"Where in the world would you like to go today?" prompts the Cineweb website to the visitor. "Just click on the location you`d like to visit," it beckons as a map of the world appears before the visitor`s eyes. Cineweb, an on-line directory service known as the "Gateway to the Entertainment Industry, as described by Eric Puumala, Manager and Web designer, is a magazine, on-line directory and worldwide location service all in one. In addition, it offers a unique aspect that aids producers and location managers when searching for location information. "From our site you can jump off to any other website out there," says Puumala. For example, with the click of a button, from the directory page you can go directly to the Marriot Hotel`s website to find housing information for crews, or visit P.J. Video`s website to research information about equipment in the Caribbean.

For $250 per year, a homeowner can get their home listed as a possible location. According to Puumala, Cineweb will post 9 photos and location finding information on 2 website pages.

As entertainment industry needs expand, Puumala says, they are keeping pace with them by developing an extensive on-line library that would include location photos of the L.A. area. Location managers would be able to access photos immediately. This would save productions time and money when scouting for locations. While industry professionals warn that on-line location library services are not possible until an agreed upon classification system is developed, Puumala admits, "It`s something we`re capable of solving. It`s probably the biggest problem for location services that are on line right now."

According to Puumala, Cineweb is currently resolving this problem by creating a location scouting library classification system. Locations and properties will be listed under style, construction, and square footage. While on-line services such as Cineweb are making it easier for location scouts to search for the right locations via the internet, new software technology is making it possible for scouts to take a 360 degree view of a location. The Warner Bros. website offers a complete 360 degree view of their backlot using IPIX software technology. Tracy Balsz, Director of Marketing for Studio Facilities, says, "This will alleviate location managers from having to come and take photographs. They can just pull the images up on their computer screen and get a complete look of the property and locations." She adds, it`s like being able to walk around the property in a complete circle on your computer screen. Not only are location scouts able to view the front, back, and sides, in addition to the coordinating views of the location, they can also take a look inside the buildings.

While it`s estimated that 40% of Hollywood currently uses on-line services, there is little doubt that it`s only a matter of time before the other 60% follow. Bill Lindstrom, manager/web Information Development for the Wyoming Business Council, says, "It`s pretty easy to see by the explosive nature of the on-line world how many people are using it, that, in general, people are needing their information in a different way than tradition has allowed."

Lindstrom, whose two-year-old website gets 50 to 100 visits per day, says, The Wyoming Business Council website was created to allow production information to be accessed quickly. In addition to displaying production resource information it also provides people with information about laws and regulations, weather, and past projects filmed in Wyoming. There are three main sections to the website: production services, support services, and crew, he says. While it doesn`t provide specific hotel information it does link to the "Wyoming Electronics Scout" which does. Lindstrom says that while the website is a great information tool it will never replace the role of a film commissioner. "People will always want and need face to face communication," he says.

According to Lindstrom, the main draw for people using the internet is that it allows people to do lots of things that better conform to the way people are today. "People tend to trust themselves most. The self-directed form of research is the most popular today. People like the fact that the web is a self-service medium. You can go where you want to go, look at the information you need to look at when you want to do it," he explains.

There is no question in Lindstrom`s mind that the internet has had a significant impact on the film office. "Our ability as film commissioners to serve the industry is based completely on how we respond with information about what is available in our jurisdiction. The internet has allowed us to improve that delivery of information in a myriad of ways and it will continue to. There`s no question about it," he states. Jennifer Nerad, Director of Marketing for Creative Entertainment, a full-service entertainment marketing company, says the internet has made a significant impact on their business, helping them by saving both time and money and making her job more efficient. Nerad helped to create and design the website a year ago.

Nerad uses the internet as a tool to research clients and prospective clients and a resource for finding out facts and expedite information. "When creating a proposal for a prospective client, Nerad says, they visit the client`s website to gather information. It`s a way for us to look at what the client is doing and to keep updated on their products," she says. "From their website you can determine who they`re targeting and how they position themselves. You can sort of do a competitive analysis. We take all of this information, when we do the proposal, and make it specific to that company." For example, she says, "If we know that they`re trying to reach 18-30 year-olds, we can make our proposal so it targets that brand. We can make the proposal show that we can help them gain their objective of reaching a specific target demographic." In addition, she says that the internet allows them to learn more about a company`s competition, their background, what their specialties are and how they position their brands. Once the client accepts the proposal, they place the product on television shows that target the same demographics.

