IMDb Part 4: Recent Updates and Your Bacon Number
Recent Updates to the Internet Movie Database
Bacon Number
Let’s start this off with the coolest feature of IMDb, which I have only recently discovered. The Bacon Number.
Ben Whitehair's Bacon Number. Word.
How do you see how many steps you are from Kevin Bacon, you ask? Go into IMDb Pro and click on “Trivia” in the “Personal Details” section in the menu on the left. If, and only if, you are indeed connected to Kevin Bacon through your IMDb credits, your Bacon Number will show up on the right hand side of the screen. Awesome on a stick.
Linking Your Blog and Twitter
If you have IMDb Resume you can now populate your IMDb profile with links to your recent blog updates and/or your twitter feed. To do this, simply sign in to edit your IMDb Resume page, and click on “Twitter and Blog” in the menu on the left. Follow their (surprisingly helpful) instructions.
General sidenote: You know that things like twitter, your blog, (and even facebook) can be accessed by people other than you, right? You know that these things are in public, right? Ok, great. Now please stop writing how you hate your agent, or think so and so is a dick (unless they really deserve it), or how you hate the business. It’s hurting you, and it makes everyone else look bad. Stop it.
Photos…Lots and Lots of Photos
Again, if you have IMDb Resume, you can now upload 100 photos to your IMDb account. Word to the wise, however, don’t go uploading a bazillion headshots. A few will be fine. Use the extra photos to put up pictures of you on the red carpet, talking with industry folks, or pictures of you on set. You might also put a picture of you with your puppy. People love puppies.
Hiding Your Age
Ok, we get it. You think you still like 17 and don’t want anyone to know your age. First of all, know that once your birthday is on IMDb, there’s no getting it off completely. Get over it. However, when you’re logged in to IMDb resume you can click on “Control my Details” on the left, and remove the following from the pro side of IMDb:
- Age/Birthdate
- Also Known As
- Awards
- Biography
- Height
- Salary
Now, these things still show up on the non-pro, public side of IMDb, but most industry people will be opening your profile in IMDb Pro anyway, so this should help assuage your age-related concerns.
Webseries Category
As detailed in this article from Tubefilter, it appears that IMDb will finally be creating a web series category. Hopefully this means all you folks who are creating your own legitimate web videos will have an easier time getting them listed on ye olde Database of Internet Movies.
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**Want more IMDb awesomeness?**
Part 1 in this series details the basics of IMDb and the starmeter
Part 2 in this series tells you how to get a movie listed on IMDb
Part 2 in this series tells you how to get a movie listed on IMDb
Part 3 in this series discusses how to manage your IMDb profile
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If you gained anything from this post, please give my starmeter a bump by visiting www.imdb.me/BenWhitehair. If you gained a LOT from this post, or just want to make feel better for the time my date to prom told me “Oh, by the way, I don’t like to dance” as we walked on to the dance floor, then leave a comment on my profile. 
| This entry was posted by benwhitehair on March 22, 2010 at 5:26 pm, and is filed under The business. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 5 months ago
Fun fact: After searching a bunch of actor names from people I know personally to series regulars, I have yet to find a Bacon Number that isn’t 1, 2 or 3. The exception is those without a Bacon Number.
I’m a 3.
about 5 months ago
PS. It is not a few minutes after 7pm. Hmm. Guess your blog lives in New York? Verrrry hip.
about 5 months ago
Hahaha. Yeah, the blog decided it wanted a nice apartment on the upper east side. It’s kind of a snob like that.
about 5 months ago
What a great series, Ben! This is an essential resource for actors, and IMDB doesn’t make it that easy to navigate from the actor’s side. Good work.
about 5 months ago
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Glad this helps. =)
about 5 months ago
Definitely a great primer. FYI, there are a few of us within SAG working with the good people of IMDb to address the age issue. It’s not a vanity thing it’s about protecting one’s livelihood. There are very good reasons that SAG instituted rules against CD’s asking your age and the same should apply to industry sites such as this. There are countless people, usually women but men as well, who have lost jobs because someone clicked on IMDb and saw that an actor was older than they thought. And it’s not just actors. Writers face huge ageism issues trying to get hired in rooms for shows with younger demographics. IMDb should allow actors and others to compete on a level playing field where results are based solely on talent not age. Idealistic but worth striving for in my book.
You might also want to point out that for actors who may balk at the cost of a subscription to IMDbPro, that they can pool together a group of friends and for about $10/yr all join through the same account and password. Only one person can enjoy the benefits of having their photo/resume posted but if you switch out the account from year to year you can take turns w/ that, as well. And unlike some sites, everyone can be logged on at the same time.
about 5 months ago
Woody. Some stellar points!
And a huge thank you for your work on the age stuff…I know there are a LOT of actors who would be incredibly happy for that to go through. =)
about 3 months ago
I’ve always known about the Bacon Meter–I used to be tied to him through Tom Doyle, as well! Now I’m linked through a famous Bollywood actor, Gulshan Grover.
But still three degrees away.
What *I* want to know is–how can we do that with other people? Like Cillian Murphy?! I must have him in my short film, and it would be handy to see who I already know!
about 3 months ago
Ooooh, that would be SO helpful! Here’s to being in movies with Kevin Bacon…
about 3 months ago
It so would!!! I know there’s someone out there who can figure out various scripts and what-not for figuring that out! Hopefully they’re reading our comments and will get to work straight away.