IndiePix Launches Independent Film Resource

IndiePix, a leading online service created for the independent film community, has launched one of the most comprehensive independent film resources on the Internet, powered by state-of-the-art navigation software from NetworkedPlanet, a leading vendor of information management tools.
Visitors to www.indiepix.net will now, for the first time, be able to discover, explore and purchase more than 3,000 independent films, as well as learn about new films, all classified by IndiePix’s movie experts. IndiePix will give 60 per cent of the revenue from each purchase straight to the film-maker, to help support the independent film industry and encourage the production of more movies.
IndiePix is a rapidly expanding organisation – it plans to grow its film library from 3,000 currently covered films to over 10,000 within the first 18 months of the launch. The service is powered by NetworkedPlanet’s TMCore information management system which provides the state-of-the-art interactive services for customers. NetworkedPlanet provides an intuitive topic maps-based navigation system, which will enable an increasing number of independent film enthusiasts to easily browse the film library and enable them to find out more about their favourite genres or directors, as well as access rare or hard-to-find films.
“This project is designed to open up new opportunities for exploring the world of independent film,” commented Bob Alexander, President of IndiePix. “Hollywood films have such large budgets that it’s not hard to find out about them, Independent films find it much harder to market themselves, and the new IndiePix site – using the new navigation tool – will provide an avenue for them to get greater recognition. We will give profits 60 per cent of the revenue from any film purchases through our website back to the film-makers themselves, to help support new and existing projects. A struggle for recognition means that there is a constant fight to secure funding, and we want to help that cause in any way we can.
“In terms of developing the project, NetworkedPlanet understood our objectives from the outset, which is a major factor in why we are now able to launch the most comprehensive resource for independent film on the Internet.”
Each film on the site will contain metadata attachments that allow IndiePix’s in-house team of film experts to insert all sorts of information – who directed it, which country it was filmed in, the reviews it had at release – based on their expertise and evaluation of it. The system will then use TMCore to create relevant links between them, so that when someone is browsing any one film online, it will suggest other links based on relevance and similarities. Once all of the films have this data attached to them, the resulting knowledge base can be easily and intelligently navigated by anyone using the website.
“This project is a great example of how topic maps can be used to enhance online navigation,” commented Kal Ahmed, Founder of NetworkedPlanet. “The system functions in a similar way to a shopkeeper in a clothes store – a customer might have selected a blue shirt, so the shopkeeper suggests they look at similar shirts, as well as cuff-links and ties that match it. IndiePix.net now does the same thing for people who are shopping for independent films.”
For more information visit: www.indiepix.net
(DS/SP)