Picl
Bringing your arthouse cinema into your living room. The Picl model introduces a flexible digital distribution of newly released films in collaboration with distributors and cinemas, whereby – different from other VOD platforms – each part of the value chain gains revenue from the online sales.
With Picl, arthouse cinemas are able to offer their local audiences a personal, hand-picked selection of brand new films for home viewing through Video on Demand. In their own virtual cinema, via Picl.
Picl is a collaboration between Dutch film houses and Stichting Nederlandse Filmpromotie, set up in 2015 by Anke van Diejen and Noortje van de Sande of Herrie Film & TV. The foundation is financially supported by Creative Europe and the Film Fund.
Picl brings the marketing from cinemas and distributors under one digital roof, and makes it possible for distributors as well as cinemas to deploy targeted, data-driven promotion campaigns for films to local audiences in Europe.
All project’s activities are dedicated to support cinemas and to improve the position of European arthouse films, which are loved and cherished by a large audience group, and brought to them digitally in a collaborative effort of local cinemas, distributors & Picl.
Picl offers cinemas the following services in The Netherlands and Belgium:
Digital Streaming Platform
- Technically up-to-date: Ensures state-of-the-art technical capabilities.
- User-Friendly Design (UX): Focus on audience-friendly interfaces.
- No legal/security worries: Legal and security requirements are managed.
- Customized financial arrangements: Tailored fee structures for each cinema.
- Helpdesk support: Dedicated assistance available.
Marketing
- Integrated Consumer Data Platform (2025):
– Provides cinemas with deeper audience insights, both analytical and practical.
– Facilitates easier data sharing (e.g., customer profiles, segmentation).
– Enhances personalized audience engagement. - Hands-off online marketing:
– Year-round investment in social media campaigns targeting new audiences.
– Continuous investment in search engine advertising for visibility. - Audience expansion: Reaches new audiences and motivates them to visit cinemas.
- Tailored newsletters: Weekly newsletters with personalized film recommendations for online and in-theater viewing.
- Targeted email campaigns: Based on interests and purchase history (RFM analysis).
- Free data dashboards: Offers audience insights at no additional cost.
- Sector-wide marketing initiatives: Includes collaboration with distributors.
Content
- Customized theater pages: Enables local curation per cinema.
- Collective agreements: Rights and finances streamlined with distributors and management organizations
- Enriched online programs: Deepens engagement with curated digital content.
Industry
- Data-sharing and privacy standards: Collective agreements on GDPR compliance.
- Innovation partner: Research, knowledge sharing, and consultation on digital innovation.
- Representation: Advocacy with entities like CMO’s.
