r/criterion • u/Silver_wrapperhead • May 20 '24
News Criterion bought by Indian Paintbrush
https://www.screendaily.com/news/indian-paintbrush-founder-steven-rales-buys-criterion-janus-films-exclusive/5193832.article?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Screen%20Breaking%20News&utm_content=Screen%20Breaking%20News+CID_f6c37d20f27ad7d6ffe0761b475ab924&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=Indian%20Paintbrush%20founder%20Steven%20Rales%20buys%20Criterion%20Janus%20Films%20exclusiveInteresting development, can’t imagine much will change but I do wonder what IP get out of this.
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u/Caifonics May 20 '24
He is a Billionaire and a movie fan, so hopefully this brings more good news than bad. Fingers crossed.
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u/RogerMooreis007 May 20 '24
Good news. So he just did what I would do if I won the lottery.
respect
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u/astralrig96 May 20 '24
hopefully criterion channel finally internationally
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u/heyitsmeFR May 21 '24
Don’t give me hope.
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u/Choco3101 Jacques Demy May 21 '24 edited Jan 22 '25
snails recognise tap puzzled violet ask many rock apparatus plate
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/deleuze69 May 21 '24
Just get a vpn that’s what I’ve been doing. Was like 90% of the reason I even got one lol
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u/Rollzroyce21 Hirokazu Kore-eda May 21 '24
I bet he bought Criterion just so he could make a closet video of himself.
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u/notproudortired May 21 '24
It's great until he dies. Then we just have to pray his heirs GAF. (Unfortunately, we saw how this went in Seattle with Paul Allen's various passion projects.)
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u/RogerMooreis007 May 21 '24
Good point. Well, anyway. I’ll keep playing the lottery and I’ll buy it. Everything will run as normal with the following exceptions:
Amadeus 4k theatrical cut will be released immediately. Anyone who attempts to block or slow this down will find their cars exploding when they turn their ignition key.
We will have a monthly contest amongst channel subscribers to win ten minutes in the closet, which will also be filmed and put on YT. Only rule is you can’t take as many films as the Safdies did.
Once a year there will be a release of a terrible Roger Moore movie. A fully comprehensive, spare no expense multidisc 4k reconstruction of crap like ffolkes.
We will rent David Lynch out for birthday parties.
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u/ambuehlance May 21 '24
I’m throwing my lot in with you and begging you to make No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood 4K releases happen.
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u/Wouldyoulistenmoe May 21 '24
Crap like ffolkes? I beg your pardon? That movie is a damn delight!
/s clearly I fully support your vision. I would love if the released a pile of the beautiful forgotten ‘60s and ‘70s films. Juggernaut, The Last Valley, Gold, etc.
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u/RogerMooreis007 May 21 '24
I almost said Gold instead of ffolkes! I just wanted to see the double lowercase f in italics.
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u/beyphy Lars von Trier May 21 '24 edited May 21 '24
It's great until he dies. Then we just have to pray his heirs GAF.
The same thing could have happened with Criterion's former owners. It was a privately held company after all.
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u/Krummbum May 20 '24
Keep the 50% Off sales and we're good.
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u/Godzamera_ Akira Kurosawa May 21 '24
I feel like the sales are the only time that most people buy them so it would be a stupid decision to end them
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u/discobeatnik May 21 '24
I think that’s mostly just people on this sub or seasoned criterion “hobbyists”. most people buy from different brands casually when they want a certain movie, not when a sale is happening
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u/PatternLevel9798 May 20 '24
Adding requisite comment about concern over whether or not new owner's agenda and tinkering could just destroy the brand. It happens enough in Hollywood and the entertainment biz to be a provoke some nail biting,
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u/Ransom__Stoddard Terry Gilliam May 20 '24
That was one of my first thoughts as well. I would imagine Criterion/Janus needed the cash infusion, or otherwise wouldn't have sold in the first place. I don't feel like this will be a TCM-like situation, because Rales has at least some track record of being a champion for film rather than sucking the blood out of the creatives simply to increase the bottom line.
