Filmaster is working hard to build a social network around film fans and its latest step is the launch of a new iPhone app that it’s pitching as “Foursquare for film”.
As we recently reported, this Polish startup recommends movies to users based on their existing tastes and has already launched an API that allows other services to harness its power. The new iPhone app helps movie buffs with similar tastes meet by showing who’s nearby, and letting users ‘check-in’ at specific screenings.
The app builds up a picture of your taste by letting you rate films with a score out of ten either from your phone or the Filmaster website. In this way, it reminds me of Get Glue‘s recommendation and check-in system. However, in this case it’s all about going out to watch movies, whereas Get Glue doesn’t consider where you are.
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Filmaster provides check-ins at screenings as one way of locating folk with similar tastes, but as this is such a new service you’re most likely to find the Community section a better way to find nearby users. The startup has launched the app this weekend at SXSW, presenting it as the perfect accompaniment for the film festival there. With so many avid movie fans in such a small area, this could be a good testing ground for the app.
As a casual cinemagoer who doesn’t keep a constant eye on new releases, I find Filmaster’s personalised recommendations based on nearby screenings are incredibly useful. While I probably won’t be using the app to meet up with other users, it’s certainly an idea worth pursuing. I know several hardcore film fans who often go to the cinema alone because their appetite for movies is much greater than their friends’. The opportunity to meet up, watch films with similar folk and then discuss them afterwards may well appeal – providing that there are enough of those people out here.
Foursquare check-in support is planned for next release, while Android and Blackberry Playbook versions are both on the way.
With Foursquare and Facebook Places now staples of the social media landscape, it’s unsurprising to see location-based offerings targeting specific verticals start to emerge. Filmaster just has to encourage enough people to get involved to make it a worthwhile experience for users.
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