The Criterion Collection: From Passion Project to Industry Powerhouse

It’s a story that many would consider improbable – how a simple fan newsletter managed to transform itself into one of the most revered and influential forces in the world of cinema. But that’s precisely the journey of The Criterion Collection, a testament to the enduring power of passion, community, and a steadfast commitment to artistic excellence.

The Founding Story:

Why did The Criterion Collection come into existence? To understand the “why” behind this influential company, let’s look back to its humble beginnings.

It all started in the early 1980s with Robert Stein and Aleen Stein, two film enthusiasts who shared a deep love for cinema and a frustration with the poor quality of home video releases available at the time.

Robert and Aleen believed that films deserved to be seen and appreciated in their highest possible quality, with all the nuances and details intact.

They wanted to honor the artistry of filmmaking and ensure that audiences could experience films as the creators intended. This belief led them to create a fan newsletter, a simple yet powerful way to connect with other cinephiles who shared their passion.

The newsletter quickly gained a dedicated following, revealing a significant demand for better film presentations. This was their “aha” moment. They realized that there was a community of people out there who cared deeply about the preservation and presentation of great cinema, just as they did.

Fueled by this realization, Robert and Aleen decided to take a bold step. They founded The Criterion Collection in 1984 with a clear vision: to create the highest quality home video releases, complete with meticulous restorations, director-approved versions, and comprehensive special features that provided context and insight into each film.

Their “why” was simple yet profound: to celebrate and preserve the art of cinema.

From their very first release, “Citizen Kane,” they set a high standard for quality and attention to detail. This commitment resonated with filmmakers and audiences alike, and The Criterion Collection quickly established itself as a trusted name in film preservation and presentation.

Throughout the years, Criterion has continued to innovate, embracing new technologies like DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming services while staying true to their core mission. They expanded their catalog to include a diverse range of films, from timeless classics to contemporary masterpieces, always with the same unwavering dedication to quality.

The Legacy of Excellence

Today, The Criterion Collection is more than just a company; it is a cultural institution. Their work has ensured that countless films will be preserved and appreciated for generations to come.

The Criterion Collection started with a simple “why” – a belief in the importance of preserving and celebrating great cinema – and that belief has driven everything they have done since. Their story is a testament to the power of starting with why and staying true to your mission, no matter where it takes you.

How The Criterion Collection Fostered Community-Centric Growth

Herein, we offer a look at some of concrete examples of how The Criterion Collection has fostered a deep sense of belonging and community among its devoted fans:

Fostering a Sense of Community

One of Criterion’s most powerful community-building initiatives has been their active engagement with fans across various platforms.

• Their social media channels, particularly on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, have become vibrant hubs of discussion, where fans can connect with one another and the Criterion team.
• The team is known for regularly responding to fan inquiries, soliciting feedback, and even incorporating fan suggestions into their release decisions.
• This open line of communication makes fans feel heard and valued, reinforcing the sense that they are part of something bigger than just a passive consumer base.

Facilitating Meaningful Interactions

Criterion has also cultivated a strong sense of community through their live events and meetups.

• From intimate discussions with filmmakers to sprawling retrospectives, these events provide opportunities for fans to come together, share their passions, and engage in lively conversations.
• These in-person gatherings foster a tangible sense of belonging, allowing fans to connect on a deeper level and forge lasting relationships with fellow cinephiles.
• The camaraderie and shared experiences that emerge from these events further strengthen the bonds within the Criterion community.

Empowering Passionate Fans

Furthermore, Criterion has actively encouraged and empowered its fans to become active participants in the community.

• They have hosted writing contests, solicited fan art, and even engaged fans in the process of selecting future releases.
• By giving their audience a genuine voice and a platform to express their creativity, Criterion has cultivated a strong sense of ownership and investment among its fans.
• This, in turn, has led to the development of a highly engaged and passionate community that feels a deep connection to the Criterion brand and its mission.

Fostering a Shared Cinematic Appreciation

Ultimately, Criterion’s community-centric approach is rooted in its unwavering commitment to the art of filmmaking.

• By curating and preserving cinematic masterpieces, while also providing insightful commentary and supplementary materials, Criterion has fostered a shared appreciation for the medium among its devoted fans.
• This shared love for cinema, combined with the opportunities for meaningful dialogue and connection, have created a vibrant and tightly-knit community that transcends the boundaries of mere fandom.
• It is a community that is built on a deep respect for the art form and a shared desire to explore, discuss, and celebrate the boundless possibilities of the cinematic experience.