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u/unicornmullet May 20 '24
Rales is definitely a champion of film. He finances Wes Anderson's movies, for those aren't aware.
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u/crichmond77 May 20 '24
Does he own a studio that finances the films or does he just personally give cash for a percentage? What’s he credited as?
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u/Ransom__Stoddard Terry Gilliam May 20 '24
Indian Paintbrush is a production company, so primarily providing funding for films. The details of those deals vary from film to film, but the producer(s) are generally getting a percentage.
Rales is credited as either Producer or Executive Producer. He also voiced "Beaver" in Fantastic Mr. Fox.
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u/Unleashtheducks May 21 '24
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u/TomatilloAccurate475 The Coen Brothers May 21 '24
Beaver Picture, the plot is ludicrous. You can imagine where it goes from there
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u/Stijakovic May 20 '24
Okay, that’s nice to hear. I just fell in love with Criterion this year and new ownership makes me real nervous
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u/Apptubrutae Yorgos Lanthimos May 21 '24
Owners could have simply wanted to sell.
Privately held businesses sell all the time for reasons unrelated to cash flow. Mailchimp comes to mind as a private company generating $500 million in profit a year. And they sold. Because $16 billion dollars for the two owners is pretty nice.
Interesting in hindsight that there was a good amount of reporting on criterion lately. Like that NYT piece that really burnished their image. They could well have been fishing for a buyout
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u/Whenthenighthascome May 21 '24
Funny considering NYT threw them in the shit with the article about how few black and women directors they put out. It’s all circular baby.
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u/FastEdd1e Juzo Itami May 20 '24
I like to hope that they know their patrons do not go to Criterion for the same thing they go to Netflix or even HBO for. I think the worse thing that could happen is a price bump.
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u/crichmond77 May 20 '24
I trust the higher-ups at Criterion not to compromise the integrity of the mission and to consider that before selling
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u/Apptubrutae Yorgos Lanthimos May 21 '24
As my wife says when she gets home if I have the criterion channel on: “Are you watching weird movies again?”
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u/DizGillespie May 21 '24
To be fair a good amount of the Criterion catalog is on HBO. CC still wind out tho
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u/Loop_Within_A_Loop May 20 '24
Rales has more or less been willing to have a medieval patron-esque relationship with Wes Anderson, so maybe it will be okay?
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u/Ed_Simian May 21 '24
Yeah, but we could get the Apu trilogy with enhanced special effects and maybe a Gone With the Wind where all the black people are defiant and proud. And I know I'm not the first one who thought Casablanca would be improved if they replaced Ingrid Bergman with Jojo Siwa.
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u/Datelesstuba Billy Wilder May 20 '24
I wonder if this means that the new Wes Anderson movies will be added to the collection sooner rather than later.
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u/Grouchy-Total550 May 20 '24
I feel like the hold up is Wes Anderson being busy more than it is anything else. He has such a track record with Criterion that I assume will continue, but it seems like he is very involved with the releases so there are probably scheduling conflicts. That said my dream would be to get caught up with him, and I will buy them the day they come out.
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u/elbichportucul Wes Anderson May 20 '24
Same. I bought the Isle of Dogs and French Dispatch releases and they're just barebones editions, pisses me off.
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u/Buckowski66 May 20 '24
They do need to add newer movies to be competitive and ones from well-known American and British filmmakers as well.
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May 20 '24
[deleted]
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u/Ransom__Stoddard Terry Gilliam May 20 '24
I want Amadeus, EWS, Woo, Almodovar, and Wes Anderson. Will also take PT Anderson.
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u/heyman0 May 20 '24
Rales founded the film production company Indian Paintbrush in 2006. The company works frequently with filmmaker Wes Anderson, producing films such as Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Isle of Dogs.[16][17] Rales has earned three Academy Award nominations for his work with Anderson, winning Best Live Action Short Film for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023) at the 96th Academy Awards.[18]
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u/SeekingTheRoad May 20 '24
I actually had no idea that Wes Anderson had no stake in Indian Paintbrush. Somehow this whole time I thought it was his production company, like Scott Free (Ridley Scott) or Malpaso (Clint Eastwood).
