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How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

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Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#11

Post by Arnt »

wfn wrote: post #5

MUBI's curatorial approach stands in sharp contrast to major streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, which have amassed large libraries and deliver personalized recommendations based on algorithms. MUBI's human-curated selection takes a lot of that choice away, and Cakarel thinks viewers are better off for it. "Think about your own Netflix experience and how frustrating it is — how long it takes you to fin…

Please describe some neat things you'd like to do.

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#12

Post by bazzargh »

I used to use mubi back in the Auteurs days but it was frustrating that the selection was so much smaller in the UK than the US (I recall it being around 10% of the films; anything that had had a mainstream cinema release was missing). They still seem to have that restriction, but they've taken the 'show me what's available in my area' filter away.

I can understand why they'd do that, but it feels a bit off being asked to sign up for a service where the films advertised on the front page aren't available.

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#13

Post by cwyers »

wfn wrote: post #5

MUBI's curatorial approach stands in sharp contrast to major streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, which have amassed large libraries and deliver personalized recommendations based on algorithms. MUBI's human-curated selection takes a lot of that choice away, and Cakarel thinks viewers are better off for it. "Think about your own Netflix experience and how frustrating it is — how long it takes you to fin…

> "Think about your own Netflix experience and how frustrating it is — how long it takes you to find a film that you want to watch," says Cakarel. "It doesn't work. It categorically doesn't work."

I don't really think this describes my Netflix experience well enough to be "categorically" true.

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#14

Post by pmontra »

"This film is not currently playing on MUBI but 30 other great films are. See what's NOW SHOWING"

Why? That was for a movie that I could pay to watch but they don't let me watch it. I wonder how they could be in business. Still they are so it's probably a sensible choice that I fail to understand.

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#16

Post by Arnt »

pmontra wrote: post #14

"This film is not currently playing on MUBI but 30 other great films are. See what's NOW SHOWING" Why? That was for a movie that I could pay to watch but they don't let me watch it. I wonder how they could be in business. Still they are so it's probably a sensible choice that I fail to understand.

The niche is something like: A quickly browsed list that includes no teevee series, no films called Foo 2, nothing offensively bad, but some good films, some classics, some that are just easy on the eyes. It'll never be mainstream, but it's great for middlebrow teevee haters like myself.

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#17

Post by dasil003 »

pmontra wrote: post #14

"This film is not currently playing on MUBI but 30 other great films are. See what's NOW SHOWING" Why? That was for a movie that I could pay to watch but they don't let me watch it. I wonder how they could be in business. Still they are so it's probably a sensible choice that I fail to understand.

We recognize the confusion this causes in the UI, but indeed there is a valid reason for it. Since the beginning we have streamed globally, but a different selection in each country. Since we have editorial and social features on the site as well, we can't just have pages appear and disappear from the site like Netflix does. All these pages exist as connective tissue between users in different countries (which becomes even more important with links shared on social networks). Even if social features and film discussions don't interest you, clicking Add to Watchlist tells us you want to watch that and helps in our acquisitions and programming process.

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#18

Post by throwaway7767 »

cwyers wrote: post #13
wfn wrote: post #5

MUBI's curatorial approach stands in sharp contrast to major streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, which have amassed large libraries and deliver personalized recommendations based on algorithms. MUBI's human-curated selection takes a lot of that choice away, and Cakarel thinks viewers are better off for it. "Think about your own Netflix experience and how frustrating it is — how long it takes you to fin…

> "Think about your own Netflix experience and how frustrating it is — how long it takes you to find a film that you want to watch," says Cakarel. "It doesn't work. It categorically doesn't work." I don't really think this describes my Netflix experience well enough to be "categorically" true.

Netflix recommendations work really well for some people, not so much for others.

Even after using it for a few months, I found the success rate not much better than just trawling through imdb new releases lists. Yet a lot of my friends say they the recommendations are pretty spot-on and usually something they enjoy.

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#19

Post by ohbleek »

dasil003 wrote: post #15

Whoah, it's awesome to see this posted here in my native habitat! I've spent the last 8 years of my life building MUBI as Co-Founder and CTO (even longer than I've been on HN!). Please AMA.

I love the site and found it through filmspotting. Any plans for adding support for kodi? (there's an addon already but it isn't updated regularly)

Re: How a small streaming site became the Netflix for indie film

#20

Post by malkia »

navait wrote: post #8
smazga wrote: post #7

Why won't they (mubi.com) tell me how much it costs? No prices listed, and clicking links that seem like they would take me to that info send me to the 'subscribe now' nag dialog. That's close-tab-and-forget-about-it behavior.

It's 4.99/Mo which it clearly says after the sign up dialog.

$3.99/month if subscribed for 12 months.
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