Letterboxd, the film platform, was developed in 2010 and launched in late 2011 advertised as a “social film discovery” platform. The two New Zealand native developers Matthew Buchanan and Karl Von Randow touched the lives of many fifteen years ago with the goal of creating a “Goodreads for film,” making major connections between film lovers and have sparked a complete shift in the industry of films and media consumption. The company is named after the concept of ‘letterboxing’, a technique used in film to convert widescreen film to standard width while preserving the films’ original aspect ratio. It was officially opened to the public on February 8th, 2013. In September 2023, a Canadian investment company known as Tiny acquired a major stake (60%) in Letterboxd, valued at $50-60 million USD. Buchanan and Randow continue to run the company into 2026. 

Letterboxd introduced a feature at its inception that gained traction nearly ten years later, really marking the platform as a staple. This feature is the Four Favorites. Four Favorites is what it sounds like– you display your four favorite films on your profile. Not three– too little, it’s too hard to choose just three. Not five– too many, too broad. A happy medium (and a balanced screen) lead to four films! Following the Letterboxd editorial series at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, people started using the display feature more after seeing their favorite actors, directors and producers giving their top four, showcasing relatability and commonalities with fans and other filmmakers alike. 

In May of 2017, six years after launching, users logged their 100 millionth film on the site. From both the standpoint of the number of films logged and the standpoint of the number of users, Letterboxd is growing unlike ever before. During 2020, Letterboxd users swelled. Its user count rose from 1.8 million in March 2020 to 3 million in January 2021 (per the New York Times) and continues to grow, reaching 18 million users at the end of 2024. When theatres reopened, Letterboxd pushed younger filmgoers to go to theatres and watch more films. Half of the platform’s active users are under 35, and more than half of that group is between 16 and 24. (per Variety) Another charming feature is that it also has a curve, with people writing in depth analysis and witty one liners on the same film. 

I think that Letterboxd is an important platform, especially in an era of short attention spans getting even shorter and the idea of returning to physical media. While Letterboxd isn’t used exclusively with physical media, it aligns with the idea of slowing life down a bit and sitting and watching a film… Or two films, or a hundred films.