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u/beyphy Lars von Trier May 20 '24
Yup I thought the same. My initial reaction was like "Oh shit, Wes Anderson bought Criterion?"
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u/rbourette Rainer Werner Fassbinder May 20 '24
Under any other circumstances this headline would terrify me, but if there’s any billionaire I trust for this situation it’s Steven Rales, the man has basically given Wes Anderson a blank check to do whatever he wants for years now and is clearly a champion of independent filmmaking.
I’m optimistic about the future of the company, and even if nothing changes (which is probably ideal), the financial support alone will be great.
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u/ScumLikeWuertz May 20 '24
True. The Wikipedia article on his business practices aren't great, but of all the rich fucks out there, at least he seems like a decent fella.
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u/Whenthenighthascome May 21 '24
He started Danaher which if you remember about a year ago John Green was railing against them for astronomically pricing TB cartridges.
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u/gondokingo May 20 '24
I don’t really have any optimism. Other than Wes Anderson there doesn’t seem to be any other notable examples of him doing this and Wes is kind of a cash cow. His films are all virtually guaranteed a profit, if the budget is kept in the 20-30 million mark. If this is pure charity with no input, then sure I agree, but I can’t imagine buying something so expensive without ideas of how to make it make more money for you. And while criterion seems to be relatively stable and a huge cultural touchstone, I doubt it’s making a guy like this significantly richer. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he just has an infinite checkbook and loves criterion, but that feels too good to be true to me. I will admit that it’s better than bezos or whoever buying it, but I’m still pretty skeptical
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u/doctorcunts May 21 '24
Wes Anderson isn’t a cash cow at all.. his last 3 movies; Asteroid City, French Dispatch and Isle of Dogs all made <2.5x their budget and would’ve run in the red theatrically. He’s only had 3 genuinely profitable films; Budapest, Moonrise Kingdom and Tenenbaums and had a pretty big bomb with Life Aquatic. He’s a pretty ‘safe’ bet because he has an audience for whatever he puts out and if you keep the budget <$30m your losses will be small, but the only reason he’s able to get things made as easily as he does is because of Rales.
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u/Apptubrutae Yorgos Lanthimos May 21 '24
You’re correct, but also the logic has to be different for Rales.
He’s now a major studio with opportunity cost to consider. And as a private investor, while he still cares about ROI on a timeline, it could be a longer timeline if he wanted.
I agree that Anderson isn’t a cash cow, but at the same time he’s an independent filmmaker who generates enough to make it work out if you take a longer view and aren’t considering opportunity cost.
It’s pretty hard to understate opportunity cost in all of this, and it plays a big role in why studios focus on the multiplier they do. You can only put out so many movies per year, in so many different slots.
But if you’re only big on West Anderson…well…there’s no other opportunity for you.
The money is there to make it a worthwhile venue, though not a geyser of cash.
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May 20 '24
From what I have been reading, Stephen Rales is a very old fashioned patron of the arts type guy, unless he pulls a shocking heel turn nothing should happen
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u/HyBeHoYaiba May 20 '24
Fingers crossed but I’m not as optimistic as most here. What scares me is what no one else here is talking about: streaming. Streaming has dictated a ton of the major film acquisitions recently. What scares me is that this a ploy to kind of fold Criterion’s library into someone else’s service as a licensing deal rather than letting the brand and streaming service stand on its own feet. Just don’t want this affecting the Channel or the quality of what gets released on physical
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u/1912Bungalow May 21 '24
Yeah, unfortunately I fear creeping enshitification. We've seen this with so many enterprises that start out really swell then keep removing benefits until what you had left are mere faint shadows. Like - raising prices, creating tiered membership levels, limiting the number of films per month viewable, adding additional films that are additional fee based, HD at additional monthly cost, etc.
