VidAngel Entertainment

A letter from VidAngel CEO, Bill Aho

Hello VidAngel Family,

 

At VidAngel, we provide filters for a lot of movies and TV shows. This year we’re offering about 1000 new movies and episodes every quarter. That’s an average of 10 new titles every day. But at some point, our customers will search for a movie or TV show they cannot find. Sometimes it may be a show that’s off the beaten path. Maybe a hidden gem we didn’t know about. When that’s the case, please tell us. We’re usually willing to bend over backward to take care of our customers, (unless they want filters for 250 episodes of M*A*S*H, which they remember fondly from 1978).

There are some movies and TV shows we don’t filter because of their studio affiliation. As many of our long-time customers know, VidAngel fought an extended and costly battle with Hollywood in a fight to keep filtering alive. The instigators of the litigation were Disney and Warner Brothers.

For four years, VidAngel fought for the rights of you, our members, to control how you experience media in your home. So when Disney chose to settle, it was cause for celebration. Our business was intact. Our customers stuck with us (thank you!). And you can still watch filtered TV and movies in your home.

However, part of that agreement was that we would not filter content from the plaintiff studios or their affiliates—which means the Disney universe (Hulu, HBO, Fox, Newline, Touchstone, Lucasfilm, Searchlight, Marvel) and Warner Brothers. We’re hoping that Disney and its partners have a change of heart.

We will keep trying as well. We consider it our mission. In the meantime, can I suggest you try one of our other 2500 movies or 10,000 TV episodes? Try searching by category on our home page. You should find plenty that you and your family will enjoy.

 

Thank you,


Bill Aho
CEO, VidAngel

Topics: FAQ Filtering Technology
8 Comments
  1. I suspect the original draw of this service for most people was to be able to watch current content from some of the major studios. I think The Chosen is a wonderful show and you deserve kudos for producing it with such high quality. However, that’s not why I or other’s I’ve talked to want to use VidAngel. You could and did published The Chosen on other platforms. I’m looking for a solution/tool to take the latest R and TV-MA titles, from the more popular platforms and make them watchable for my family. More and more it seems your library of titles include PG-13, PG and G rated films. Yes, this makes your library numbers look big, but are these really the films and shows people want to filter? Please provide a realistic outlook for the next couple years. Not sure Disney’s decision to settle was cause for celebration as you say. Seems as if they ensured you’re lack of access to some of the newest and most valued future content.

    1. Good afternoon Jaron! Great question. VidAngel Entertainment is separate from Angel Studios. Our entire focus is filtering, allowing our customers the ability to choose what they want to see and hear while watching their favorite movies. We are unable to filter Disney Studios content, but are hopeful that door isn’t permanently closed. We have hired multiple engineers to make the filtering technology more efficient and user friendly than ever before. We have our content team releasing request-based content to our site weekly. We would love to add your TV show or movie requests to our list, email us at support@vidangel.com and we would be happy to forward the requests along to our team!

    2. For our family, most R films aren’t worth saving. Too much to skip… we loved VidAngel for the mostly good shows that just needed a few things taken out. Most of those shows we want are from the major studios…

      1. I couldn’t agree more. Most of what I want to filter is not R rated to begin with. I just watched Ghostbusters 1 & 2 with my family and it was a blast.

  2. Thank you for fighting the good fight! I am very happy to be one of your customers and NOT one of Disney’s (they are so disappointing). Praying your company has tremendous success! Thanks again for providing this service!

  3. I’m more interested in additional platforms than I am more content. When can we expect the addition of VUDU/FandangoNow or Google/Youtube which host over 600 titles in my personal digital library. I’m fully aware of the connection to Amazon through Movies Anywhere, but not every permissible studio is licensed with Movies Anywhere so I have many in my personal library I cannot view through Amazon. VidAngel was born filtering Youtube and Google many years ago before their algorithm changed in part due to the lawsuit. With the lawsuit settled, maybe that relationship could be resurrected.

  4. This sounds like the new VidAngel Entertainment inherited the terms of the settlement that was made with the old VidAngel company.

    That means ClearPlay has a clear advantage here, since they can filter the entire universe of Disney and WB movies (Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, etc.), and VidAngel Entertainment apparently cannot. Eventually ClearPlay’s technology will catch up; it looks like they have recently added the ability to customize specific filters, just like VidAngel. This is a problem.

    Can the new VidAngel Entertainment sue Disney for relief from unfair settlement terms made by a previous company? Is there a statute of limitations so the terms of the settlement don’t live on in perpetuity?

    I am not a lawyer, but there’s got to be away around this. Otherwise ClearPlay will eventually steal all of VidAngel’s customers and skip all the way to the bank.

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