The creation of FilmStruck in 2016 seemed like a logical response to the growing ecosystem of online film viewing. Long gone were the days when classic movies were the backbone of Netflix’s offerings. As streaming became widespread, the rights to stream films got more expensive, and digital libraries became valuable tools for luring new subscribers. FilmStruck—a combination of the Criterion Collection and the Turner Classic Movies archive—was aimed at a niche audience, but a passionate one, much like the horror-focused service Shudder, the indie-centric Fandor, or the U.K. TV archive Acorn. Two years after its launch, FilmStruck is, canceled by Turner’s owner WarnerMedia, which was officially acquired by AT&T.
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The corporate chain of command seems crucial to the decision, since FilmStruck is the latest in a series of smaller WarnerMedia offerings to bite the dust. DramaFever, a video-on-demand service geared toward Korean dramas, was on October 16; Super Deluxe, a youth-focused digital TV brand, was ended. In each case, the issue was size. As AT&T plots a future for its media acquisitions, it’s looking to take on titans of the industry such as Disney and Netflix. FilmStruck and its ilk didn’t fit into that picture. These shutterings are a sad reality that echoes AT&T’s plans for HBO, the crown jewel of the WarnerMedia universe. John Stankey, the new Warner chief executive, in July to give them the lay of the land.
Despite the network’s Emmy success and high profit margin, Stankey stressed expansion, saying the change of direction would demand “more hours of engagement” and content released at a much faster pace. The conversation was leaked to the media, with some HBO employees clearly unsettled by Stankey’s outlook, given the network’s reputation for quality control. Like it or not, expansion is coming, on many fronts.
Netflix’s to original programming has spooked other media giants that don’t want to get left behind. But whereas Netflix needs to build up its library of original content, companies like Warner have deep archives that they can plumb. Much of the FilmStruck catalog (which had about 1,800 movies on offer for subscribers) consisted of classic films in the Warner and Turner libraries from studios such as Warner Bros. And MGM; titles ranged from classics such as Citizen Kane and Casablanca to utter that aren’t even available to buy on DVD or Blu-ray. Though other services like Mubi or —the latter of which comes free with certain library memberships—still exist, the breadth of their offerings is far narrower than FilmStruck’s. I subscribed to FilmStruck the day it launched, and the wealth of titles it offered wasn’t the only thing I enjoyed.
I had used Hulu in the past to watch Criterion films, but with FilmStruck, I could curate a more comprehensive watch list with ease and go through it at my own pace. For the first time, these kinds of movies—hard-to-find ones such as Jean Vigo’s Zero for Conduct, or the early films of Yasujirō Ozu and Akira Kurosawa—weren’t buried within a larger library. Not only were they were prominently featured, but I could also sort by genre, director, or year. I opted for the latter, creating a curriculum of sorts to address gaps in my movie-watching knowledge that I could barrel through chronologically. But the Warner-owned titles have a more nebulous fate. That library is an especially singular resource, and its loss has caused serious consternation among. A source told that the issue was “too many initiatives”—that AT&T was looking to consolidate as it mapped out the future of the company, rather than manage several smaller projects.
Indeed, Warner Media plans for a “direct-to-consumer” streaming platform in 2019, something sizable enough to compete with Netflix, that will be led by HBO but padded out with other Warner titles. “We are committed to launching a compelling and competitive product that will serve as a complement to our existing businesses and help us to expand our reach,” Stankey said of WarnerMedia’s extensive library in a statement. Those “key learnings” remain uncertain. Some, or all, of the WarnerMedia archives will likely be included in whatever new service they put together. But that project is at least a year from fruition, and it’ll lack the curation that made FilmStruck so special to subscribers trying to make a dent in its voluminous catalog.
That kind of care and attention will be difficult to replicate on a larger scale. As companies work to assemble their respective streaming behemoths, FilmStruck will in retrospect feel like little more than a blip, a more specialized media moment between two eras ruled by giant networks.We want to hear what you think about this article. To the editor or write to [email protected].
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