It's Oscar Time! bigstar.com Releases Drive-In Special Edition Movie Trailer Magazine On Web-Connected CD

Business Wire, March 23, 2000

Business, Finance, Film, E-Commerce, Technology, Entertainment

and Internet Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2000

Special Edition Offers Previews From the 72nd Academy Awards(R).

BigStar Entertainment (Nasdaq: BGST), which operates www.bigstar.com, a leading Shop-A-Tainment(TM) filmed entertainment destination site and online movie superstore, today announces the release of Drive-In Special Edition, a Web-connected CD-ROM magazine that ties in with this year's Academy Awards(R). This 2000 Academy Awards(R) special edition CD-ROM gives viewers a comprehensive and entertaining look at the year 2000 Academy Awards(R). This CD-ROM, made specifically for this year's Oscars, is available to current bigstar.com customers and can be ordered at no charge on the bigstar.com Web site.

The 2000 Academy Awards(R) Magazine CD-ROM features broadcast-quality trailers and clips for this year's Academy Awards(R) nominated films, including the categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay. Drive-In provides access to bigstar.com's proprietary editorial content as well. Customers can learn more about the stars of this year's most acclaimed films, purchase films immediately or, for those movies still in the theaters, ask to be notified when one of the nominated films is released on video or DVD.

The 2000 Academy Awards(R) Magazine CD-ROM will be released in advance to select markets on Wednesday, March 22nd and will be available to the public on Friday, March 24th.

This Web-enabled CD-ROM allows all Web users to watch broadcast-quality movie trailers from the BigStar Web site, regardless of whether they have a dial-up modem or high-speed access. In full-screen mode, the trailers have the quality of broadcast television.

Real-time access to BigStar's site for all modem speeds is made possible through a patented rich media-enabling technology called HyperCD(R) Technology, which is made by New York-based BroadBridge Media LLC (http://broadbridge.net). BroadBridge Media is a technology company that owns and markets disc-based technologies that marry the quality of disc-based playback with the real-time interactivity of the Internet.

David Friedensohn, CEO of BigStar Entertainment, said: "Our customers are avid moviegoers who think of the Academy Awards(R) as a culminating event that pays tribute to the best films, filmmakers, and stars of the year. This special edition of Drive-In taps into our customers' interests and is in line with BigStar's determination to provide a true Shop-A-Tainment(TM) experience. The Hyper CD technology makes streaming media an easy and uncomplicated experience. Our Shop-A-Tainment strategy brings customers back time and time again because we are leading the pack in finding new and exciting technologies to make buying and viewing movies online a fun and thrilling experience."

BigStar also offers streaming movie trailers, short- and full-length films on bigstar.com through its broadband technology BigStar Broadband Theater.

About BigStar Entertainment

BigStar Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: BGST) operates bigstar.com (AOL keyword: BigStar), a leading Shop-A-Tainment(TM) destination site, based on internal analysis of traffic, sales and other metrics. Bigstar.com is exclusively dedicated to filmed entertainment products and sells more than 40,000 titles of videos and digital video discs (DVDs). BigStar has forged strategic alliances with companies including ValueVision (Nasdaq: VVTV), StarMedia (Nasdaq: STRM), AOL Moviefone (NYSE: AOL), Shop-at-AOL, Earthlink (Nasdaq: ELNK), Yahoo!Chat (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Flirt.com, among others.

This news release may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to the future events or the future financial results of BigStar Entertainment. Investors are cautioned that such statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating such statements, investors should specifically consider the various factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated from such forward-looking statements, including the matters set forth in BigStar Entertainment's reports and documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

ACADEMY AWARDS(R), OSCAR(S)(R), OSCAR NIGHT(R) and OSCAR(R) statuette design mark are the trademarks and service marks, and the OSCAR(c) statuette the copyrighted property, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bigstar.com is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.