US streaming service Fandor has struck a deal with Hulu Plus that will enable it to offer 30 films per month from the Criterion Collection.
Criterion Collection includes more than 800 films from directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman, John Cassavetes and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Hulu has had an exclusive deal with the classics library since 2011.
But under the deal with Fandor, the indie specialist streaming service will offer seven Criterion titles each week starting Tuesday, November 11. The titles will be offered in themed packages and will play on Fandor without commercials for 12 days.
The deal was negotiated by Hulu’s Griffin Gmelich and Fandor’s Ted Hope and Jonathan Marlow.
“We are thrilled to be working with Criterion and Hulu to reach a passionate community of the most enthusiastic film lovers in North America. It feels great to give our audience what they really want, the best auteurs and the best movies from the best partners,” said Hope.
Titles in the first package, themed around ‘Expeditions’, include Les Blank’s Burden Of Dreams, Zoltan Korda’s The Four Feathers and Sanders Of The River, Charles Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, Mikhail Kalatozov’s Letter Never Sent, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages Of Fear and Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Woman In The Dunes.
Fandor has a library of around 5,000 films and offers subscriptions for $10 a month or $7.50 a month with an annual membership.