Growth Challenges

Maintaining a strong sense of community among a global fan base is certainly a unique challenge that The Criterion Collection has had to navigate.

Let’s explore some of the key challenges they’ve faced and how they’ve addressed them:

Geographic Dispersion

The Growth Challenge: With fans spread out across the world, Criterion has had to find ways to foster a sense of community that transcends geographical boundaries.

This is no easy feat, as the lack of face-to-face interactions can make it more difficult to cultivate the personal connections that are so vital to building a vibrant community.

The Community-Centric Fix: To overcome this challenge, Criterion has leveraged digital platforms and online forums, allowing fans to connect and engage with one another regardless of their physical location.

Their active presence on social media, as well as their user-friendly online discussion boards, have been instrumental in bringing together a globally dispersed community.

Language and Cultural Barriers

The Growth Challenge: Another key challenge Criterion has faced is navigating the language and cultural differences among its international fan base.

Films from around the world are part of Criterion’s rich catalog, and their audience reflects this diversity.

The Community-Centric Fix: To address this, Criterion has made concerted efforts to localize their content and communications, offering subtitles, translations, and region-specific releases.

This helps ensure that fans from diverse backgrounds can fully engage with and feel included in the Criterion community.

Additionally, Criterion has sought to amplify the voices and perspectives of international filmmakers and critics, further enriching the cultural dialogue within their community.

Maintaining Exclusivity vs. Accessibility

The Growth Challenge: Criterion has also had to strike a delicate balance between preserving a sense of exclusivity and ensuring accessibility for a wider audience.

As the brand has grown in popularity, there’s been a risk of the community becoming too exclusive or insular.

The Community-Centrix Fix: To counter this, Criterion has made conscious efforts to expand their reach while still maintaining the high-quality standards and curated experience that their fans have come to expect.

This has involved initiatives like their partnership with streaming platforms, which has brought Criterion’s films to a broader audience, while still preserving the brand’s reputation for excellence.

Adapting to Evolving Viewing Habits

The Growth Challenge: Finally, Criterion has had to navigate the ever-changing landscape of media consumption, as viewing habits and technological preferences continue to evolve.

Ensuring that their community remains engaged and connected as these shifts occur has been an ongoing challenge.

The Community-Centric Fix: Criterion has responded by embracing new platforms and formats, such as digital downloads and streaming, while still maintaining their commitment to physical media and the tactile experience that many of their fans cherish.

By staying attuned to the needs and preferences of their global audience, Criterion has been able to adapt and maintain a strong sense of community in the face of these technological changes.

The Brand Journey of The Criterion Collection (1980s-2020s)

Through these key milestones, The Criterion Collection has transformed from a modest fan newsletter into a respected and influential force in the film industry, championing the preservation and celebration of cinematic art while fostering a deeply engaged and passionate global community of film enthusiasts.

10 major milestones in the evolution of The Criterion Collection:

• The Founding (Early 1980s): A group of cinephiles in New York City start publishing a modest newsletter, sharing their passion for rare and underappreciated films with a small but dedicated following.
• Embracing the Community (Mid-1980s): The Criterion team recognizes the growing community of devoted fans and begins actively engaging with them, fostering a sense of belonging and shared appreciation for cinema.
• Acquiring Distribution Rights (Late 1980s): Criterion starts acquiring the rights to distribute carefully restored versions of classic and contemporary films, offering their audience unparalleled access to cinematic treasures.
• Launching the Criterion Collection (1984): Criterion publishes its first laserdisc release, marking the birth of the iconic Criterion Collection and solidifying its reputation for meticulous restoration and contextual supplementary materials.
• Expansion into DVD (Late 1990s): As the home video market evolves, Criterion transitions its offerings to the DVD format, further expanding its reach and accessibility to a wider audience.
• Embracing Digital Platforms (Early 2000s): Criterion recognizes the potential of digital distribution and begins making its films available through streaming services and digital downloads, keeping pace with the changing media landscape.
• Strengthening Global Presence (2000s-2010s): Criterion expands its international reach, acquiring and distributing films from diverse global filmmakers, fostering a truly global community of cinema enthusiasts.
• Collaborations and Partnerships (2010s): Criterion forges strategic partnerships with other industry players, such as streaming platforms and home media distributors, further amplifying its impact and visibility.
• Criterion Channel Launch (2019): Criterion launches its own dedicated streaming platform, the Criterion Channel, providing its audience with a curated and immersive cinematic experience.
• Embracing New Technologies (2020s): Criterion continues to evolve, exploring emerging technologies like 4K restoration and virtual reality to enhance the viewing experience for its dedicated community of fans.

