Kanopy is an award-winning video streaming service providing access to more than 30,000 independent and documentary films ─  titles of unique social and cultural value from The Criterion Collection, The Great Courses, Media Education Foundation, and thousands of independent filmmakers.

Article by Marcus Siu

It’s astonishing to know that there are so many people don’t even flinch an eye when they pay nearly $100/month for premium streaming channels. The channel’s exclusive “must-see” TV shows have these consumers hooked. For example, Apple Plus has “Ted Lasso”, HBO Max has “Succession”, Netflix has “Stranger Things”, Amazon Prime has “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, Disney Plus has “The Mandalorian”. The exclusive list of titles is endless, and if you want access to all the top quality shows, you will pay the price.

However, if you don’t fall in that category as these “must-see” TV viewers, and just want to mainly watch indie, international films or documentaries, then it is is refreshing to know that you have another alternative out there for video on demand streaming platforms streaming quality content. Whether or not you are someone who simply cannot afford to pay for premium services, or just a film scholar in college who loves to watch and study film, Kanopy, comes to mind as the best choice for “thoughtful entertainment”.

Kanopy includes partners with filmmakers and movie studios around the globe to give movie-lovers free access to films that stimulate imagination, promote learning and spark meaningful conversations. Many films on Kanopy—including from iconic suppliers like the BBC, NEON, Samuel Goldwyn Films, HISTORY, A&E, First Run Features Kino Lorber and IFC Films—are unavailable elsewhere. The Criterion Collection, A24, and Neon is also showcased.

As an frequent film festival goer, I have missed out on many films that I could not see due to scheduling conflicts. Kanopy solves that problem by having many of these same films in their catalog that I regrettably missed at the festivals over the years available for video on demand. It is a blessing as many of these obscure titles were movies that I gave up on seeing long ago.

New titles are added weekly, so you never know what you’ll find. One title that caught my attention was also one that I missed at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival; “Benediction”, a British film directed by Terrence Davies that played film festivals, and also had a limited release in June in the U.S. Even more surprising is that there hasn’t even been a release of the film on DVD or Blu-Ray in this country, only in the U.K.

Kanopy, founded in 2008, was originally an Australian based DVD distributor that marketed primarily to universities. In 2010, Kanopy moved to San Francisco, and offered its new streaming services to City and County libraries and Universities around the nation for their patrons. Now with over 45 million users, Kanopy is currently available through 4,000 libraries in 200 different countries. Chances are your local library is one of them.

If you belong to one of the 4,000 Kanopy library’s and have a card from one of them, it’s free for you just for being a card holder.

How can it be free, you ask? Just as libraries purchase books for their patrons to borrow, they also offer a variety of digital resources. Kanopy is able to provide its viewers with free access because the public library or university covers the associated costs, allowing patrons to watch for free, with no advertisements.

All you need is a tablet, smartphone, computer, or TV with streaming capabilities, e-mail address and unique password to create your Kanopy profile, a library card number and PIN/password, and the Kanopy app or updated web browser software (e.g. Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, etc.).

Then all you have to do is go to Kanopy’s website to add your library card number and PIN/password. Once confirmed, you will be given a number of credits that you can use each month, depending on which library is entered. Some libraries give 10 credits per month and some give less, such as 8 credits. You can add multiple library cards, if you belong to different participating libraries, so it’s possible to watch a movie each day, if you have three or four library cards.

The Kanopy app is available on iOS and Android and all major streaming devices, including Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV. In 2021, OverDrive acquired Kanopy to bring together the single most extensive catalog of premium content and the best-in-class user experience for video, ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and additional streaming media.

With over 30,000 titles to choose from, it would be tough to want to do anything else but watch movies all day. It can be very addicting.

Be warned that even couch potatoes still need to get out once in awhile.