Letterboxd is a platform for rating movies – rated from one to five stars, which was born in 2011 with the characteristics of a film club for nerdy cinephiles. Poorly designed graphics to emphasize the prominence of users, who reviewed films knowing they were speaking to an educated audience, able to pick up on quotes and “collect” movie posters of the films being discussed.
Passing through the pandemic, and despite having reached more than 10 million accounts, five times its size in 2019, the app continues to attract the same type of audience today. On a demographic level, half of the platform’s active users are under 35 years old, and more than half of this group is between 16 and 24 years old. In addition, according to statistics, the main orientation are towards older films with more than tangible effects on cinema programming.
The American Cinematheque, which schedules screenings in three Los Angeles theaters, thanks to Letterboxd has tripled its membership since before the pandemic “If you go to a screening of ‘Rear Window’ or an Akira Kurosawa film, they’ll sell out. And you’d be surprised: The average age for these is probably around 27.” says Grant Moninger, the organization’s artistic director.
The numbers achieved by the app, attracted more and more wealthy buyers, and faced with a generous fifty million dollar offer made by Tiny, a Canadian company specializing in acquisitions of promising businesses, the two founders of Letterboxd sold the business.
Not only major buyers, “prestigious sign-ups” to the platform have also arrived, such as that of Martin Scorsese, during the promotional campaign for Killers of the Flower Moon. So far he has recommended two lists of films: the first, quite numerous, concerns the “fundamentals” i of film history. The other, more concise, is a list of inspirational films. An important gift to share the same imagery with the director.
Photocredits: Tyson Moultrie su Unsplash