The Impact of The Criterion Collections In the Film Industry

The Criterion Collection has had a profound and far-reaching impact on the broader film industry and the appreciation of cinema as an art form.

Through these multifaceted contributions, The Criterion Collection has solidified its position as a transformative force in the film industry, shaping both the way we engage with and understand the power and artistry of cinema.

Here are some of the key ways Criterion has influenced the industry:

• Preservation and Restoration:
  • Criterion’s unwavering commitment to film preservation and meticulous restoration has set a new industry standard.
  • By investing significant resources into restoring and preserving rare, classic, and contemporary films, Criterion has ensured that these cinematic treasures are accessible to both current and future generations of viewers.
• Contextual Enrichment:
  • Criterion’s comprehensive supplementary materials, including insightful essays, audio commentaries, and behind-the-scenes documentaries, have profoundly enhanced the viewing experience and deepened the audience’s understanding and appreciation of cinema.
  • This approach has inspired other distributors to similarly elevate their offerings.
• Rediscovery and Canonization:
  • By shining a spotlight on overlooked, underappreciated, and obscure films, Criterion has played a pivotal role in rediscovering and canonizing important works of cinematic art.
  • This has led to a broader reevaluation and reappraisal of film history, challenging traditional notions of what constitutes “great” cinema.
• Diversification and Globalization:
  • Criterion’s commitment to acquiring and distributing films from diverse global filmmakers has helped to broaden the industry’s horizons and challenge dominant narratives.
  • By elevating underrepresented voices and perspectives, Criterion has contributed to a more inclusive and representative understanding of cinema worldwide.
• Inspiration and Influence:
  • Criterion’s meticulous attention to detail, their commitment to quality, and their ability to cultivate a dedicated and passionate fan base have inspired other distributors, filmmakers, and industry players to raise their own standards and engage more deeply with their audiences.
• Pedagogical Impact:
  • Criterion’s educational resources, including their collaborations with universities and their extensive supplementary materials, have made a significant impact on the academic study and appreciation of cinema. Criterion has become an indispensable tool for film scholars, educators, and students alike.
• Fostering Cinephilia:
  • Perhaps most importantly, Criterion’s tireless efforts have played a pivotal role in cultivating and nurturing a vibrant global community of cinephiles.
  • By creating a shared sense of appreciation and belonging around the art of cinema, Criterion has helped to ensure the continued vitality and relevance of the medium.

Key Lessons:

Here’s my take on The Criterion Collection’s brand story and how it can be applied in the modern era we live in today:

The Criterion Collection is a Tribe.

They started small, a humble newsletter for film fanatics, but they knew that passion could be contagious. They built a community, not just a catalog. And that community became their most powerful asset.

When the world moved to DVDs, Criterion didn’t just copy the status quo, they elevated it. They gave their tribe something worth talking about, worth collecting, worth belonging to.

Criterion didn’t just distribute films, they restored them, curated them, and wrapped them in context. They made the act of watching a movie into an experience. And their tribe ate it up.

As the world went digital, Criterion didn’t panic. They embraced the shift, but on their own terms. They built a streaming service, the Criterion Channel, that was a deliberate alternative to the endless scroll.

The Criterion tribe didn’t just watch movies, they discussed them, debated them, and passed them down to the next generation. Criterion became a badge of honor, a signal of sophistication in a world of entertainment.

Now, in the age of AI and social media, Criterion has an opportunity. They can be the guiding light, the trusted curator, in a sea of algorithms and endless choice.

Criterion can use AI to restore and preserve even more cinematic treasures. They can use social media to build deeper bonds with their tribe, to tell richer stories, to create experiences worth talking about.

The true magic of Criterion isn’t in the films themselves. It’s in the community, the shared passion, the feeling of being part of something larger than oneself. That’s the brand story that will endure, no matter what technology comes next.

So, what’s your tribe? What are you building that’s worth belonging to? Because in a world of noise and distraction, that’s the only thing that truly matters.

Overall, Criterion’s success in fostering a vibrant, global community is a testament to their unwavering dedication, their adaptability, and their deep understanding of the unique needs and desires of their passionate fan base.

Victor Isyamba, The Architecture of EVF Growth Formula