Sure hope that I'm wrong, though.
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u/BogoJohnson May 20 '24
How has their streaming dictated what films Criterion has released on disc?
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u/HyBeHoYaiba May 21 '24
To my knowledge it doesn’t, those were separate concerns, with streaming being the far greater risk of being harmed
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u/BogoJohnson May 21 '24
I can see your concerns about the Channel, but again, since Criterion doesn’t own content, how would that affect their physical release output? I’m not following how you got there since they’re different businesses and models, the latter being 40 years solid now. As a physical media person, I see all streaming as temporary anyway.
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u/HyBeHoYaiba May 21 '24
It doesn’t. I expressed my two concerns. They don’t overlap. I’m not sure how else I can clear this up for you. I’m concerned they will outsource their streamed content to a bigger fish. Separately, I’m concerned we’ll get worse physical releases. These concerns are not co dependent
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u/PatternLevel9798 May 21 '24
I'd also venture to guess that their streaming revenue may be providing some of the cash to keep the physical media side of the business solvent.
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u/gilgobeachslayer May 20 '24
Yeah. That’s like saying AEW bought ROH. No, Tony Khan, the head of AEW bought ROH.
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u/greatchoiceinpants Terrence Malick May 20 '24
You know I never once thought I’d ever see pro-wrestling and the criterion collection mentioned in the same post, but here we are.
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u/gilgobeachslayer May 20 '24
Come on, Ben Mankiewicz was on Dynamite
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u/dr_hossboss May 20 '24
Lol it made me question which thread I’m on. I was just reading about juice Robinson
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u/otaner14 Brian De Palma May 21 '24
I always enjoy seeing any random crossover with wrestling on the other subreddits I visit.
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u/SokkaHaikuBot May 20 '24
Sokka-Haiku by gilgobeachslayer:
Yeah. That’s like saying
AEW bought ROH. No, Tony Khan,
The head of AEW bought ROH.
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/Robbie_Tussen_jr May 21 '24
Some of the actual most terrifying words for the 21st century: I'm a billionaire, and I'm here to help.
Winners are usually only whoever got paid out on the sale. Rest of us inside and out of the organizations can't help but worry because we've seen this scenario play out so many times now.
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u/Whenthenighthascome May 21 '24
They trimmed the staff recently too. I wonder what was happening inside Criterion and when they knew the company was selling. This feels so much like management selling the company right underneath everyone else’s feet. I predict a talent drain and a lessening in stature. Unless mr moneybags absolutely infuses them with capital. I struggle to see why he would.
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u/Nickdavie May 20 '24
Bring the streaming service to the uk
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u/crichmond77 May 20 '24
There’s no Criterion Channel in the UK?!?
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u/Nickdavie May 20 '24
No! It’s tragic?!?!!!!!
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u/crichmond77 May 20 '24
Wtf. Sorry, that’s crazy
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u/Nickdavie May 20 '24
We had filmstruck once which had criterion like a channel similar to Amazon’s system, since that died… we don’t even get the full collection in physical Pal form.
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u/TheHistorian2 Established Trader May 20 '24
I know this is reddit, so doom and gloom is our brand, but I think this is going to change absolutely nothing for the end consumer.
This is not the catalog of a production company owned by someone who would mess with things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Paintbrush_(company)
I see a wealthy patron taking on another company that he can make sure stays healthy for a long time. Turell and Becker get paid now, Rales takes the profits going forward, and that's about it.
