Movie site IMDb gets a makeover for 20th anniversary

For nearly 20 years, IMDb.com has been a terrific place to look up movie trivia about favorite actors, directors and more. Ahead of its big 2-0 anniversary next month, the site is getting a makeover to give it a more modern feel -- with a heavier emphasis on video clips and helping fans make viewing decisions.

The goal is to "emphasize the visual nature of film and TV," Col Needham, IMDb's 43-year-old British founder and CEO, told the Associated Press. Trailers and ticket information are now much more prominent.

A bit of history, from the AP story on the IMDb makeover:

On Oct. 17, 1990, the Internet Movie Database was born as Needham posted what was literally a database program that people had to install on their computers. Users could sift through the published credits for all the movies he and a bunch of friends had seen. It was decidedly low-tech, and definitely not commercial.

Web giant Amazon bought the site in 1998, the AP says. It's now one of the largest movie sites in the U.S., with 25.6 million unique visitors in August, according to comScore.

Showcased at IMDb.com today are trailers for this week's major movie releases, including The Social Network, Let Me In and Freakonomics. And of course, IMDb is big into mobile with free apps for Apple's iPhone and iPad and Android smartphones (though, oddly, a BlackBerry version of the app costs $2.99).

By Nancy Blair