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Letterboxd4All - Sell to the Community, Keep it Independent
0% complete
$38,755 raised of
22 donations
Fans have the passion. Intrinsic has the business model.
It's time for the community bid for Letterboxd.
We all have a platform we used to love that turned to $hit.
The sale of community platforms rarely goes well. Bandcamp, Goodreads, IMDB, MySpace, Twitter, and tumblr are just a handful of examples of beloved platforms that didn’t survive acquisition and corporatization as themselves.
Now Letterboxd is on that same auction block. Not the tech stack: 15 years of community members' passion and purpose. Up for sale to the highest bidder.
This isn't just a Letterboxd problem.
It's why we started a public benefit corporation (the kind of company that's allowed to pursue social mission AND regenerative profit) with a unique business model we built in partnership with Harvard Law School.
That model is the antidote to enshittification and the incessant mergers and acquisitions swallowing up everything independent in media. It's the model platform communities need to fight back.
Stewarded by the right owner, Letterboxd’s community can
- Keep the platform independent of corporate ownership
- Catalyze a rebirth of independent cinema
- And build bridges between filmmakers and fans.
Details:
We have created multiple ways for people to join the effort.
- If you can invest $100 or more for equity ownership, go to Wefunder
- If you want to make a tax-deductible donation of $250 or more through our fiscal sponsor, fill out this form
- If you just have a couple bucks you want to throw our way as a vote for independence, give what you can here on GofundMe. Any contribution gets you on our mailing list to receive updates about free and low-cost ways to join the #Letterboxd4All coalition
FAQ
What happens to this money if Intrinsic is not part of a winning bid?
- You get a refund. One of the reasons we chose to use GoFundMe for this part of the campaign is that it allows us to cancel the fundraiser and refund donations right from the dashboard if we aren't part of a winning bid.
Does my donation here make me an owner?
- No, we cannot sell equity here. You can buy shares for equity on Wefunder for $100+. We know not everyone can contribute $100, so GoFundMe is a place to help the cause at $1 and up.
If you use my money to help buy Letterboxd who benefits?
- The community. Money raised through GoFundMe will not benefit an investor or our company: this portion of the bid raised here is a donation and will be assigned to our nonprofit organization, Intrinsic Impact Collaborative (IIC). IIC will steward its minority stake and recycle 100% of any portion of profit directly into a grantmaking program for independent filmmakers.
I have a different question not answered here
- Check the FAQs on our website or use the form there to email us
MORE DETAILS BELOW FOR LETTERBOXD USERS, FILMMAKERS, AND PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THE SAME FEW INVESTORS AND COMPANIES DON'T NEED TO OWN EVERY F@CKING THING ON THE INTERNET. FIND YOUR PEOPLE, JOIN THE TEAM. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
Letterboxd users
You logged the film that changed your life the night you first watched it. You gave deep thought to your Four Favorites and what they say about you. You found the underground, indie gem nobody else had logged yet, and you told people about it on Letterboxd, in the group chat, and on Reddit.
This is the scrapbook you keep in public.
Now the site is up for sale. Letterboxd's majority owner has hired an investment bank to run the process, and the press has named buyers who see 30 million film lovers as a dataset to monetize, not a community to protect.
You’ve seen how this movie ends because you’ve watched it before: your favorite platform turns into a rundown, bot-infested relic of the place you used to love. People are tired of their passion being turned into product, tired of platforms that turn their engagement and enthusiasm into someone else's revenue line.
We built Intrinsic's community model before Letterboxd was ever reported to be on the market, around one idea: a community platform can be a sound business and still serve the people who make it home.
Here's what that means, and how we're structured. Your feed stays yours. Your data stays governed by the people who made it valuable, never sold. Your favorite features stay free. The model is the policy: it’s baked into our legal structure, not an empty promise.
Share this with someone who logs another film every night, or fills their room with movie posters. Someone who dreams of making their first short or of a world where communities are not for sale and the big guys don’t always win. You’re all welcome here.
If you want to invest for equity at $100 or more click here for WEFUNDER .
Filmmakers and creatives
For 15 years Letterboxd has amassed a global community of film lovers who create watchlists, write reviews, and promote their discoveries. It has reinvigorated classic films and created new generations of cinephiles, while simultaneously building a powerful organic discovery layer for independent film.
We are bidding because the next owner of Letterboxd could either democratize film distribution or it could destroy the culture of authentic discovery.
It could be used to reduce marketing costs for independent filmmakers, or to prop up the financial interests of a conglomerate or private equity company. We know which future we want to bring to life.
Intrinsic's community ownership model is the antidote to the mergers and consolidation destroying our industry.
We have the structure to steward Letterboxd as a cultural institution, while expanding revenue streams purposefully and sustainably.
If you want to invest for equity at $100 or more click here for WEFUNDER .
#Letterboxd4All
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Co-organizers4
