Movie Producers Invest in Social Networking Site

Movie moguls Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Weinstein Co. said it had taken an undisclosed stake in social-networking website ASmallWorld.

The founders of Miramax Film Corp. led a group of investors including Bob Pittman, former chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner Inc., to make a "significant investment" in the site, which can be joined only by invitation from members.

Founded in 2004 by Erik Wachtmeister, ASmallWorld is described by the company as an exclusive global online community of 130,000 members representing more than 100 countries.

Via the LAtimes

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The Miramax founders, along with a group of investors including Bob Pittman, the former chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner Inc., are said to have made a "significant" though undisclosed investment in the start-up. Invitation-only social networks are interesting because they appeal to the "I want be somebody" side of people that's become important to so many in this country; if you can make a social network seem exclusive enough, the demand for a limited number of positions will inevitably rise. The trick, of course, (and this lesson can be learned from the NYC nightclub biz) is staying popular and staying exclusive, because every "it" nightspot in this city inevitably turns out to be a flash-in-the-pan six months later.