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Curzon Home Cinema

Curzon Home Cinema
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo on demand
FoundedLondon, England (2010)
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Key people
Philip Knatchbull, CEO
ParentCurzon (Fortress Investment Group)[1]
Websitehomecinema.curzon.com

Curzon Home Cinema is a video-on-demand streaming service available in the UK and Ireland where movies are available to rent on a 'pay per watch' basis. It is part of the Curzon World group which has roots going back to 1934.[2] Films on this service are managed by the Curzon Cinemas team, focusing on independent, art-house and foreign-language titles.[3] Initially launched as Curzon on Demand in 2010,[4] and rebranded in 2013, it was the first service in the UK to show selected new cinema releases at home (Premium Video On Demand), the same date they were available to watch in cinemas ("day-and-date").[5] UK film distributor Curzon Artificial Eye, founded in 1976, is also part of the same business, providing day-and-date releases to the platform, as well as a catalogue of classic titles, including a significant number of Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winners.[6] In 2015, more than 60 European films were given day-and-date releases,[7] including Curzon's release of Andrew Haigh's 45 Years, the first such UK title to make over £1 million at the box office.[8]

In November 2016, Curzon Home Cinema won 'OTT TV Initiative of the Year' at the second annual Content Innovation Awards.[9] The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) presented the Curzon group, which includes Curzon Home Cinema, with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award[10] at the EE British Academy Film Awards in February 2017.[11]

From 2017 to 2021, Curzon offered an SVOD streaming service called Curzon12 where Curzon cinemas members could stream 12 curated films a month for free with their membership on Curzon Home Cinema, whose library featured classics and award winners from filmmakers such as François Truffaut and Andrea Arnold.[12]

On 23 December 2019, Curzon Home Cinema, along with Artificial Eye and Curzon Cinemas, was acquired by American film distributor Cohen Media Group.[13]

In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Curzon's streaming platform allowed viewers to continue to enjoy new releases, Zoom Q&As with filmmakers and other digital content when cinemas were closed.

In 2021, the company launched a new Curzon Home Cinema website with updated apps and the capacity to download films to watch offline. Curzon rolled out a new membership package to customers, giving them 'credits' that can be redeemed as cinema tickets and films streamed online.[14]

Curzon Home Cinema also features live Q&As across the service in the form of moderated conversations with acclaimed filmmakers (including Mike Leigh, Joanna Hogg, and Werner Herzog) and actors (such as Elisabeth Moss, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jesse Eisenberg). Curzon Home Cinema has worked in digital partnership with a number of film festivals, streaming an online programme of movies for Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF)[15] and Raindance[16] among others, as well as broadcasting the European Film Awards. The Curzon Cinemas team curates weekly collections for the site that comprise a selection of thematically linked films such as biopics, romances or war movies.

In November 2024, Curzon Home Cinema as well as Curzon Cinemas and Curzon Film were acquired in a foreclosure auction by Fortress Investment Group.[1]

  1. ^ a b Ramachandran, Naman (November 11, 2024). "Curzon Cinema Chain Acquired by Fortress in U.K. Arthouse Deal". Variety. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  2. ^ "About Curzon". Curzon World Corporate. Curzon Group Website. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Ways of Seeing: The Changing Shape of Cinema Distribution". Sight & Sound Magazine. 26 (8): 41. August 2016.
  4. ^ "Curzon unveils the first on-demand cinema". Tech Radar. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Curzon on Demand Launches". Huffington Post UK. Huffington Post. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  6. ^ "About Curzon Artificial Eye". Curzon Artificial Eye. Curzon. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Open access drives new MEDIA programme". Variety. Variety Magazine. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  8. ^ "The first 1M day and date film in the UK". Screen Daily. Screen International. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Content Innovation Award Winners". Content Innovation Awards 2016. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Curzon To Receive Award For Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema". BAFTA. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Curzon to receive 'outstanding' Bafta award". BBC News. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Curzon launches monthly subscription VoD offering (Exclusive)". Screen Daily. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  13. ^ Andreas Wiseman (23 December 2019). "Curzon Cinemas & Artificial Eye, UK's Flagship Arthouse Film Group, Acquired By Cohen Media Group". Deadline. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  14. ^ Dalton2021-05-17T12:36:00+01:00, Ben. "New Curzon membership scheme to combine cinema tickets and streaming (exclusive)". Screen. Retrieved 2021-11-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Edinburgh International Film Festival". EdinburghGuide.com. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  16. ^ Raindance (2021-09-15). "Programme Announcement 29th Raindance Film Festival". Raindance. Retrieved 2021-11-24.

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