Focus Features

SXSW is where it’s at right now, with the film community (including the intrepid Cinetrix) gathered there, taking in new movies and industry panels. One of the most interesting pieces of news to come out of the festival so far was the reporting of the future plans of Internet Movie Database honcho Col Needham. Needham founded the movie site initially as a list of pretty actresses he liked, but it has grown into an indispensable resource for film fans and professionals alike, receiving a staggering three billion hits a month from 57 million unique users. IMDb has so far experienced massive expansion and growth from its humble beginnings in the 1990s, and Needham views further diversification of the site as essential. At a Q&A moderated by indieWIRE’s Eugene Hernandez, Needham said, “We want a play button on every single page of IMDb. Our strategy is to allow people to click the play button and they will be able to legally watch an entire movie for free.” IMDb already has video content from partners like Hulu and is planning to use its Withoutabox arm to greatly increase the number of complete movies and clips that it will host.

SXSW is where it’s at right now, with the film community (including the intrepid Cinetrix) gathered there, taking in new movies and industry panels. One of the most interesting pieces of news to come out of the festival so far was the reporting of the future plans of Internet Movie Database honcho Col Needham. Needham founded the movie site initially as a list of pretty actresses he liked, but it has grown into an indispensable resource for film fans and professionals alike, receiving a staggering three billion hits a month from 57 million unique users. IMDb has so far experienced massive expansion and growth from its humble beginnings in the 1990s, and Needham views further diversification of the site as essential. At a Q&A moderated by indieWIRE’s Eugene Hernandez, Needham said, “We want a play button on every single page of IMDb. Our strategy is to allow people to click the play button and they will be able to legally watch an entire movie for free.” IMDb already has video content from partners like Hulu and is planning to use its Withoutabox arm to greatly increase the number of complete movies and clips that it will host.