Vimeo is bringing some of its original content to the big screen. In a partnership with Spotlight Cinema Networks, which works with several independent theaters throughout the US, Vimeo will select a few short films per month to run during a theater's preshow, VentureBeat reports.
The shorts will be pulled from Vimeo's Staff Picks section, where some of its most popular videos are hosted, and from its Brand Studio, where brands like Samsung and T Magazine host original content. Vimeo will chose one to three shorts per month to play for about 20 minutes before a feature film begins. The first short to hit theaters will be "The Bucket Board," a video in which artist Mac Premo tries to build a skateboard using plastic buckets and other trash.
Recently, Vimeo has been focusing more heavily on producing original content. This fall it picked up two new original series, including one from Saturday Night Live's Aidy Bryant. The streaming platform has been trying to position itself as a place where artists can experiment and still find a wider audience (its first original show, High Maintenance, eventually got picked up by HBO). By putting its films in theaters, Vimeo is taking the next logical step in this line of thought.
Spotlight hasn't revealed which theaters will host the Vimeo shorts yet, but the company works with mainly indie and arthouse theaters like Landmark Theaters, Laemmle Theaters, and Angelika Film Center. Vimeo will begin playing in Spotlight's theaters on April 15th.