Tribeca is adding yet another big name to its brand: Kanopy. After Tribeca launched its membership, festival Creators Forum, and recently went international with its inaugural Tribeca Festival Lisboa program, the company is debuting an exclusive partnership with Kanopy and Kinema.
Tribeca Films, the distribution label from Tribeca Enterprises and Giant Pictures, announced a multi-year partnership with Kanopy and Kinema to stream the label’s catalog of highly-anticipated independent cinema from top festivals.
Tribeca is the first festival to license films with Kanopy and Kinema, and Kanopy will be the exclusive educational and public library streaming partner for the label. Per a press statement, both streaming platforms will “support Tribeca Films’ aim to present acclaimed films to new streaming audiences and generate revenue for independent filmmakers.”
Tribeca CEO and co-founder Jane Rosenthal said, “Tribeca is a leading destination for filmmakers — from developing a project with Tribeca Studios, premiering at the annual Festival, to distributing with Tribeca Films. We seek to champion independent cinema, and there are no better partners than Kanopy and Kinema. More people deserve access to great films. These output deals will make it even easier for wider audiences to discover and watch festival favorites using a library card or attending a local screening event.”
The beloved platform Kanopy collaborates with public libraries and universities to stream commercial-less, free content, including the best of classic cinema. Kanopy has previously partnered with Paramount and A24 to offer streaming features; this Tribeca deal marks the first festival collaboration, though.
Separately, Kinema is a direct-to-consumer exhibition platform for filmmakers and non-theatrical distributors to deliver live screenings to audiences in-person or virtually on-demand. Kinema recently introduced a new “Pay What You Wish” feature to allow users to pay to watch on a sliding scale.
Tribeca Films holds more than 50 titles in its library. The first collection of films under the agreement with Kanopy are 2022 Tribeca Festival Best Narrative winner “Good Girl Jane,” documentary “Mary Heilmann: Waves, Roads, & Hallucinations,” Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro’s classic “A Bronx Tale,” “In Her Name,” and more.
New label releases “Good Girl Jane,” “In Her Name,” “Nude Tuesday,” and “Roving Women,” plus “Listen Up Philip” and “My Awkward Sexual Adventure,” are also now available on Kinema.
“At Kanopy, our mission is to bring diverse and meaningful films to public libraries and universities, offering a carefully curated selection of cinema to viewers everywhere,” OverDrive EVP of Content Jason Tyrrell, the company behind Kanopy, said. “This partnership with Tribeca Films allows us to amplify that mission by providing exclusive access to some of the most acclaimed festival films, making it possible for more audiences to discover and enjoy these incredible stories.”
Kinema CEO Christie Marchese added, “Tribeca Films is known for making some of the world’s most creative and original films, which is why we’re thrilled to help expand their distribution footprint and allow our growing audience of movie-lovers to watch these titles wherever and whenever they wish.”
Both deals were negotiated by Nick Savva for Tribeca Films with Jason Tyrrell for OverDrive and Christie Marchese for Kinema.
