Criterion streams films online

$5 rental fee counts toward future DVD, Blu-ray purchase

By Laurence Lerman -- Video Business, 12/31/2008

DEC. 31 | Prestige supplier Criterion Collection quietly relaunched its Web site, building upon its appeal to cinephiles with an online store that includes streaming of feature-length films.

The site, renamed “The Criterion Collection Online Cinematheque,” includes film clips, essays on films, dispatches from film experts, press notes and clippings, excerpts from books and articles, a store, a blog and, most notably, streaming video of feature-length films with the cost of viewing credited toward a DVD purchase.

“Bringing the Criterion idea online has been on our minds for a few years now," Criterion president Peter Becker said. “Calling it an online cinematheque was a way of explaining to ourselves what we were aiming to do—create a space where you can immerse yourself in great films, read about them, watch them, visit the shop and so on.”

Titles will be available online as streaming video for $5 for a one-week rental. The rental fee can be applied toward the purchase of that film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc when it is bought online at www.criterion.com. Criterion also initiated a “frequent flyer” program wherein every dollar spent earns the purchaser a point; 500 points yields a $50 gift certificate redeemable at the Web site.

“The rental fee counting toward the purchase of the DVD or Blu-ray was a direct response to the fact that, even though we've spent a huge amount of time developing an encoding workflow and a set of compression standards that we truly believe is the most film-like streaming experience on the Web, we still feel we can't offer video worth buying over the Internet,” said Becker. “If you love these movies and really want to see them in high quality versions, you should buy the DVD or the Blu-ray disc.”

Currently, 26 films are available for streaming on the site (drawn from the label’s 450-title library), an eclectic mix that includes Louis Malle’s Au Revoir les Enfants (1987), Sam Fuller’s I Shot Jesse James (1949), Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972), Bergman’s Thirst (1947) and Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits (1965). More titles will be added each month.

Additionally, Criterion has, in Becker’s words, “joined forces” with the Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup The Auteurs, a social network focused at film lovers. Each month, Criterion will curate a free, advertiser-supported online film festival on The Auteurs. Sponsored by IFC Films, the December festival features titles from Criterion’s “Eclipse” imprint, a line of less-popular but still respected films from well-known filmmakers.

A half-dozen additional titles will be added each month as the films roll out to festivals at www.theauteurs.com. According to Becker, they will stay available on the Criterion site “fairly permanently” as part of the streaming program.

“We're hoping this will encourage our existing customers to take some risks, try films they might not otherwise have bought, and maybe open up a new audience of people who aren't necessarily DVD collectors," said Becker.

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