The reference desk

For trailers, no. For the full film, yes. Cinema's catalog is membership-supported, and we let strangers see the trailer before the door so the door doesn't feel arbitrary.

If a friend sent you a link, click through and watch the trailer first. The film itself sits behind a sign-in, which takes about thirty seconds.

Because passwords are the worst part of every site that uses them. We send a one-time code to your email each time you sign in from a new device, and trust the device for thirty days. It's both safer and easier than a password you'll forget by November.

If you'd rather use a password manager and a real password anyway, you can — see Account settings.

Account → the Danger zone at the bottom → Close my account. We'll ask for confirmation, then we erase your watch history, watchlist, and profile within seven days. Email and billing records are kept for seven years for tax reasons; we can't shorten that without falling out of compliance.

On the iOS app, yes — open a film, tap the menu, choose Save for the train. On the web, no. Browsers don't have a way to do this without breaking the filmmakers' license terms, and we'd rather not pretend.

Saved films stay on your device for thirty days, then check in for a license refresh.

One of three reasons:

• The window closed. Some films are licensed for a fixed period and rotate out. We tell you when the window expires; check the film's detail page.
• The filmmaker pulled it. Filmmakers retain rights and can withdraw a film at any time, for any reason.
• An exclusive deal. A film may move to a theatrical or festival window that excludes streaming. It usually comes back.

If a specific film matters to you, add it to your watchlist — we email when it's expiring soon.

There isn't one. The marquee is programmed every Friday by a person named Sam, and the rest of the catalog is browsable by genre, festival, decade, and director. We think recommendation systems flatten taste, so we don't run one.

If you want to suggest something Sam should program, the email's sam@cinema.example. They read every note.

$8.50/month or $84/year (billed once). The annual saves you about $18. There is no ad tier, no shared profile tier, no premium tier. One price.

Members get the whole catalog, watch parties, and member-only Q&As. Investing in films is a separate activity and does not require a membership.

Within the first 14 days of a new membership, yes — write to hello@cinema.example and we'll refund the unused portion. After that, we don't pro-rate. The honest answer is that the cost of running the platform doesn't go down because you didn't watch.

If you're going to be away for a while, you can pause billing for up to three months from Account.

Web (any modern browser), iOS, iPadOS, Apple TV, Android (phone & tablet), and Roku. Android TV and Fire TV are in development. Chromecast and AirPlay work from any of the above.

We don't have a Smart TV app for Samsung or LG. If your TV is from 2018 or later, it probably has Apple TV or Roku built in, which works.

Up to three streams at once, on any devices, anywhere. We don't do "household IP detection" or any of the fingerprinting nonsense. If three is enough for your family, it's enough.

Distinct profiles per family member are coming soon — for now everyone shares one watchlist.

Sign in, open Studio, click Upload. We review within five working days; usually faster. We don't have a "submission fee" or any reading fees. We never have, and we won't.

If you came to us through a festival partnership, your acquiring programmer will set up your account.

You do. Cinema acquires non-exclusive distribution rights by default — you can sell to other platforms, screen at festivals, release a director's cut, or pull the film entirely without our permission. Our standard agreement is two pages long; you can read it before you click. Here it is.

ProRes 422 HQ at the film's native resolution and frame rate, with separate files for the dialogue stem, music stem, and effects stem if you have them (we mix surround in-house). H.264 and H.265 are accepted but transcode badly; ProRes is worth the upload time.

If you can deliver an IMF package, we'll take that too.

Five working days, longer if there are content review questions or if your master needs a re-encode. We watch every film cover-to-cover at least once before it goes live; the team that does the watching is the same team that programs the marquee, so they know what they're looking for.

Status of every upload lives in Studio, with a real human contact attached.

Three lanes, all live the moment a film publishes:

• Ads — pre-roll plus one mid-roll per 30 minutes, skippable after five seconds. Contextually matched, no targeting. You keep 55%.
• Tips — viewers send any amount mid-watch or at end-of-watch. You keep 100% (we cover processor fees on tips over $5).
• Patron subscriptions — three locked tiers (Crew $5 · Director $12 · Producer $40) configured in Patron setup. You keep 90%.

You don't have to opt in — every new upload is monetized in all three lanes by default. You can mute any lane per-title in Studio.

Tier names and prices are locked site-wide so viewers don't have to learn a new ladder on every page: Crew $5/mo · Director $12/mo · Producer $40/mo. You design what each tier gets — ad-free, early access, director's commentary, monthly call, credit on your next project, whatever fits the work.

The setup wizard walks you through it. Most filmmakers spend twenty minutes on it once and revisit only when they ship a new title.

Monthly, on the 15th, for the prior month's earnings. ACH to your linked bank account, with a printed statement mailed quarterly. Minimum payout is $25 — anything below rolls forward.

Per-title and per-lane breakdowns (ads vs. tips vs. patrons) live in your Studio earnings tab with every line item exportable as CSV. The tax-relevant subset shows up on a 1099-NEC mailed by January 31.

By revenue lane:

• Ads — 45% (you keep 55%). Covers ad-server, sales team, hosting, brand-safety review.
• Tips — 0% (you keep 100%). We absorb payment processor fees on tips over $5.
• Patron subs — 10% (you keep 90%). Covers Stripe, statements, and the patron-only feature work.

