Tribeca and Lionsgate to Launch Video on Demand Service

In the wake of HBO and CBS announcing online subscription offerings, Tribeca Enterprises and Lionsgate announced yesterday that they plan to offer a new online VOD service by June 2015. The Tribeca Short List service will focus on prestige titles curated from their libraries, in addition to a selection of foreign films. The move is the latest by media companies looking to leverage the Netflix-dominated SVOD market. Univision is joining networks HBO and CBS with its plans for a standalone streaming video service.

videostreamJane Rosenthal, Tribeca’s chief exec, said that the goal was a “highly curated experience that disrupts the ‘more is more’ model in today’s streaming on-demand landscape.”

“Tribeca Short List selections will be updated weekly and chosen by Tribeca, which operates the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The partners did not announce any films to be included or say how much the service would cost,” The New York Times reports.

“In some ways, Tribeca Short List can be considered Ms. Rosenthal’s modern-day answer to the Sundance Channel, a cable network introduced in 1996 by Robert Redford, who founded the Sundance Film Festival.”

Tribeca focuses on independent filmmaking, while Lionsgate is becoming increasingly known for its blockbusters such as “The Hunger Games.” However, Lionsgate’s library also includes critically-acclaimed, less commercial fare, including “Crash,” “Precious” and “Monster’s Ball.”

“Tribeca, co-founded by Robert De Niro, has a history of experimentation that has at times been longer on ambition than on results,” explains NYT. “The company, which sold a 50 percent stake to the Madison Square Garden Company in March, had high hopes for its Tribeca Films distribution effort, for example. But the division has struggled, releasing 41 movies since 2011 to combined box-office sales of roughly $2 million.”

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