For a while now, we’ve been quietly building toward a new streaming home for our collection. Today, we’re sharing its name: DER Direct. Once live, DER Direct will bring our full catalog of over 900 titles together in one place for the first time, streaming directly from us to you.
Why “DER Direct”? Direct isn’t just how we work, it’s a tradition. For most of DER’s history, starting with our founding in the late 1960s, we have offered films directly to educational institutions: first through 16mm rentals, then VHS, then DVDs. That direct relationship with our viewers has always defined us.
With this new platform, we’re not just returning to that legacy, we’re taking it further. DER Direct restores direct engagement between us and our audiences, and extends it to new audiences around the world who’ve never had that direct access to our work before. Built with our filmmakers and the communities we serve in mind, it carries this tradition into a global reach.
DER Direct also means regaining control over how our content reaches out, from curation and logistics to pricing. That includes tiered pricing designed to prioritize access over income, rates based on annual library materials budgets, and subscription and licensing options flexible enough to actually fit your needs.
And just as important is what this means for the filmmakers whose work we champion: DER Direct reflects our ongoing effort to build a fairer compensation model, one in which makers are paid more equitably for their work.
DER Direct will be launching later this fall. Early walkthroughs and subscription enrollment are open now, please contact Alice Apley for more information.
