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Amazon.com acquires Withoutabox

Withoutabox has a virtual monopoly on film festival submissions. I haven't personally used the system; I haven't heard any complaints. We all know monopolies and vertical integrations is bad for consumers, so hopefully Withoutabox, Imdb and Amazon will reverse that trend:

Dear John,

We're happy to let you know that Withoutabox has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), an Amazon.com subsidiary. This presents a great opportunity for all our independent filmmakers, festivals, and industry professionals. The new arrangement preserves the vision that Withoutabox has championed for eight years, teaming it with the Internet's number one destination for film lovers and film insiders.

As Filmmakers and self-distributors, you can look forward to more ways to help reach your audiences and monetize your work.

As Festivals, you can look forward to more powerful tools to scout, collect, select, and schedule films, plus access to a vast audience of movie lovers that only IMDb can deliver - more than 50 million visitors a month.

As film Sellers, Sales Agents, and Acquirers, you can look forward to unprecedented information, discovery, and connectivity at your fingertips, across the entire landscape of commercial and independent film.

The day-to-day operations of Withoutabox will remain much the same, including the entire management team, our experienced staff, and the dedicated customer service you love.

We look forward as always to seeing you at festivals and other industry events.

Happy New Year. Here's to new beginnings!

All the best,

Your Withoutabox Team

This was no doubt in the works before Apple's iTunes rentals announcement, but it feels very much like a reaction to it. Like rooks in chess, the content is castling. Everything is fortifying. IMDb is getting so crufty lately, I'm wondering if a wiki isn't the way to go with movie info...

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.