The Video Genome Project

What The Video Genome Project does

The Video Genome Project (VGP) is a video metadata and content-intelligence platform operated as a trade name of Structured Data Intelligence LLC, headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Its core product is a structured database of more than 8 million film, television, and online video records, each annotated with hundreds of granular contextual attributes spanning mood, theme, action level, scheduling, and sub-genre classifications (e.g., distinguishing alien-versus-zombie sci-fi or love-triangle-versus-classic romantic narratives). The platform layers three product modules on this foundation: Curation Tools for search, recommendation, and personalization; Analytical Lens for business intelligence used by distributors, programmers, and development executives; and APIs that expose the underlying data and plug-and-play algorithms to developers and third parties.

The company's underlying technology relies on graph mining, clustering, and natural language processing to ingest disparate metadata sources and refine them into a normalized "content DNA." It serves horizontal video-industry segments including MVPDs, OTT linear and VOD services, online multi-channel networks, studios and library owners, distributors, programmers, and third-party application developers. Revenue is generated through subscription-based API access and curation tools, supplemented by professional-services revenue from analytical-lens engagements, though pricing is not publicly disclosed and customers are routed to direct contact for custom development. The firm is privately held with no disclosed external funding, operates as an LLC under its parent entity, and markets itself primarily through its website and direct outreach rather than through resellers or marketplace channels.

Name

The Video Genome Project

Legal name

Structured Data Intelligence LLC

Website

https://videogenomeproject.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Video Genome Project is a private Santa Monica-based metadata platform that catalogs over 8 million film, TV, and online video records with granular content attributes, selling API access, curation tools, and analytics to MVPDs, OTT services, studios, and developers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Monica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. API Access and Licensing: Revenue generated through API access to The Video Genome Project data, including custom API development for enterprise clients and third-party developers. Pricing is likely usage or subscription-based given the API-first model.
2. Curation Tools: Search and recommendation tools built on VGP's deep content metadata foundation, sold to MVPDs, OTT services, and studios for curation and personalization purposes.
3. Analytical Lens Services: Business intelligence services providing actionable insights through quantified and normalized data around content mood, theme, action level, and scheduling, offered to distributors, programmers, and development executives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Video Genome Project operates a proprietary video metadata and content intelligence database that classifies video assets at a granular, frame- and scene-level using natural language processing and machine learning. It sells access to this database via curation and discovery tools, an analytical business intelligence service, and developer APIs that integrate the metadata into third-party streaming, MVPD, OTT, and studio platforms.

Product overview

The Video Genome Project (VGP) is a unified video metadata platform that discovers, refines, and understands video content at a granular level. The core product is The Video Genome Project™ database containing over 8+ million video records with hundreds of contextual attributes per record. This foundation powers three integrated modules: Curation Tools (for search, recommendations, and personalization serving MVPDs, OTT services, MCNs, and Studios), Analytical Lens (for actionable business insights serving Distributors, Programmers, and Development Executives), and VGP APIs (for developers and third parties to access VGP data and functionality). Together, these products form a comprehensive video intelligence platform that transforms raw video metadata into usable, granular information for content discovery and business decision-making.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Video Genome Project Proprietary video metadata database containing over 8 million classified records of movies, TV shows, and other video content, tagged with granular attributes such as characters, themes, mood, and plot elements. Used by streaming platforms, MVPDs, and studios as a foundational content intelligence asset.
• Curation Tools Search and discovery tooling that lets customers query the Video Genome metadata to find, group, and recommend video assets based on granular descriptive attributes. Built for editorial, programming, and product teams at streaming and MVPD operators.
• Analytical Lens Business intelligence and analytical service that applies the Video Genome metadata to produce insights on catalogs, audiences, programming, and content trends. Sold as a professional services engagement to studios, networks, and platform operators.
• VGP APIs Developer-facing APIs that provide programmatic access to the Video Genome metadata for integration into third-party streaming, recommendation, and analytics products. Sold to platform integrators and developer teams.

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators1 record

Direct peers

• Gracenote: Gracenote (owned by Nielsen) is the most direct peer: it provides standardized video and music metadata, descriptive content attributes, and recommendation data to MVPDs, OTT platforms, and studios — the same buyer segments and use cases VGP targets, with a much larger installed base.
• TMDb (The Movie Database): TMDb operates a large, community-curated video metadata database and exposes its data via a public API to developers and streaming apps. It competes with VGP on the same developer/API-first axis, though with less enterprise-grade analytical tooling.
• JustWatch: JustWatch aggregates streaming availability metadata and provides search/recommendation tools across OTT services globally. It addresses the same content-discovery pain points VGP solves and shares the developer/API distribution model, though focused on streaming-availability rather than content-DNA attributes.

Broad incumbents

• IMDb: IMDb (owned by Amazon) is the dominant consumer-facing video metadata database and powers metadata inside Prime Video and Fire TV. It overlaps with VGP on catalog coverage and API access, but operates at much larger scale and within a broader Amazon ecosystem.
• Xperi (TiVo Metadata): Xperi (formerly Rovi) provides entertainment metadata, content recognition, and personalized recommendations to MVPDs, OTT platforms, and CE manufacturers — overlapping with VGP's Curation Tools and Analytical Lens offerings across similar enterprise buyer segments.
• Nielsen: Nielsen owns Gracenote and combines audience measurement with content metadata, giving it cross-platform reach into MVPDs, OTTs, and advertisers. It is a broader incumbent whose metadata business directly overlaps VGP's Curation Tools and APIs, with substantially greater scale and data assets.

Emerging players

• Reelgood: Reelgood is a streaming aggregator and universal guide that combines content metadata, availability, and personalized recommendations across OTT services — overlapping with VGP's curation and discovery value proposition, but at smaller scale and primarily US-focused.
• Plex: Plex combines personal media library management with a free streaming service backed by a universal metadata layer for movies and TV. Its metadata infrastructure competes with VGP's video content understanding, particularly for long-tail and library content.

Others

• MovieLabs: MovieLabs is a joint venture of major studios that sets metadata standards and identifiers for the film and TV industry. It is an enabling/ecosystem participant that complements rather than competes with VGP, but its standards shape the metadata market VGP addresses.
• EIDR (Entertainment Identifier Registry): EIDR provides standardized identifiers and a content registry for movie and TV assets used across the entertainment supply chain. It is an ecosystem participant providing foundational identifiers that VGP and similar metadata platforms build on, rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/video-genome-project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Video Genome Project