Film studio FilmRise is bringing its library of films and TV shows to Amazon’s Fire TV Channels platform as short-form video content, the company announced on Friday.
The New York-based distributor, which now operates under Radial Entertainment, will offer more than 2,000 clips ranging from five to 15 minutes each on Fire TV and Echo Show devices in the United States. The lineup includes content from 14 creators such as Preston and Brianna, Uncle Roger and Unspeakable.
Daniel Gagliardi, the co-Head of Sales, Distribution & Strategy and Executive Vice President of North American Digital Distribution, said expanding into short-form was a natural move.
“It made perfect sense to expand and build upon our long-time relationship with Amazon and their wide array of connected devices as one of the best ways to extend our vast library of films, TV series and creator content in the short form,” Gagliardi said in a statement.
The move is FilmRise’s first formal push into short-form programming, a format that has gained traction as free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platforms look to offer viewers quick and easily digestible clips. FilmRise has built a presence in FAST and advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) by licensing and distributing catalog content like Forensic Files and Unsolved Mysteries. It also holds rights to more than 30,000 films and episodes across genres that include true crime, British drama, comedy, sci-fi and horror.
FilmRise has also produced original programming such as “Bloodline Detectives” hosted by Nancy Grace and “The Interrogation Room” hosted by Vivica A. Fox.
The announcement comes shortly after FilmRise merged with Shout Studios to form Radial Entertainment, a deal backed by investment firm Oaktree Capital. Radial controls a combined library of more than 70,000 titles, making it one of the larger independent distributors of film and television in the United States.
As part of the transaction, Shout co-founder Garson Foos became the CEO of Radial while FilmRise co-founder Danny Fisher moved into the role of executive chairman.
“We have long admired the FilmRise business and its executives and have held a steadfast belief that a strategic transaction between the companies would create an entertainment business of exciting scale,” Foos said when the deal was announced in July. “This is a highly additive merger between two very complementary organizations, and we have strong conviction in the incremental value that Radial will bring to our partners and dedicated consumer fan base.”
Fisher said the combined company is positioned to grow as streaming distributors look for content to serve audiences across both long-form and emerging short-form formats.
“With an incredible leadership team and steadfast support from Oaktree Capital Management, we have exciting new opportunities to leverage our extensive content libraries and combined operational resources to drive future growth,” Fisher said.
