VHX

Not to be confused with THX.

VHX was a digital distribution platform targeting independent filmmakers.^[2] The platform allows artists to sell content directly from their own website, providing design, social media integration, search engine optimization, and analytics tools.^[3] In May 2016, VHX was acquired by Vimeo.^[4]

VHX Corp.

Type of site	Subsidiary of Vimeo
Founded	2011
Headquarters	New York City, New York State , United States
Founder(s)	Jamie Wilkinson Casey Pugh
Industry	digital distribution, film distribution, OVP, SVOD
Employees	25 (as of July 2015)[1]
URL	vhx.tv

History

VHX was founded in 2011 by Jamie Wilkinson and Casey Pugh as a video sharing community called VHX.tv to discover and watch videos from around the web.^[5] After helping Aziz Ansari release his standup special Dangerously Delicious in 2012, VHX shifted its focus to empowering filmmakers to sell their work online.^[6]

In June 2013, VHX was named to "The 2013 IndieWire Influencers List".^[7]

VHX raised a $5 million round led by Comcast Ventures. Investors, who had previously put $3 million into the company, include Union Square Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Reddit Chairman Alexis Ohanian.^[8]

Content highlights

VHX provided streaming and DRM-free downloads of premium video content for many different artists and distributors.^[9] Some titles that have used VHX for online distribution included:

Notable films

• March 2012: Dangerously Delicious, Aziz Ansari’s 2011 standup show.
• June 2012: Indie Game: The Movie, a 2012 documentary film about independent game developers by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot.
• November 2012: "The Invisible Made Visible", a live episode of This American Life.
• November 2012: Miami Connection, a 1987 martial arts film restored by Drafthouse Films.
• February 2013: Sound City, a 2013 documentary film by Dave Grohl.
• April 2013: Upstream Color, a science fiction film by Shane Carruth.
• January 2014: Life Itself, a 2014 documentary film by Steve James. VHX powered the streaming of the film from Sundance to fans who had supported the Indiegogo campaign.
• February 2014: Camp Takota, a 2014 feature film starring YouTube stars Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart and Mamrie Hart.
• February 2014: Mistaken for Strangers, a 2014 documentary about the indie rock band The National.
• April 2014: Stripped, a 2014 documentary about comic strips artists.
• May 2014: Kevin Spacey's "NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage," a 2014 documentary about theater and William Shakespeare's Richard III.
• June 2014: This American Life: Live at BAM, the second live-acted release by Ira Glass and This American Life.
• July 2014: Restrung, a 2014 documentary about animator Randy Fullmer leaving Disney to go make guitars.
• July 2014: Wish I Was Here, a 2014 feature by Zach Braff funded via Kickstarter used VHX for crowdfunding reward fulfillment worldwide.^[10]
• August 2014: Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, a 2014 documentary funded via Kickstarter.^[11]
• November 2014: Harmontown, a 2014 documentary about Dan Harmon and his podcast Harmontown after being fired from the TV series he created, Community.
• December 2014: Expelled, a 2014 feature produced by Awesomeness TV starring Vine star Cameron Dallas.
• March 2016: The Watcher Self, a 2016 British psychological thriller film written, produced and directed by Matt Cruse.
• March 2016: Winners Tape All: The Henderson Brothers Story, a mockumentary that pays homage to 1980s regional direct-to-VHS horror filmmakers and the influx of horror VHS collectors, directed by Justin Channell.
• April 2016: Amityville: Vanishing Point, the continuation of the Amityville horror mythos featuring Catie Corcoran and Lloyd Kaufman.

Notable series

• October 2014: Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, a TV documentary series created for HBO by Dave Grohl and distributed internationally via VHX during its HBO broadcast window in the United States.
• 2014: Black&Sexy TV, a YouTube channel with multiple web series.
• 2014 MeatEater, a non-fiction TV series with Steven Rinella which broadcasts on the Sportsman Channel and uses VHX to facilitate worldwide online sales.

Notable distributors

• Comedy Central
• Drafthouse Films
• Dropout
• Devolver Digital
• Kino Lorber
• Oscilloscope Laboratories
• Noize TV
• Telly2Go
• Toku
• Team Locon
• WOW Presents Plus

Funding

VHX is funded by Union Square Ventures, Lerer Ventures, Chris Sacca, William Morris Endeavor, Alexis Ohanian, and Matt Mullenweg, among others.^{[citation needed]} In August 2013, the company announced a $3.2 million Series A round of financing.^[12] The company previously raised $1.25 million in its seed round of funding in June, 2012. Previously, it was bootstrap funded by the founders for its first year of operation.^[2]