InternetStudios.com Wins $14.5 Million in Financing

InternetStudios.com, one of several Web sites hoping to establish a beachhead in the field of licensing film and TV distribution rights, will announce today that it has raised $14.5 million in additional funds from investors, including the influential Capital Research & Management Co. in Los Angeles.

Based in Santa Monica, InternetStudios.com aims to build a business-to-business company for film and TV companies.

In addition to selling film rights using the Internet, the company compiles entertainment industry news and data for businesses, operating an online news service called ReporterTV and a data source called StudioBuzz.

Capital, one of the largest institutional investors in media and technology, made the investment through its Smallcap World Fund. Also making an investment was Marshall Wace Asset Management.

InternetStudios.com was launched in January with seed money from PCMI, a Vancouver venture capital firm.

In what was described as a “beta test” of online film sales, InternetStudios.com last month sold the Turkish TV rights to the Tony Scott-directed film “True Romance” using the company’s Web site.

The company hopes to launch its site officially at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

InternetStudios.com recently announced it had signed agreements with 27 film sales and distribution companies.

InternetStudios.com is headed by independent film and TV producer Robert MacLean and former Summit Entertainment executive Heidi Lester.