FilmStruck, the indie, arthouse and classic film subscription-streaming service will shut down next month, Turner and Warner Digital Networks announced Friday.
The move is the latest by WarnerMedia, under AT&T’s ownership, to streamline operations by cutting niche-oriented business ventures.
The plan to cease FilmStruck was made prior to AT&T’s closing the Time Warner deal, but the strategy aligns with the new WarnerMedia goal to shift resources to mass-market entertainment services.
FilmStruck business will cease U.S. and international operations on November 29, 2018, and the service stopped accepting signups on October 26.
Turner declined to comment on how many employees will be affected by the closure, or provide info on how many employees work on FilmStruck.
The news that FilmStruck is struck down prompted several Hollywood directors–Barry Jenkins, Guillermo del Toro, and Rian Johnson–to vent their sadness and anger on social media.
The service hosted hundreds of classic, arthouse, indie and foreign films, many of them exclusively, including titles from the Criterion Collection catalog.
Jenkins, Oscar-winning director of “Moonlight,” twitted “F—,” followed with a post, saying about the FilmStruck team, “these were flesh and blood people who really, truly cared about the work they were doing and the people who made and appreciated film.”