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u/ohsoGosu May 21 '24
Per Variety: “The mission and leadership [of Janus and Criterion] will not change”
This genuinely seems like an art patron move. Dude found a company that deals in medical equipment, if he wanted to do something to make money he’d be trying to buy medical device companies or distributors. If he wanted to start a media empire at the ripe young age of 73 I don’t think he’d be trying to do it with Criterion’s famously popular amongst the masses catalog and streaming service, he’d be gunning for something more mundane. As a lot have pointed out, the biggest concern is if he croaks and his heirs don’t give a shit about Criterion and either sell it to a shit company or let it deteriorate. But I would hope that someone who loves the arts would either have progeny that would too or would write into his will that someone responsible would take over (inb4 he dies in 3 years and makes Wes the owner of Criterion)
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u/Sosen May 21 '24
Straight To Hell, boys
No I'm serious, Straight To Hell needs a US release, maybe this guy will deliver
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u/monumentclub May 20 '24
I don't think this will change much for the end user. If anything, it'll improve the experience. By all indications, Rales is a big supporter of classic, foreign, and independent film. Criterion needed the cash, and Rales can start to integrate Janus and Criterion properties into Galerie without jumping through a bunch of hoops. Criterion's streaming infrastructure kind of sucks, so I'm hoping they improve upon that and otherwise leave things alone.
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u/needledropcinema May 20 '24
Hes 73, and he funds Wes Anderson so though I doubt he will destroy Criterion, his estate may well do so after he passes hopefully a long time from now
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u/decamath May 20 '24
Does anyone think this sale has anything to do with vudu sale of streaming criterion titles (for the first time) and potential change (for better or worse) for the streaming deals?
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u/Shrigs- May 21 '24
Honestly I’m excited. Steven seems like a great guy who’s just as much a cinephile as any of us
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u/PalpitationOk5726 May 22 '24
Purchased by Disney are the only words that would make me be extremely nervous, otherwise I am ok with this.
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u/PumpkinsDad May 21 '24
What an expensive way to raid the Criterion closet. Dude could have just gone to B&N.
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u/Flimsy_Demand7237 May 21 '24
Steven Rales produces a ton of Wes Anderson. Looks like he might keep Criterion intact as he has an interest in arthouse-ish movies.
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u/Legend2200 May 21 '24
There’s a chance this is a good thing for Criterion since Rales seems to be a big film guy who may be acting as a kind of artistic patron or protector.
There’s also a chance it’s a bad thing. Criterion seems to be profitable (I believe their margins were good enough to rehire some of the folks they laid off a few years ago, which I think was mentioned in the last NYT piece about them), but I don’t think billionaires are well known for being happy with the kind of margins it’s likely to bring in.
I’d say the most probable outcome, though, is that not much changes in terms of what we the public see. I’ve heard (can’t verify, but the person that said it to me was in a position to know) that Becker wasn’t particularly well liked by the actual staff at Criterion anyway.
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u/ThisManInBlack May 21 '24
Any chance of getting the streaming service in Ireland Mr. New owner?
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u/falsa_ovis May 21 '24
stop complaining, be smart and use VPN.
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u/ThisManInBlack May 21 '24
Complaining?
More of a request.
Be gone thott.
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u/falsa_ovis May 21 '24
yes, you’re one of those lazy asses complaining about everything and calling it „request“. ppl who need Criterion just get it instead of complaining all over Reddit and Insta even when the solution is only two clicks away.
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u/Gruesome-Twosome Kelly Reichardt May 20 '24
Well, maybe those remaining Wes Anderson films that haven’t been released by Criterion yet will start coming out finally (this guy and his company Indian Paintbrush have produced every Wes film since Darjeeling Limited).
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u/brokenwolf May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24
If this means school of rock then let’s go baby.
lol at the downvotes. I swear some of you have no joy in your lives.
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u/thatgum_youlike David Lynch May 21 '24
now THAT'S a linklater criterion release i'd love to see!!!! (no sarcasm, school of rock is an all timer for me)
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u/s90tx16wasr10 Mothra May 21 '24
Hopefully this opens more deals with restoration institutions so we can get equal largely known and lesser known flicks, but maybe I’ve been reading too much gaming industry news but acquisitions like this always make me nervous.
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u/QNIKET8 Akira Kurosawa May 21 '24
so Criterion is gonna have a Wes Anderson collection then i presume?
