Film database proves valuable in Hollywood

By Anthony Breznican
Associated Press

It's getting harder to lie on your résumé in Hollywood.

The Internet Movie Database, a Web site started by a film fan so he wouldn't rent the same movie twice, has become a powerful show-business tool with details on almost every living being ever credited on a film or TV show.

IMDb.com can change the art of the deal from a matter of "who you know" to "what you know" about all their triumphs, failures and quirks.

"I use it constantly, sometimes in the middle of a phone conversation," said "Moulin Rouge" producer Fred Baron, production chief for 20th Century Fox. "Someone's coming in for a meeting? Who is this person? I type it into IMDb and I find out 'who,' 'what,' 'where,' 'when' and sometimes 'how.' "

IMDb is no secret to cinephiles, with the free site averaging about 10 million individual users each month. But behind the scenes, the service has become invaluable to the film industry.

Want Marlon Brando's filmography?

Type in his name and you'll get a list of everything he has done on-screen from his 1950 debut in the war-veteran drama "The Men" to last year's heist thriller "The Score."

Search for celebrities who share a birthday. Get a list of who was born in Ottawa, Ontario. Scan an alphabetized list of famous couples.

Professionals use IMDb so regularly that its creators started a pay service with even more data, on everything from a star's salary and agent information to the amount of money their films have earned.

Producers save time scouting locations by searching the database. Little-known actors with few credits promote themselves by posting their biographies. Casting directors hunt for background actors that catch their eyes in a film.

"Even if they don't have a name or a character, the face resonates with them. So it's good that we usually have pictures, too," said Barnaby Dorfman, a site manager at IMDb's headquarters in Seattle.

About 100 IMDb employees, most of them based in Seattle with the Web site's parent company, Amazon.com, verify and edit the submissions to keep the site as accurate as possible.

"If we're wrong about something, we change it right away," Dorfman said. "There are lots of mistakes in print film books that have to stay there until the next edition."