AnyClip launched in 2009. The service lets you search for specific movie scenes you can then share with friends. The AnyClip team analyzes films, tags clips and scenes with relevant information like actor, lines of dialogue, and content and visual cues within the clip itself. This content is indexable, searchable and embeddable across the web.
At first, AnyClip's focus was similar to that of another startup, Movieclips.com. When we spoke to AnyClip CEO Oren Nauman about the new Vivendi licensing deal, he explained how the company's vision has shifted over the last two years. Though AnyClip.com is still designed as a destination for consumers to find and share content, especially scenes from their favorite films, the broader goal is to use its growing database to work with other businesses.
Nauman offered scenarios where a service like AnyClip could be useful for other businesses or web apps. A travel site could integrate movie clips of various destinations when users create a trip profile. A dating site could allow users to embed their favorite movie clips into their profiles.
In essence, AnyClip is shifting its focus away from just being a clip portal to being a licensing clearinghouse for movie clips. The company is also working on an API that will make plugging into this content much more seamless.
Meanwhile, content partners like Vivendi see AnyClips as a great way to enhance the discoverability of their catalog titles. Users who browse the AnyClip site can be connected with other related clips, get links to purchase films and embed clips on their own sites to help spread awareness.
The Vivendi announcement follows a similar partnership the service signed in March with Universal.