Pre 1980
Film archivist Jim Monaco forms New York Zoetrope publishing imprint. The company publishes film monographs that evolved from the materials Jim would prepare for film lectures he gave at New School. Zoetrope publishes How to Read a Film, Monaco’s key interdisciplinary work. Zoetrope's list of publications grows to include more than 40 reference and specialized titles including The Laser Video Disc Companion, The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, and Who's Who in American Film Now.
1980
Monaco visits Lexis/Nexis’ offices at the Pan Am Building. Launched in 1979, the pioneering "on-line" service allowed subscribers to access a database of legal opinions and related documents via a Minitel terminal, a predecessor to the personal computer. This service became known as Baseline.
1981
Monaco is a guest of Alcatel, Thomson and TRT in Velizy, France, where the first Minitel computer terminal trial was underway. The Minitel is a “dumb terminal” that, when connected to a phone line, can request and then receive information. Dumb terminals pre-dated personal computers and were essentially a keyboard and screen lacking processing power, storage capacity or any of the editing features PC users are accustomed to. But they are one of the first commercial tools that allowed for public access to digitized information.
1983
Monaco makes a deal with Carlos Cuadra for STAR software. STAR stores information that can be retrieved and published electronically or on paper. STAR runs on an Alpha Micro terminal, which had a proprietary operating system. Baseline is STAR's first customer; the Library of Congress would be its second.
1985
By 1985, Baseline begins building a solid network of professional customers that was able to access the digitized data. In an interesting turn, the data system created by Monaco reveals for the first time that the US government’s estimate of 100,000 working film professionals was at least 400,000 short.
1986
Jim Monaco joins forces with clothing entrepreneur Sy Syms. The company, now at 25 employees, moves to a large space in New York City. A year later, the first LA office is born.
1987
Baseline signs a deal with neighbor The Hollywood Reporter to distribute news on-line. Meanwhile, across town, technical entrepreneur Jeff Lane develops a competitive system for tracking film data on the entertainment professional’s desktop – it becomes known as The Studio System.
1988
After much discussion, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences allows Baseline to post Oscar nominees on-line minutes after they are announced. As soon as they are announced, a Baseline employee runs the block and a half to Baseline headquarters office and furiously types them in. Baseline soon becomes a must-have reference for the studios and agencies.
1990
Baseline signs a license agreement with Microsoft for its Cinemania CD-ROM. Baseline also signs Bloomberg Media as its first syndication customer.
1992
Microsoft releases the first multimedia reference for film. Called Cinemania: Interactive Movie Guide, its contributors included Monaco and his Baseline staff, as well as Leonard Maltin and Pauline Kael. The landmark CD-ROM sells 2.8 million copies. That same year, Robert Altman's film The Player opens, but the scene in which the writer "Baselines" the studio exec is left on the cutting room floor. Later that year, Baseline is acquired by Kagan Media.
1999
A year earlier, in 1998, Tony Bruno and Alex Amin founded ScriptTracker.com/FilmTracker.com - websites that propagate the popularity of 'Tracking Boards' - the entertainment insider tool designed to create on-line social communities for film professionals to track screenplays. In 1999, Rafi Gordon and Sho Higuchi also join the team and the company launches the FilmTracker database – a data set that specializes in the fast paced realm of film development. That same year, The Studio System – having become the industry's leading entertainment database of the 90's – is acquired by the start-up giant Creative Planet. Around the same time, Baseline is acquired by Big Entertainment (soon to be renamed Hollywood Media Corp.) – the parent company for Hollywood.com, MovieTickets.com, and many more entertainment-based websites.
2001
Hollywood Media Corp. merges FilmTracker and Baseline to create Baseline FilmTracker. The new, completely web-based data system picks up its first corporate client and becomes a key competitor to The Studio System.
2002
Creative Planet dissolves its ownership of The Studio System. The company returns to its roots and focuses on top-level web-based delivery of film and television data to the professional entertainment industry.
2004
Baseline FilmTracker and The Studio System join forces. The two databases merge into a single system and offer the largest total collection of film and television information available in the world. The combined Systems become known as Baseline StudioSystems.
2005
In addition to its offering for the film and television professional, Baseline StudioSystems begins licensing its data to the world’s biggest web portals.
2006
The New York Times purchases Baseline StudioSystems from Hollywood Media Corp. The company continues delivering the most trusted film and television information to the entertainment industry and beyond.