Early September of this year, the New York Times published an article that discussed the up and coming streaming service “Kanopy,” which is free to use for any person who holds a New York Public Library card, as well as anyone affiliated with a college or university. In the United States alone, Kanopy is readily available to over 450 public libraries and more than 1,400 learning institutions.
In the article, Olivia Humphrey — the founder and chief executive of the streaming service — claims she was inspired to create Kanopy when realizing just how limited film resources were at universities:
‘I became aware that universities that wanted to add film to their core curriculum had very little available in terms of resources. I saw college libraries with dusty DVDs and 16-millimeter cans on their shelves, so I wanted to create a way to address that.’
What marks Kanopy as a different type of streaming service is not only its available access to learning institutions, but its “search and find” feature. Professors can request specific titles, and Kanopy then looks for said titles and tries to acquire specific licensing rights. Their search system has about a 40% success rate, which, given the vast number of universities Kanopy provides to, is rather high. Humphrey hopes to continue expanding Kanopy’s services not just in terms of course requirements, but as a service that helps students find identity and a love for cinematography in the films Kanopy provides.
Read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/01/movies/kanopy-streaming-service.html?emc=edit_th_20170903&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=66817450
