Lions Gate To Offer Online Streaming Service Tribeca Short List, With Focus On Art House Films

Lions Gate Entertainment announced Monday it is pairing with Tribeca Enterprises, co-founded by Robert De Niro, to offer a streaming service called Tribeca Short List. The service will offer online movies made by Lions Gate and outside studios, and will be available in early 2015.

The announcement was short on details such as how much the service would cost, or how many titles in its library it would make available, but a source close to the deal told International Business Times the library would be focused on art-house films rather than Lions Gate hits like "The Hunger Games," "The Twilight Saga" and "Divergent."

The service will draw from its own library as well as films from other indie studios and producers. Each Tribeca Short List film will also include a leading filmmaker explaining why each film has been included.

The Lions Gate announcement comes as other major networks are launching, or planning to launch, direct-to-consumer offerings that bypass cable and satellite providers. Last week, HBO announced plans to offer movies and original programming via streaming service in 2015. Soon after, CBS launched All Access, a digital subscription service that offers video on demand and live streaming for $5.99 per month.

Digital subscription services are proliferating to attract the increased numbers of people who want to watch content online and who are choosing digital services over cable and satellite providers. About 40 percent of households have a paid digital video subscription, according to comScore, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“We are pleased to join with Lions Gate ... to create a highly curated experience that disrupts the ‘more-is-more’ model in today’s streaming on-demand landscape,” said Jane Rosenthal, chief executive of Tribeca Enterprises. “Tribeca Short List aims to be a service where you can see films you never got to watch, forgot to watch, and want to watch.”