Kino Lorber’s entertainment streaming platform MHz Choice is officially merging with First Look Media’s Topic platform to collectively create a single North American streamer that will specialize in international films and series for the domestic market, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Kino Lorber and First Look Media launched a joint venture in 2022 which bundled their respective streaming services, and the new venture will merge both MHz Choice and Topic into a single platform and will start at $7.99 per month.
Kino Lorber Chief Operating Officer Martha Benyam will oversee the new platform while Lisa Schwartz, Kino Lorber Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing distribution and partnerships, Executive Vice President, Content Strategy Lance Schwulst continuing to oversee programming and Monica Bloom, who joined Kino Lorber from Topic, continuing to serve as Chief Marketing Officer.
The new streaming platform has already secured exclusive North American rights to the award-winning German period series ‘Babylon Berlin’ from Beta Film and is slated to stream all four seasons of the show on their platform.
The new MHz/Topic platform will also feature popular European drama series, and is already slated to stream Scandi noir classics The Killing, The Bridge, and Beck, Italian YA hit The Sea Beyond, Gallic drama A French Village, as well as the German-Austrian thriller Pagan Peak.
“MHz Choice is now the ultimate destination for those who love international series, and especially European mysteries and Nordic noir,” Ed Carroll, President, Kino Lorber Media Group said, per the report. “Babylon Berlin is one of the crown jewels of television, a period drama whose timeless themes transcend geography and language in the way shows like A French Village, Downton Abbey or Mad Men have all around the world.”
