in the hit series “How I Met Your Mother,” “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” Most recently, he starred in “The Matrix: Resurrections,” the limited series “It’s a Sin,” and in “Uncoupled,” which premiered on Netflix on July 29, for which he also served as an executive producer. He was named in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Harris brings decades of on-set experience as a principal cast member to the Cinapse advisory board and will help guide product development, industry adoption, and marketing efforts at Cinapse.
"I’ve been in the film and TV business for years and have seen a lot of change. From film to digital, to so many sets now using virtual production technology, the way we shoot film and television has evolved greatly since my early days in the industry. Surprisingly though, cast and crew still communicate through paper and radio, and the existing software options are outdated and insufficient. I’m thrilled to be working with Cinapse to streamline how the cast, crew, and studio manage their work on every production,” said Harris.
Over the next year, Cinapse will continue building and deploying new production management features to film and television productions, including digital background vouchers, collaborative scheduling, crew and cast timecards, all-digital production paperwork, automatic production reports, and call sheets.
“Making a film or television show takes a village, so it's important for us to have representatives from each facet of production involved in our decision making. Neil is an extraordinary person and we are thrilled to work with him,” said Greg Kufera, Cinapse co-founder and CEO.
Herman Phillips, Cinapse co-founder and COO, echoed: “We are excited to have reached this milestone at our company. The entire team is grateful for this incredible group of investors who are committed to revolutionizing the way cast, crew, and studio employees manage their work on film and television productions around the world.”
