Melbourne’s Classic, Lido and Cameo Cinemas and Sydney’s Ritz have launched VOD service ‘At Home’, with a catalogue that includes new and recent releases, as well as classics.
There are more than 100 launch titles, with options to both rent and buy, including recent films such as Color Out of Space; Vivarium; Honeyland and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Most titles are priced between $4.99 to $7.99 for 48 hours viewing time over 14 days. There are also new-to-market PVOD titles, such as Ben Lawrence’s Hearts and Bones, available to rent for $19.99.
Distributor partners include Madman, Umbrella, Roadshow, StudioCanal, Vendetta, Potential Films, Hi Gloss, JIFF Distribution and FilmInk Presents. Titles have also been sourced from international rights holders, including the American Genre Film Archive, which specialises in preserving the legacy of genre movies. The aim is to have new titles on the platform every week.
Programming streams include ‘Female Gaze’ (spotlighting women filmmakers), Australian Cinema, LGBTQI+ and ‘Weird and Wonderful’. The Australian films range from 1978’s The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith to recent titles 2040 and Mystify.
“We are cinema people, first and foremost,” said Eddie Tamir, owner of the four cinemas and director of programming.
“We are thrilled that our new At Home platform allows us to present great films of the recent and distant past alongside our cinema experience. We love being able to refer our customers directly to our personal film favourites and many of the great films in history on our very own streaming service.
“Our At Home platform allows us to place the new releases in our cinemas in context of what came before them. Our film-obsessed staff will provide reviews to films they personally care about and act as guides through this magical mystery tour of films. Our catalogue will be a place of film discovery with an eclectic range of content to browse, just as our cinemas have always offered.”
There are also curated collections from film festivals hosted by the cinemas, including the Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF), Children’s International Film Festival (CHIFF), and Fantastic Film Festival Australia (FFFA).
To celebrate the launch of At Home, each of the four cinemas will open their box office windows or front doors for a short time this Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16 from 4pm to 8pm to sell choc-tops and popcorn at special rates.
Customers who come by to pick up some popcorn or choc-tops to take home can also pick up a promotional code to use on their first film rented from At Home.