Fandor Looks To Be The Netflix Of Indie Film

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We hear a lot about streaming video services here, because they’re so important to your computer and many of your home theater pieces as well. After all, what is a television without shows but a hefty paperweight? But while we hear about Netflix and Amazon and Hulu and the like, there’s one new service in this hefty market that bears considering: Fandor.

Fandor is a lot like Netflix and Amazon and the rest in that it takes movies and fires them, over the series of tubes, into your computer and various mobile devices. But there are ways in which Fandor distinguishes itself from Netflix.

One, Fandor works with social networking platforms in its service. Facebook Connect will let you sign into Fandor, and you’ll be able to comment on what you’re streaming from Fandor directly onto your Facebook profile.  Even better, Fandor offers BlipSnips, an oddly named but useful service that allows you to take out tiny clips of the movies you’re watching and, in turn, share them with friends.

Two, Fandor has entirely different content. While Netflix and Amazon have some indie fare–especially IFC indie fare, which is some truly exciting stuff (if you ever get a chance to watch Home Movie, I strongly suggest you do)–Fandor has a grand total, so far, of about 2500 movies. And these titles are selected based on specific criteria of the site’s owners; while Netflix and Amazon will take most anything that moves, Fandor wants to be a little more selective.

Lastly, as you begin to use the service, Fandor will make recommendations for other films you might like. But they don’t use an algorithm–they use real people. They actually have people look at your viewing history and make suggestions based on what you’ve already seen, like the guy out at the video store will when he sees what you’ve rented that night.

Looking over their site, it seems to be less about film snobbery and more about public domain–they had to get the rights to stream this stuff, you know–but there are thousands of movies out there that only get direct to video releases if that, and they’re wonderful movies that people would no doubt love if they could actually find them. A service like Fandor just might help make that possible…if it survives the competition.

Fandor’s offering a free month to new subscribers, and after that, just $10 a month keeps you in and watching.