Streaming website Filmocracy, which hosted virtual film festivals (and their films), is shutting down after just six years in business. CEO Paul Jun made the announcement on Friday via a memo obtained by IndieWire. It was addressed to “the festivals, filmmakers, film critics, and film lovers.” Count us among that community for sure.
“It’s with great sadness that today we make the announcement that Filmocracy will be shutting down at the end of the month,” Jun wrote.
Filmocracy also prided itself on having a valid, thoughtful, and trustworthy ratings system for films from a community of tastemakers in the independent film world.
“With the direction the industry is heading, there is even less room and support for innovation,” Jun added, calling the film world “a cut-throat industry that is fractured and isolating when really everyone needs to support each other in order to survive.”
Filmocracy had three tiers: 1) a very limited free plan that had ads and did not allow users to stream festival films or filmmaker Q&As, 2) a $13.99/month ad-free plan that carried the films but not those industry events, and 3) a $29.99/month plan that gave users access to everything Filmocracy had to offer.
Considering those prices vs. what we’ve become accustomed to paying for other AVOD and SVOD services, it is probably no surprise that Filmocracy couldn’t scale. Of course, the price had to be high because the target market for virtual film festivals is not particularly large — but even the top Netflix plan is $7 less per month than the top Filmocracy one.
Here’s what the Filmocracy website says are were its future plans: “Creating the platform and polishing the rating and rewards system are just the first step. After that we plan on implementing an equity crowdfunding model, similar to Kickstarter and Indiegogo except instead of just making a donation, users will be able to invest in film projects they believe in while sharing in their financial success.”
Straight out of the Angel Studios playbook.
Read Jun’s full email here:
To all the festivals, filmmakers, film critics, and film lovers,
It’s with great sadness that today we make the announcement that Filmocracy will be shutting down at the end of the month. I’m extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish over the past 6 years in striving to improve the film ecosystem, however with the direction the industry is heading, there is even less room and support for innovation.
To the filmmakers, I hope beyond all measure that a person or company comes along who will be able to take you where you want to go. It’s a cut-throat industry that is fractured and isolating when really everyone needs to support each other in order to survive.
To the film festivals, many platforms have come and gone during the Covid-19 pandemic and I hope that you continue to serve patrons in person and virtually so that all have an equal opportunity to enjoy such important art from across the world. If you have an event upcoming that you need assistance with, we are working on partnering with other platforms to assist you during the transition.
To the film lovers, I know the independent spirit will always continue to produce innovative content so I hope most of all that it’s fairly and accessibly distributed.
And last of all to my team, thank you so much for living this dream of mine. You all worked so hard over the past many years and to all of you, I will continue to repay you for the faith and energy you put into Filmocracy. The journey continues, just in a different way.
Understandably this will be disruptive to many of your events and distribution moving forward. Any questions can be sent to me directly at paul@filmocracy.com and I will do my best to resolve all outstanding matters.
Thank you,
Paul Jun
CEO | Filmocracy
