A Change.org petition, Created by Kevin Bahr, is aiming to to save the streaming serviceFilmStruck from being obliterated into the high heavens by WarnerMedia. The petition has thus far accumulated 32,000 signatures. The goal is rather simple; show WarnerMedia that FilmStruck is not only of the upmost importance to film culture but that the 'niche' market they claim the streaming service to have is actually a worldwide following consisting of millions of cinephiles.
The petition reads: “FilmStruck is not just a niche market, it is a massive archive dedicated to keeping art of the past alive, much in the way a museum keeps artists from centuries ago alive. It deserves to live, not only to provide an outlet for film lovers of the past but also to create new fans through the next several generations, and perhaps open some more eyes along the way.”
Guillermo del Toro tweeted about the petition saying “Don’t ‘mourn’ Filmstruck. DO something- sign the petition!” Bill Hader also tweeted “I know there’s a lot of bigger fish to fry right now in the world, but in my little kingdom, if we could save FilmStruck, that would be awesome. “WarnerMedia released a statement last week announcing they were shutting down FilmStruck on November 29th, the statement read, “While FilmStruck has a very loyal fanbase, it remains largely a niche service.” It doesn’t appear that WarnerMedia is changing its tune for now, but the more backlash the better the chance to reverse the hideous decision that they made.