Could Letterboxd, the popular film-review social network, end up in the clutches of Netflix or another big entertainment corporation?
Letterboxd, founded in 2011, has been shopping itself to interested parties in recent months. The app and website (which also recently launched an online video-rental service) is majority-owned by Canadian holding company Tiny, which acquired a 60% stake in Letterboxd in 2023 at a valuation of $50 million-$60 million. Letterboxd co-founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow own the remaining 40% share.
Letterboxd’s owners have held early talks with a number of potential buyers — including Netflix, according to an unconfirmed report by Puck. Others reportedly looking at Letterboxd include Sony Pictures Entertainment, David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance (and RedBird Capital Partners, a key Paramount financial backer) and private-equity giant TPG. Also supposedly kicking the tires on Letterboxd is Reddit co-creator Alexis Ohanian, who is founder and general partner of VC firm Seven Seven Six.
The prospect of the likes of Netflix, Sony or Paramount owning Letterboxd may appear to introduce inherent conflicts — raising questions of whether they would somehow give preference to their own titles. Note that film-rating site Rotten Tomatoes was part of NBCUniversal for years, although some critics have slammed that ownership structure as being problematic.
