How Subscription Models are Vitalising the Big Screen

Industry Insights - The EFM Podcast

Industry Insights – The EFM Podcast is presented by the European Film Market of the Berlinale. Hosted by Curator and Impact Producer Nadia Denton, it delves deep into the rapidly evolving film industry.

This episode explores how subscription models can contribute to a new form of communication among the stakeholders, entering new pathways of film exhibition. Five experts in the fields of subscription, exhibition and distribution share their experiences with subscription models and how they help them to work together towards one collective goal: loyal audiences and increased admissions.

Lennart Schneider is a freelance consultant specializing in subscription models and newsletter strategies. He is also the host of the podcast “subscribe now” in which he interviews managers from the world’s leadings subscription companies like Adobe, Hubspot, DIE ZEIT, Urban Sports Club, Blinkist and many more. In addition to the podcast he publishes a weekly newsletter (also called “subscribe now”) with news and deep dives into the ever growing subscription economy. His interest in this topic has developed while he was working with Germany’s leading quality newsletter “DIE ZEIT” where he was responsible for the loyalty program “Freunde der ZEIT” (Friends of DIE ZEIT) and the book club “Was wir lesen” (What we are reading). Lennart is a movie fan and has written his bachelor’s thesis about genre signals in movie posters.

Adriënne van den Berg works at Cinéart, an independent Benelux film distributor, where she handles all digital sales, thus selling films to TV and platforms. There, she is continuously exploring new on demand and subscription models for content consumption. She is developing a TVOD platform with Cinéart content, focused on specific auteurs, to reach and build stronger audiences. Also, she involves herself in creating content by editing and assists in content acquisition.

Lysann Windisch managed several art house cinemas in Munich and Berlin for more than 6 years, while also curating and organizing festivals and film events with a focus on Eastern European film. In 2018, she joined the Sino-European producers association Bridging the Dragon as manager for festivals and partnerships. From 2019-2021, she led the NEXT WAVE international education program at the Berlin film school DFFB, which focused on innovative distribution strategies in the film market. Since 2020, she has been in charge of MUBI Germany's marketing activities and, as Director of Distribution, Germany, she has been responsible for its German theatrical distribution. Since 2022 she also oversees the MUBI GO project. She is also a mentor of the CICAE trainings and a jury member of the Kinoprogrammpreis Berlin-Brandenburg.

Thomas Hosman is co-founder and CEO of Cineville, an unlimited membership and online platform for everyone who loves film. Cineville was created in 2009 by four twenty-something friends working at an Amsterdam cinema. Today, Cineville is the number one film community for adventurous film fans in the Netherlands and Belgium, accounting for 2 million annual admissions in the 80+ participating cinemas.

Wouter Timmermans studied Media & Culture at Universiteit van Amsterdam and finished his Masters degree in 2012. Since then he is a fulltime programmer for the oldest cinema in Amsterdam: The Movies Amsterdam, the biggest independent cinema in Amsterdam: De FilmHallen and the newest cinema in Haarlem (near Amsterdam) De FilmKoepel.

The host Nadia Denton is a film industry specialist with over a decade of experience as a Curator, Impact Producer and Author. Her focus has been on cinema of the African diaspora, she specialises in Nigerian Cinema and is author of two books The Black British Filmmakers Guide to Success and The Nigerian Filmmaker’s Guide to Success: Beyond Nollywood. Nadia is also an official V&A African Heritage Tour Guide.

This podcast episode has been developed in partnership with film executive Vera Herchenbach.

The Berlinale’s European Film Market is the first international film market of the year, where the film industry starts its business. Industry Insights - The EFM Podcast puts a spotlight on highly topical and trendsetting industry issues, thereby creating a compass for the forthcoming film year. The year-round podcast is produced in cooperation with Goethe-Institut and co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA.