New York-based Vyer Films has announced that its arthouse-oriented VOD service will not be adding new titles and is now on “an indefinite hiatus”.
“In the quest to give audiences something different, Vyer brought over 65 films, more than half being released in North America for the first time, to thousands of people,” said founder and CEO K.C. McLeod in a statement.
“I wish the future held more films and more viewers, but if even a single scene, performance, or shot stays with everyone who enjoyed a Vyer film, that is a fulfilling end to the mission we began five years ago.”
McLeod later told the Technical.ly blog that there wasn’t one particular reason that resulted in the closure of the service: “I couldn’t figure out a way to deliver an experience that provided a valuable enough experience to a large enough audience that could support independent filmmakers in the way the service was set up to do.”
Launched in 2010, Vyer Films streamed arthouse titles such as Estonian black comedy The Temptation Of St Tony; Turkish filmmaker Semih Kaplanoglu’s Egg; and Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono’s Himizu.
McLeod told subscribers that payments would be suspended and they would enjoy a complimentary month of access to vyerfilms.com and its Roku channel. While new titles will not be added, the catalogue is being hosted by VHX at vyerfilms.vhx.tv where titles are available for $2.99 to stream and download. Revenues will be remitted to filmmakers in accordance with all licensing agreements.