With paid streaming services getting pricier by the month, free ad-supported versions such as Tubi, Freevee and Roku are bringing in tens of millions of viewers.
Atlanta-based Swirl Films CEO Eric Tomosunas and general manager Michael Parnes thought there was an opening for a non-subscription streaming service offering horror and thriller movies, plus true crime documentaries, while generating enough income off advertising alone. So they recently launched FearPix, a streaming service that is free for all and offers up more than 600 options.
“We did a lot of market research,” said Tomosunas, who has run Swirl Films for 24 years and moved it to Atlanta in 2013. “We did our due diligence.”
FearPix is now available on all major platforms such as Amazon, Apple and Roku. Roku is the most popular place so far where people are watching FearPix, Parnes said.
Parnes, who worked at Turner Broadcasting for 20 years including seven as vice president at Adult Swim, won’t release user data, noting the service has only been up for a few weeks.
“We want hundreds of thousands of users on our platform every day,” Parnes said.
Ad breaks before the start of a film are 15 seconds and then happen about every 15 minutes with no more than 120 seconds of ads at a time, he said.
In its initial launch, FearPix doesn’t have big theatrical hits along the lines of “Saw” or “Scream.” Rather, it has picked up its fair share of Lifetime movies such as “Girl in the Basement” starring Judd Nelson and “Big Driver,” based on a Stephen King novella.
The most viewed offering now is “Menendez: Blood Brothers,” a 2017 Lifetime film starring Courtney Love and Kitty Menendez. It’s likely tied in with the fact Netflix recently released a documentary and scripted series about the Menendez murders.
Other popular offerings, according to FearPix’s homepage, include “Killer Grandma,” “The Devil Came Home” and “Left Behind: The Movie.”
‘We acquired titles knowing that horror is the biggest one out there in terms of genre but we do feel true crime has its place that’s going to expand our viewership,” Parnes said, noting that women are rabid true crime fans. He said more true crime titles are coming in the next few weeks.
FearPix hopes to have 1,000 titles by the end of the year and plans to create original films and series by 2026.
“We curate and watch everything,” Tomosunas said. “We don’t go for over-the-top violence and nudity” given that the service is ad supported.
Parnes so far has curated different lists of thematically connected films for the homepage such as “31 Days of Halloween,” “Killer Clowns” and “The Ultimate Zombie Collection.”
To spread the word about the service, FearPix is visiting various conventions including HorrorCon in Los Angeles last month and Days of the Dead convention in Atlanta earlier this month. He said they also got traction at DreamHack Atlanta, a home for cosplayers and esports lovers.
Billy Messina, a makeup/prop artist who created Netherworld Haunted House 25 years ago, glanced through FearPix’s library and left impressed with the quirky indie offerings.
“There is so much horror product out there that nobody sees,” Messina said. “Having a library like this is certainly a helpful tool, especially for horror lovers.”
Dan Rayburn, a New York-based media expert on streaming services, said he has no idea how easy it would be for FearPix to make money because the world of free ad-supported television (FAST) is not transparent when it comes to releasing public data.
“We don’t have a single number from any companies that are public that show FAST services being profitable,” Rayburn said.
AMC, for instance, doesn’t even release how many subscribers its nine-year-old Shudder, its streaming service focused on horror, has. Shudder charges $6.99 a month but can be bundled at a discount with AMC+.
Tubi, considered the leader in this world with 74 million active monthly users, has publicly stated it is not yet profitable although its audience members surpass those of many streaming services such as Peacock and Apple TV+ and is only behind Netflix, Amazon and Hulu in reach. An analyst estimated for The New York Times that Tubi pulled in $900 million in revenue over the last year, compared to an estimated $775 million the year before.
