Paramount Pictures has introduced an online video clip service using technology developed by Morrisville-based Digitalsmiths.
The company's VideoSense system allows films to be searched by actor, line of dialogue, location, genre or product, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Paramount, like other film studios, is looking for new ways to turn old movies into cash and plans to sell video clips to business customers such as advertising agencies or foreign broadcasters. Eventually, the studio expects to open the site ( Paramountclips.com )to consumers, the newspaper reported.
For Digitalsmiths, founded in 1998 by CEO Ben Weinberger and chief technology officer Matthew Berry, the deal elevates the company's presence in the Hollywood market. In September, the company hired three employees for a Los Angeles office.
"There is big demand for more premium content from Hollywood studios, television, news and sports," said Melissa Sargeant, Digitalsmiths' vice president of marketing, in a phone interview Tuesday. "This industry is really moving forward, despite what's happening with the economy."
Getting the plug from the Times doesn't hurt, either.
Digitalsmiths raised $12million in venture financing in November 2008, from investors that included the Aurora Funds of Durham. In January, Cisco Systems also invested in the company.
The private company moved to the Triangle from South Carolina in 2007 and now employs about 50 people, mostly in Morrisville.
The company doesn't release financial data but is "on a path to profitability," Sargeant said.
Digitalsmiths' customers include Warner Bros. and TMZ, the gossip and news Web site. "We hope to be making more customer announcements soon," Sargeant said.
Staff writer Alan M. Wolf
