On April 7, the French public will be able to discover on Brut X the story of Cristina Ortiz Rodriguez, Spanish transsexual icon of the 1990s. Last year, the adventures of the life of the actress, singer and model, who died in 2016, have enjoyed huge success in Spain in the miniseries Veneno (“Poison”), of which Brut acquired the rights.
Four years after its debut, the free medium is now hoping to make its way into paid subscription video. For 4.99 euros per month, the consumer will have access on Brut X to films, series and documentaries revolving around “Questions of gender, feminism, those in charge of power, the environment or the great figures of pop culture, our favorite themes”, says Guillaume Lacroix, CEO and co-founder of the company. “We want to show a more progressive, more humanistic world”, completes his partner, producer Renaud Le Van Kim.
Brut X will be accessible directly on the Internet, or via 4 million Orange boxes and 4 million Free boxes, the two operators with which it has already concluded agreements. The fact that the founder of Free, Xavier Niel (also a shareholder of World individually), owns 30% of the capital of Brut, did not necessarily facilitate the agreement, assures Renaud Le Van Kim: “They didn’t give us a gift. “
“Editorialized” strategy
Initially, Brut X will offer 500 hours of programming, which is not much compared to large platforms. But its leaders are betting on a strategy “Editorialized”, which saves the consumer from getting lost in the thousands of hours of program. On Brut X, the customer will have access to cutting-edge content such as Cartel, a documentary on sicarios mexicans, or Kivu, telling the story of child guerrillas from the Congo. If the company produces its own documentaries, it will buy its series from outside producers. In this area, the race is tough against Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Canal +. Hence the choice of niche works supposed to be less coveted by the big platforms, even if, with Veneno, Brut found himself facing Netflix and HBO.
Arriving before the others therefore remains essential. “We have chosen to acquire the French rights to the British series Adult Material, on a mother porn actress, even before its broadcast on Channel 4 », relates Renaud Le Van Kim. Offering original series is all the more important as the films of Brut X, an important part of the programs, are to date old reruns, like Erin Brockovich, or All about my mother.
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