KanopyStreamer that is Free and accessible to anyone with a library cardHave moved from being the “best preserved secret” in streaming to the secret to being out. At least it is the feeling of Kanopy’s GM Jason Tyrell, who has seen as streamer has Adult in popularity since its launch in 2008.
When we talked to Tyrell in March 2024, Kanopy was available via about 40 percent of libraries in North America. That number is now almost 50 percent.
But the next limit of Kanopy’s growth reaches people who do not yet have a library card and may be inclined to register for one or search for one. This is why Kanopy on Friday releases its first original film Title as part of a new division on Streamer devoted to searching and distributing original films and series.
The film is called “Banned Together”, a documentary about the history of banning books and the current state of combating censorship and erasure of literature in American public schools. Just as with one of the other 30,000+ titles Kanopy licenses, “Banned Together” is available for each library with the platform, and anyone who has access to Kanopy with a library card can look at it without extra fee or ads.
The film, directed by Kate Way and Tom Wiggin, follows three students in Beaufort, South Carolina who fought back when 97 books were withdrawn from the school library.
Since it is about books, it is obviously a topic that is close to the home for libraries and their continued existence. But “forbidden” is not the only project that Kanopy hopes to be released, and it is all part of the currents’ goal to meet the needs of the library and a constantly developing academic mandate.
“We have seen the landscape for independent film shifts after being very strongly embraced by the large consumer flows. It has been quite bleak in recent years,” Tyrell said. “Meanwhile, there are are fantastic stories out there that are resonating with audiences; they are just not finding eiter a production partner or a streaming home that’s going to invest in them. So that led us to say, outd Libraries where we can find the right mix of stories that appeal to library audiences in maybe a different way than what they are finding in commercial streaming? ”
Kanopy came aboard “forbidden” about two years ago when the film just started production. And while the film seemed like the perfect fit, the decision was to be branched into the original hatched hand in hand with becoming a co -producing partner on the documentary.
Canopy already had done a number of partnershipEspecially last year’s Oscar-nominated doctor “Soundtrack to a coup d’etat” along with Kino LorberIncluded in the film as its official library and education distributor. But “forbidden” is the first time they work as co -producers and release the film exclusively through libraries and academic institutions.
The film will be available with other digital distribution funds via film hub, and other rights are still available if another streamer or network wants to make it (or other future Kanopy -original) available as part of a second publishing window. Like all producers, although Kanopy releases the film to free up for libraries, it has a supervisory responsibility towards the filmmakers to get it to the widest audience as possible. It means finding other ways to release along the way, whether it is physical media or broadcast licenses.
Next for Kanopy: an original, unwritten series called “America’s Next Great Author.” Tyrell says it is “The Voice” but for writers, and it is created and hosted by the best seller Kwame Alexander. The series is under development now and will be broadcast in 2026.
Tyrell says the goal is to release two to four original titles per year. Kanopy does not compete with A24 for Sundance titles at any time soon, but Tyrell hopes to be able to conduct not only documentaries but fictional book adaptations that can use a crossover audience of movie lovers and avid readers.
“If you think of a library, we don’t want to do anything throw away. We don’t want other screen type,” Tyrell said. “We are really looking for stories, whether it is a documentary or story, which feels like they deepen your experience, introduce you to new worlds or perspectives and things you may not have engaged before, but also provide an element of charm and joy in the same way as discovering something new in a library discovers for people.”
“Baned Together” starts streaming on Friday 25 April on Kanopy.
