Makena Technologies has struck a deal with Paramount Digital Entertainment to license clips from thousands of the latter's films and TV shows for use in Makena's There.com virtual world. Most of the clips are from the archives, with the aim being that There.com users will pay for them.
How does that work? Well, the clips will be for sale for $1 each, and once a There.com user buys a clip, they can display it as part of their conversations with other users. It’s apparently tied in with Paramount’s VooZoo social media application. Movies covered include Clueless, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Footloose, as well as episodes of South Park.
The list above should give you a clue to the selling point - many of the clips are taken from quotable movies, with catchphrases or famous lines that (Paramount hopes) people will want to slip into their virtual world conversations. Paramount says it plans to extend the technology to MTV’s network of virtual worlds too, which are also powered by Makena.
There’s an e-commerce angle too, with click-through links in the clips to buy the DVDs. A dollar a pop is an interesting business model - will There.com users be prepared to pay to show a clip, rather than just type in the catchphrase? If it takes off, expect other movie studios to follow suit.
(via Hollywood Reporter)
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