Aright now We`re working with Intel. We`re working on a new marketing strategy for them for some of their newly developed products. They have a camera package called the "Create and Share Camera Pack," that sits on top of your monitor," Nerad explains. Prior to this project, she says, they worked with Intel on getting their computers placed in films.

Nerad credits the use of the internet with a 30% increase in business for the company. She isn`t sure how research may have been done prior to obtaining her position a year ago with the company. Most likely, she imagines, it was done by doing research at the library and reviewing stock reports, a long and tedious job. "When I came they didn`t have someone in my position. To me it just made sense to look things up on the internet," she admits.

Not only does Nerad use the internet for research, but, she says she uses it for everything from correspondence and proposals to reports for clients. She says it`s a direct form of communication that many clients prefer rather than faxes, mail, or phone conversations.

What used to take hours and days for agents and casting directors, now only takes minutes, thanks to the internet. With a click of a button, casting directors are posting breakdowns electronically for agents to view. Agents, in return, are submitting actor`s photographs and resumes to casting directors within minutes, often giving them a four-hour advantage over actors who are submitted by messenger.

Richard Horgan, Chief Information Officer for Castnet.com, credits his company with helping to change the way Hollywood does business. For decades, casting directors and agents have participated in a labor-intensive paper chase. Casting directors would submit a breakdown list of roles for a project to agents through a courier service. Agents would, in turn, stuff envelopes with photographs and resumes of actors they wanted to submit, couriering it back to the casting directors. It is a tedious project that can take hours, says Horgan. Castnet.com now offers a way to bypass the paper chase and has moved it into the electronic arena, he says. Photographs, resumes, and videos, can be sent by an agent to a casting director in a matter of minutes. "With our system, literally 10 minutes after the casting director has said, "I`m doing a Toyota commercial and I need a mother, father, daughter, son, they`ve received the submissions on their computer from the agents," Horgan explains.

According to Horgan, 32,000 actors and more than 120 talent agents, and 240 casting directors are currently using Castnet.com`s services. Castnet.com is owned by The Entertainment Internet Inc. and originated out of "Only Multi Media Network Inc." Horgan says the company offered internet, providing services and sold internet access to clients. All the people who work for the company have dual backgrounds in both the entertainment industry and internet usage. A relatively new company, Castnet.com was officially launched in 1996, competing with another major electronic casting service, The Link. Unlike The Link, who offers a similar service through a website, Castnet.com has direct internet access. "Because we started as an internet service provider, we`ve got our own network. Castnet.com uses that for its own purposes. So we`re what`s called a virtual private network. Which means a lot of the agents and casting directors that use our services are dialing straight into us. They are not coming to us through the internet. One of the main ways we`ve established credibility in Hollywood is by having a non-internet dependent system," he explains. Horgan credits the system with offering higher security and greater performance than a website. For instance, he says, search capabilities for a casting director are much more extensive. Both video and audio clips of the actor are offered. In addition, the system can easily handle the heavy load of multiple users logging on at the same time.

Horgan says Castnet.com`s clients are working actors in L.A. and Chicago. Having clients in both L.A. and Chicago has opened the door to possibilities for actors. According to Horgan, it used to be that actors coming to L.A. from Chicago would have to find a L.A. agent. "with this technology an actor can come out from Chicago to L.A. for pilot season, while still keeping his Chicago agent. Because it allows the Chicago agent to submit his client in L.A.," he says.

At this point, Castnet.com best serves episodic television, commercials made for television movies and independent features, Horgan says. "We are developing a separate service for the big stars because that end of the business operates differently. Those people do not get submitted and asked for through a breakdown," he says. While 70% of the business is done through development deals, electronic services such as Castnet.com and The Link are vying for the other 30% of the market, for working actors such as client, Jerry Stiller, who played George Castanza`s father on Seinfeld.

Another feature Castnet.com offers actors is email postcards. Without ever having to lick a stamp, actors can solicit agents and inform casting directors about their work via email post cards sent through Castnet.com. Actors can also post messages and get feedback from other actors about agents. Horgan says they are currently developing other services including Location Net, Producers Net, and Schwabs, a division that handles actors just starting out in the business. "Castnet.com is the first application of development under a banner of entertainment. Eventually there will be a service with all these different kinds of information data bases for the production industry," he says.

To find out more about Castnet.com, call toll free (888) 873-7373 or get online at www.Castnet.com.com.