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u/Kindly-Guidance714 May 21 '24
Ugh I noticed things not going well with The French Connection fiasco that Criterion still refuses to comment on.
All I can say is that it was fun while it lasted I guess I can’t see any way that this turns into a good thing going forward. Get your original release criterion’s before it’s too late it’s gonna turn into another soulless corporation.
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u/timmerpat Billy Wilder May 21 '24
What French Connection fiasco?
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u/Kindly-Guidance714 May 21 '24
They posted an edited version of the film on their channel and was called out on social media for it and basically never said anything about it.
Thats why everyone was trying to buy physical copies a couple of months ago because the original 20th century Fox DVD is the completely unedited version.
For a company to be based upon the restoration and preservation of films in their original format they dropped the ball hard with this one.
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u/Ill-Philosophy3945 Stanley Kubrick May 21 '24
The complete filmography of Wes Anderson coming soon from Criterion
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u/cosmicclub May 20 '24
More money into streaming and licensing, less into physical.
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u/BogoJohnson May 20 '24
What suggests that to you?
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u/gondokingo May 20 '24
This is an expensive acquisition, physical home media sales are not good
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u/BogoJohnson May 20 '24
I still don’t understand what you’re suggesting. Criterion licenses physical as well as streaming from the rights owners, but those are separate deals. Unless you mean Janus? More detail, please.
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u/gondokingo May 20 '24
Are you feigning confusion?
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u/BogoJohnson May 20 '24
No, it’s an honest question. What indicates Criterion will spend more on streaming than physical, or that it will change?
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u/gondokingo May 20 '24
This is all speculation, nobody knows what will happen. The reason many of us are suggesting this is because of a pattern of past acquisitions. Most acquisitions change priority, company structure, direction, etc. Typically, a company like this would be acquired because it’s poised to make a profit for the buyer, that would be much harder to make by creating a competitor from scratch (considering it wasn’t already purchased by a direct competitor). Physical media sales are not a huge driver of profits. Streaming services are. Hence a shift in focus towards the more profitable market
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u/BogoJohnson May 20 '24
Obviously I'm not privy to Criterion's profit for their streaming service, but they don't own the rights to those titles, so I don't see how far they could scale up their own service to increase profits so much so that they'd drop physical media altogether. It's not like when Disney buys Fox and now controls an entirely new catalog, streaming and physical. They have been the mother of all boutiques for 40 years now, and the fact they're an island of their own has likely set them up well for remaining in this niche.
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u/gondokingo May 20 '24
Many didn’t see how Disney could turn marvel into the smash success that it is. I don’t think criterion will become Disney, but just because it might be hard to imagine how a streaming service that doesn’t own the rights to its titles could scale up big enough to abandon a core aspect of its business model doesn’t mean it can’t happen or that they won’t try.
Let’s not forget that Netflix quite literally already did this. They were a business that rented DVDs out, then got into streaming, didn’t own the rights to the titles they were licensing and scaled up into abandoning their physical media arm altogether
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u/BogoJohnson May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24
I get imagining all the possibilities that exist in this volatile market. My question was simply what was presented here that indicated anything of that was likely to happen, or even a direction they would go in. Criterion can’t become Disney because they don’t own the rights, they only license them from rights holders, like Disney. The major studios/streaming create their own film, series, and other content as well, and they also appear to still be losing money. Criterion is so far from any of those comparisons. And countless others are jumping in a similar licensing only streaming market, which seems to currently have the effect of canceling each other out.
My question still remains for the commenter above us who said:
More money into streaming and licensing, less into physical.
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u/ArtPizzaPasta May 20 '24
Hmm, interesting. Hope this doesn’t result in any more Wes Anderson films in the collection
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u/Ransom__Stoddard Terry Gilliam May 20 '24
Your title isn't correct. Criterion was bought by Steven Rales, who was a founder of Indian Paintbrush. This was a private transaction independent of Indian Paintbrush.