A trio of Hollywood distributors — A24, Oscilloscope and Honora — are joining the launch of BitTorrent Now as pilot partners.
The file-sharing service announced BitTorrent Now on Thursday as a refresh to the file-sharing service’s Bundle platform with a pilot program for ad-supported streaming releases across multiple platforms such as web, iOS, Apple TV and Android.
Honora, A24 and Oscilloscope are among the pilot film partners with their own dedicated channels.
Honora’s will include David Cross’ “Hits,” new series “We Are San Marino” and “The Specials,” a preview of upcoming series “Back On Track” and three short films from director Andy de Young.
Oscilloscope’s Live on BitTorrent Now will include 13 feature films, including “Embrace of the Serpent,” “The Fits,” “12 O’Clock Boys,” “Dark Days” and “Le Tigre.”
A24, which has released “Spring Breakers,” “The Spectacular Now,” “Ex Machina,” “Amy,” “Room” and “The Witch,” did not disclose what will be available on its channel.
Popular on Variety
Other partners in BitTorrent Now include Yung Jake, Caleb Groh, Caveman, Kerli, Super Deluxe, iHeartComix, Factory25, Adam Bhala Lough, Letter Racer and Pizzaslime.
BitTorrent said its three-year-old Bundle platform reaches a global audience of 200 million fans and is used by Thom Yorke, Major Lazer, G-Eazy, Soulection, Fool’s Gold Records, Red Bull Media, Drafthouse Films, Sony Pictures Classics and the BBC. It introduced paygates in 2014, touted as allowing creators to set the price they choose for their work while keeping 90% of the sale revenue.
Variety reported on June 2 that BitTorrent was spinning off its Sync file synchronization tool into a separate company headed by former BitTorrent CEO Eric Klinker. Earlier this year, BitTorrent and its investors made the decision to double down on media in order to bring in new revenue streams through its new live streaming app and another media project code-named “BitTorrent Now.”
