Magnolia Pictures is expanding its movie streaming offerings to Canada with local partner Mongrel Media.
Magnolia and Mongrel will launch Mongrel Home Cinema, targeting Canadians with a subscription streaming service to debut on April 30 and priced at $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually. Toronto-based Mongrel Media has traditionally released U.S. and foreign indie pics from major players like Sony Pictures Classics and IFC Films into the Canadian market.
As Magnolia and Mongrel, like other specialty film distributors, attempt to appeal to streaming audiences while maintaining a foothold in the theatrical market, the partners will add 10 new indie films on the first Tuesday of every month to the new Canadian SVOD. “The new partnership allows Mongrel Home Cinema to encapsulate the very best in independent film by showcasing curated collections from both Magnolia and Mongrel for Canadian audiences,” Jeff Cuban, COO of Mark Cuban Companies Entertainment Properties, said in a statement.
Magnolia already offers Magnolia Selects stateside as an on-demand streaming platform created and curated by the indie film distributor, while also having its pics streamed on Netflix and Hulu. Mongrel Home Cinema will feature indie titles like Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao’s The Rider, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair and Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz.
“Cinema lovers regularly tell us that they spend more time on platforms searching for films than actually watching them,” Mongrel Media founder and president Hussain Amarshi said in his own statement about the newest curated collection of indie films launching online north of the border.
