This week, we’re launching HQ, a new membership tier that’s designed to give our friends in the film industry a place to call home on Letterboxd. Since our inception in 2011, more and more film organizations—festivals, studios, theaters, podcasts and the like—have joined Letterboxd. However, our profiles were always intended for individual use, and aren’t ideal for supporting an organization’s activity.

How do we include groups in a space that’s first and foremost a platform for individual movie lovers? How can we fold them into the culture around here? And: what tools might they need? How could they drop trailers, festival line-ups or general news, and how might they gather Letterboxd followers around an event or announcement?

As examples, both the Austin Film Society and Film at Lincoln Center have growing fan bases on Letterboxd, but not the right tools to fully embrace those audiences around specific screenings and other events. Likewise, what happens when NEON or Criterion or Legion M wants to gift an exclusive video to the Letterboxd community—where does that belong? And is there a way for IndieWire to put the spotlight on writers other than David Ehrlich? (Jokes, we love you David.)

We’ve been thinking about the answers to these questions for a while, and as the brutal realities of 2020 became clear, we firmed up our plans. The survival of film—arthouse and independent film especially—depends on many factors, but most especially the ongoing existence of passionate audiences and their powerful word-of-mouth energy. If there’s one thing we have, it’s a community of passionate film lovers. If there’s a way to bring the film industry and film lovers together at Letterboxd in a way that feels true to us, and leads to more film discovery, we’re on board.

So, we developed a new version of our classic profile that still looks and feels like the Letterboxd you love, but has a few extra things under the hood, like customized backdrops, a pinned list (and comment thread) front and center, the ability to publish stories (including YouTube videos and links to relevant news on other platforms), and the option to link to team members’ personal accounts.

We’re pleased to reveal our brand-new HQ tier, courtesy of a few early adopters: IndieWire, Film at Lincoln Center, NEON, TIFF, 70mm Podcast, The Black List, IFC, Legion M, Austin Film Society and our own crew account. This is the first beta—we expect to improve and extend over time—and you can follow these accounts immediately, on the web or in our apps (new versions with support are dropping today).