No upload fee, no annual platform fee, no marketing recoupment, no acquisition fee. If we ever raise the take rate, we'll tell you a quarter in advance.

Distributors, sales agents, streamers, family offices, production companies, and individuals with a real history of acquiring film IP. We don't gate by net worth — we gate by fit. The application asks about your firm, your prior transactions, and your reason for entering this market.

Most decisions in five business days. Apply here →

Two reasons. First, the creators listing in this channel are usually mid-career filmmakers willing to part with a specific work — they don't want offers from anyone curious about pricing. Second, the buyer side benefits from a small, qualified room. Fewer offers, better-considered offers.

The gateway page (/acquisitions) shows a "glimpse" — three locked cards with redacted titles, asking prices, and creators. You can see that listings exist and what shape they take; the specifics open after approval.

From Studio → "List for acquisition" in the shortcuts panel, or from the new Your listings card on the dashboard. The flow is six steps: pick a film, choose a structure, set asking, pick what transfers, pick visibility, review & publish.

Cinema's Acquisitions desk reviews every new listing for completeness within 24 hours. Most go live the same business day.

No. Listing is free, with no deposit. Cinema's 3% brokerage fee is paid by the buyer at wire and only when a deal closes. You receive the full asking price (or whatever you negotiate to) net of your own taxes.

Your patrons stay with you, not the asset. Existing patron subscriptions continue. Cinema doesn't transfer subscribers in an Acquisition — they were supporting you, not a balance sheet entry.

The film typically remains on Cinema for at least 12 months post-close under a standard streaming license, so your patrons keep access for the standard window. If the buyer pulls earlier (their right, with 30 days' notice), Cinema notifies your patrons and provides a refund schedule.

Yes, at any time before an offer is accepted. Open Acquisitions in Studio, click the listing, and Delist. Pending offers are notified and lapse. The film and your patron relationships are unaffected.

After you accept an offer, delisting becomes "withdrawing from a signed agreement" and Cinema's standard cancellation schedule applies — zero penalty in the first 5 days, up to 3% of the deal value after week 3, capped at 3%.

Clean break — single cash payment, full transfer, no further claims either way. Common for catalog deals and older work.

Cash + earnout — fixed cash at close, plus a percentage of any future onward IP sale within a decay window (default 10% / 5y). The creator captures upside if the buyer later resells; the buyer captures downside protection because the headline price is lower.

Both are M&A, not securities. Why this isn't an investment offering →

Through Cinema's neutral deal room. Buyer makes an offer (cash + earnout, plus a letter); the creator reads, may accept, counter, or decline. Counter-offers loop in the same thread. Most deals settle in 2–3 rounds. An NDA is auto-applied at offer time.

Cinema's broker (Anya) joins any thread on request — usually to walk a first-time acquirer through the standard schedule, never to apply pressure.

Included by default: copyright in the film, camera RAW and project files, all sound stems, worldwide distribution, sequel/derivative rights, underlying contracts.

Excluded: the creator's authorship credit (permanent), their future works, and their existing patron subscribers.

Optional: continued streaming on Cinema post-close (default 12 months), marketing assets, festival run rights, soundtrack release rights. Everything is negotiable in the deal room.

From accepted offer to recorded copyright transfer: median 47 days. Six stages — offer accepted, Sale Agreement drafted, both sides sign, escrow funded, asset bundle delivered, copyright recorded with the USCO. Each stage has a Cinema-side checklist and clear next milestones.

No. An Acquisition is the outright sale of a specific copyrighted work and its rights — an asset purchase, like the private sale of any IP. No ongoing payments flow from Cinema to the buyer after the wire clears. The earnout (when present) runs creator-side only — it's a residual to the seller, on a future onward sale.

The Howey Test doesn't apply. No SEC or FINRA registration is required in the United States. Full disclosures →

For US sellers, proceeds typically constitute the sale of a capital asset held more than one year (long-term capital gains). For US buyers, the asset is amortizable IP under §197. Earnout payments are usually treated as installment-sale proceeds.

Cinema is not a tax advisor. Talk to one. We file a 1099 for the broker fee and issue a closing memorandum suitable for your tax preparer.

Sale agreements are governed by Delaware law or English law at the parties' option. We currently close in 21 jurisdictions. International sales include Tax Form withholdings where applicable; Cinema's settlement desk handles the paperwork.

The three you'll want:

• Terms of service — the rules of using the platform.
• Privacy policy — what data we collect, why, and what we don't.

All three are written in plain English first and lawyer-language second. Eleanor on our counsel team makes us re-write any sentence that needs a translator.

Sometime soon, on a dedicated About page. For interviews, advance copy of films, or commentary, write to press@cinema.example. We try to respond within one working day.

Every film page has a small Report link at the bottom; for accounts, it's at the bottom of the user's profile. We read every report within one working day. We don't have a community moderation team yet because we don't have a community big enough to need one.

For copyright takedowns, follow the DMCA process at dmca@cinema.example. Counter-notice instructions are in our terms.