James R | On 29, Aug 2017

Curzon Cinemas has officially launched its own subscription streaming service, Curzon12.

The distributor, exhibitor and VOD provider has already established itself as a major player on the UK streaming scene, with day-and-date releases not just from its own Artifical Eye label, but from others such as Arrow Films and Thunderbird Releasing. Now, it’s taken a leaf from Amazon Prime Video and bolstering its membership scheme with a new monthly subscription service.

Curzon12, which we reported was in beta mode earlier this year, will host 12 titles a month, which are available to stream online free of charge to Curzon members. The service is available on Curzon Home Cinema, with members able to log in to view the exclusive collection with their membership number.

Each month’s curated collection is selected by the Curzon programming team and is designed to complement the films playing across Curzon Cinemas and day-and-date on Curzon Home Cinema that month. It will feature the work of renowned auteurs such as Yorgos Lanthimos, Charlie Chaplin, Andrea Arnold, Satyajit Ray and Agnes Varda, as well as lesser known gems cinephiles might have missed.

Members will also receive a monthly insight newsletter that will delve deeper into three headline titles for that month.

Philip Knatchbull, Curzon CEO, says: “Members are at the forefront of everything we do at Curzon. Adding Curzon12 to our membership offering will allow Curzon members to further indulge their passion for cinema.”

Damian Spandley, Director of Programme for Curzon, adds: “The exhibition team is made up of film lovers and we wanted to select a programme that will encourage people to discover all kinds of directors from cult titles such as Atom Egoyan’s Exotica to classics like Francois Truffaut’s 400 Blows. The editorial content surrounding the films is there to engage newer audiences when we launch out student membership this autumn and we are committed to the next generation of film enthusiasts having access to brilliant works.”

The official programme launches 5th September and anyone purchasing a Curzon membership will be able to log on and start watching immediately from then.

Membership is separated into three tiers: Classic, Cult and Complete. They all include free tickets to Curzon cinemas, as well as discount on paid Curzon Home Cinema titles, as well as other benefits, such as a Curzon magazine delivered to your door and priority booking. Prices start from £45 a year for a “Classic Local” membership (only eligible for Curzon’s Wimbledon, Canterbury, Ripon, Sheffield and Knutsford cinemas) and £60 for a “Classic Every” membership (eligible at all Curzon venues) and go up to £950 a year for a “Complete Every” membership.

Here’s the Curzon12 line-up for September:

The 400 Blows – François Truffaut
Fish Tank – Andrea Arnold
The Kid With A Bike – Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
Rien Ne Va Plus – Claude Chabrol
Michael H. Profession: Director – Yves Montmayeur
Alps – Yorgos Lanthimos
I, Anna – Barnaby Southcombe
Wreckers – Dictynna Hood
The Lonely Wife – Satyajit Ray
Mid-August Lunch – Gianni Di Gregorio
Modern Times – Charlie Chaplin
First Position – Bess Kargman

 

Curzon Home Cinema readies subscription streaming service, Curzon12

11th August 2017

Curzon Home Cinema is preparing its own subscription streaming service, Curzon12.

The distributor, exhibitor and VOD provider has used its treble role in the UK film industry to hugely influential effect in recent years, growing its pay-per-view Curzon Home Cinema platform into a virtual companion to its physical cinema venues. Day-and-date releases have, in particular, helped the service to stand out in a crowded arena, with many of them exclusives from Curzon’s own Artifical Eye label, alongside titles from third party distributors, such as Thunderbird Releasing and Arrow Films.

Curzon12 will allow members to stream 12 films at home each month, promising to “go deeper into film with classics and hidden gems handpicked by film lovers, mavericks and free spirits”. The service is now in beta mode, with current titles including Il Divo, White Material, Breathe In, Beware of Mr. Baker, Calamari Union, The Seventh Continent, Hotel, Kiss of the Spider Woman, City Lights, Lou Reed’s Berlin, The Woman Next Door and The Adjuster.

Curzon’s doubling down on its digital arm with a subcription offering may sound like an attempt to take on Netflix, but Curzon12 is actually taking a leaf from Amazon Prime Video’s book: the service will be free to members of Curzon Cinemas, with customers able to use their membership number to tie their Curzon Home Cinema account to the Curzon12 service.

The plans for the subscription offering have been in the pipeline for some time, with Curzon Home Cinema Director Philip Mordecai telling Digital TV Europe last year that they would follow a model not unlike Amazon for any future subscription-based vanture. The decision also continues Curzon’s positioning of the service as complementary to its theatrical releases, not unlike the BFI and its own BFI Player (and subscription service BFI Player+).

“We don’t actually call ourselves a VOD platform, we call it a ‘Curzon virtual venue’; it’s taking the Curzon to someone’s house,” Mordecai told Digital TV Europe.

Indeed, he also added that would eventually be “a lot of technical pieces coming into play to make Curzon Home Cinema more like a cinema”, such as adding film trailers and BBFC rating cards as pre-roll content ahead of features.

How many of Curzon12’s titles will rotate every month, or whether all of them will change every 30 days, in the manner of fellow arthouse SVOD service MUBI, is not yet clear. We have reached out to Curzon for further details.

Not a Curzon member? Membership is separated into three tiers: Classic, Cult and Complete. They all include free tickets to some degree, as well as discount on paid Curzon Home Cinema titles, as well as other benefits, such as Curzon magazine delivered to your door and priority book. Prices start from £45 a year for a “Classic Local” membership (only eligible for Curzon’s Wimbledon, Canterbury, Ripon, Sheffield and Knutsford cinemas) and £60 for a “Classic Every” membership (eligible at all Curzon venues) and go up to £950 a year for a “Complete Every” membership.

Already a Curzon member? You will be able to sign in to the platform here. In the meantime, watch this space for more details on the service’s official launch.

Add to Watchlist