Cinedigm acquires Fandor
January 21, 2021
Cinedigm has acquired Fandor, the global independent film subscription streaming service with a collection of independent films, documentaries, and international features in the market.
Fandor has a catalogue of over 4,600 film titles from more than 400 global and diverse partner film companies. Fandor’s acclaimed film offerings range from high-quality studio classics to festival favourites to essential award-winning foreign cinema features.
Cinedigm plans to leverage its substantial content library, technology, engineering and distribution capabilities to rapidly expand Fandor’s content offering, relaunch the service’s apps and expand distribution to Cinedigm’s global footprint of over 900 million connected devices.
Cinedigm will continue to offer the service ad-free, but also plans to offer a free, ad-supported on-demand tier as well as a linear streaming channel to further broaden the service’s reach to audiences of all viewing preferences.
“This acquisition of Fandor, coming on the heels of our Film Detective acquisition, solidifies Cinedigm’s position as the leading global streaming company for independent films,” said Chris McGurk, Cinedigm Chairman and CEO. “As a key element of our recently announced streaming rollup strategy, Fandor will immediately benefit from our streaming distribution muscle, huge library of independent films, Matchpoint technology, cost savings and infrastructure and synergies with our wide portfolio of enthusiast streaming channels. We fully expect an immediate EBITDA uplift from Fandor and strong revenue and profit growth going forward.”
“The paradox of the streaming revolution is that it has never been harder to discover classic, essential and new independent and foreign films,” said Erick Opeka, Chief Strategy Officer and President of Cinedigm Networks. “The founders of Fandor had the right idea, launching very early in the streaming growth cycle while still establishing a strong and resilient brand and viewer base. Our mission at Cinedigm is to enable viewers, including independent film enthusiasts, to stream their passions, and I can’t think of a streaming service that is truer to our mission than Fandor.”