Movieola
Encyclopedia
Movieola is a Canadian
English language
Category B specialty channel
owned by Channel Zero Inc.
Movieola is dedicated to short films from all genres including comedy, drama, animation, and more; with films ranging from 30 seconds to 40 minutes in length.
Movieola launched on September 7, 2001.
Less than a month after the channel's launch, Stornoway Communications
, a fellow newly-minted broadcaster itself, owners of recently launched ichannel
and bpm:tv
, announced that it was purchasing a majority interest in the channel, subject to conditions and CRTC approval. However, the deal fell through only months later in April 2002, when due to financial difficulties, Stornoway Communications laid-off 2 of the 4 founding members of Movieola in February, and a third in April. The fourth member would later resign in April. The 4 founding members were hired by Stornoway in September 2001 when the purchase agreement was made. The agreement stated that all 4 members were to remain as Stornoway employees after the transaction closed. Due to Stornoway's reluctance to rehire the employees, the deal was severed in April and the 4 founding members decided to run Movieola alone.
In June 2007, Movieola signed a deal with Joost
, agreeing to provide short film content to the online TV service. Movieola would later sign a similar deal with the online service, Hulu
.
In September 2008, Movieola announced it was purchasing a majority stake in Propeller TV
, at the time, a British
-based television channel featuring films and television series from primarily new and emerging artists. However, the deal was abandoned at a later date and did not finalize.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Category B specialty channel
Specialty channel
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....
owned by Channel Zero Inc.
Movieola is dedicated to short films from all genres including comedy, drama, animation, and more; with films ranging from 30 seconds to 40 minutes in length.
History
In November 2000, Channel Zero (through its subsidiary known at the time as Late Night Vidiots) was granted approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch Movielola, described as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service dedicated to the broadcast of short films ranging in length from 30 seconds to 40 minutes."Movieola launched on September 7, 2001.
Less than a month after the channel's launch, Stornoway Communications
Stornoway Communications
Stornoway Communications is a privately held Canadian broadcasting and production company based in Toronto, Ontario.Stornoway Communications broadcasting assets include three digital cable television channels:* bpm:tv; a dance music and nightlife channel...
, a fellow newly-minted broadcaster itself, owners of recently launched ichannel
Ichannel
ichannel is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Stornoway Communications. Its programs focus on public, social and current affairs...
and bpm:tv
Bpm:tv
bpm:tv is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Stornoway Communications. bpm:tv's programming is devoted to dance, club lifestyle, and dance music- electronica, house, techno, eurodance, trance, and other similar genres.-History:In November 2000, a partnership between...
, announced that it was purchasing a majority interest in the channel, subject to conditions and CRTC approval. However, the deal fell through only months later in April 2002, when due to financial difficulties, Stornoway Communications laid-off 2 of the 4 founding members of Movieola in February, and a third in April. The fourth member would later resign in April. The 4 founding members were hired by Stornoway in September 2001 when the purchase agreement was made. The agreement stated that all 4 members were to remain as Stornoway employees after the transaction closed. Due to Stornoway's reluctance to rehire the employees, the deal was severed in April and the 4 founding members decided to run Movieola alone.
In June 2007, Movieola signed a deal with Joost
Joost
Joost is an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis . During 2007-8 Joost used peer-to-peer TV technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in late 2008 this was migrated to use a Flash-based Web player instead.Joost began development in 2006...
, agreeing to provide short film content to the online TV service. Movieola would later sign a similar deal with the online service, Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
.
In September 2008, Movieola announced it was purchasing a majority stake in Propeller TV
Propeller TV
Propeller TV is a free-to-air television channel broadcasting on Sky and Freewire in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Owned by the advertising company, Xiking Group.-Partners:...
, at the time, a British
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-based television channel featuring films and television series from primarily new and emerging artists. However, the deal was abandoned at a later date and did not finalize.