FilmDoo.com is a UK-based video-on-demand platform that specialises in independent and world cinema. The platform has been described by Guy Lodge of The Guardian as "one of the more discerning new streaming services on the block." Rather than relying solely on the traditional distribution system to distribute content, FilmDoo chooses to source films directly from all levels of the film distribution chain from filmmakers through to sales agents and distributors. Through this approach they have given international releases to films that had previously received no home video distribution, including films from Southeast Asia and South Africa, as well as giving exclusive UK releases to feature films such as Trinidadian crime drama God Loves the Fighter. Their international catalogue includes multiple films from such directors as Raya Martin and Wang Bing. FilmDoo has partnered with online film festivals, including UniFrance's MyFrenchFilmFestival.com and the ArteKino Festival, and over 50 distributors, including Peccadillo Pictures, Film Movement and Third Window Films. The platform has also compiled and distributed various short film compilations, including gay- and lesbian-themed compilations from the New Queer Visions festival strand. The company has a film blog, which has published reviews as well as interview pieces with a variety of actors and filmmakers, including Doona Bae, Johnnie To, Brigitte Lin, Alex Lawther and Moon So-ri. The FilmDoo YouTube channel has also uploaded interviews with several figures in the film industry, including director Jake Graf and Chicken star Scott Chambers. FilmDoo has been elected secretary of EuroVoD, a network of European Video on Demand platforms specialising in art-house films and independent cinema. Representatives of FilmDoo have spoken and presented at events hosted by various festivals and organisations, including the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Trieste Film Festival, Thessaoniki International Film Festival, Odessa International Film Festival and European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs.
History
The platform was officially launched at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. According to FilmDoo co-founder Weerada Sucharitkul, "The word 'Doo' in 'FilmDoo' means to watch or see in Thai, so FilmDoo means to watch a film in Thai." Sucharitkul reports that the name was originally suggested by her mother and that it was chosen "because wanted a non-English word to really reflect the international element of the business from the very beginning." Later that same year, FilmDoo was selected as a finalist for the 2015 MassChallenge accelerator program. In July 2016, FilmDoo announced the launch of two new short film channels on new media network, Ownzones: FilmDoo Horror for international horror films; and FilmDoo Asian for Asian shorts, both of which are available internationally by subscription. In the summer of 2016, FilmDoo also launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs with the goal of raising £95,000. On 7 November 2016, the site reported to have raised "a total of approximately £235,000 ". In 2017, FilmDoo were accepted for the French Tech Ticket, a one-year program funded by the French government to support startup companies from around the world. That same year, FilmDoo received sponsorship from Creative Europe for a proposed "Multi-Language/Multi-Modal Automated Film Tagging Service." On 19 February 2018, the platform named Fassoo was presented at the European Film Market by Patrick Ndjiki-Nya and FilmDoo co-founder William Page as part of the EFM Startups event. In 2018, FilmDoo were selected for the 7th edition of Concours d’Innovation Numérique, a French government grant scheme run by Bpifrance, in order to support the launch of their planned language learning platform, LanguageDoo. In the summer of that same year, FilmDoo launched a channel on Amazon in the United States, where a selection of short films are available on a subscription basis. At the same time, the FilmDoo Aggregate program was launched as means of distributing films to other third party platforms, including Amazon. At the 2020 North Europe edition of the Fusion International Film Festival, FilmDoo announced the launch of FilmDoo Services, a platform that provides film distributors, brands, distributors and film commissions with services and consultation in the fields of distribution and marketing.
In the media
In October 2015, FilmDoo was selected by Forbes as one of "Five Leading Startup Entrepreneurs Graduating From MassChallenge UK". In May 2015, FilmDoo's acquisition of two new Indonesian titles and their new deal with distribution company Trinity were covered by Variety, with Asia Bureau Chief Patrick Frater writing that, with these new developments, "FilmDoo has bolstered its Asian credentials". Similarly, in April 2016, FilmDoo received coverage from IndieWire for giving international releases to more than twenty "Vintage South African films" from distributors Retro Afrika Bioscope. In June that same year, Screen Daily published an article on the release of fourteen Southeast Asian films on FilmDoo. FilmDoo's 2016 crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs received attention from several media outlets, including Screen Daily, Crowdfund Insider and VODzilla. The company's acceptance into the French Tech Ticket programme was covered by French publication Les Échos. On May 27th, 2020, FilmDoo CEO Weerada Sucharitkul featured as a guest speaker on Fast Forward, a webcast run by consultancy The Catalysts.
