Community screenings + everything that happens next.
Kinema nailed the community-cinema screening workflow. Hiway covers the direct sales, the syndication, the live events and the audience data that follow the screening.
Kinema is built for host-led community screenings and it does that job well. Hiway covers the window after the screening: direct-to-fan SmartLinks, open syndication, ticketed live events and a full audience CRM. If you already use Kinema, Hiway is usually the rest of the funnel rather than a replacement.
| Feature | Hiway | Kinema |
|---|---|---|
| Host-led community screenings | Ticketed access and Screener Rooms | Core product, host network included |
| Finding screening hosts | Not offered, you bring the audience | A real strength |
| Direct-to-fan SmartLinks | Core feature | Not supported |
| Open syndication | Included | Not supported |
| Ticketed live streams | First-class, with instant VOD | Not supported |
| Revenue model | From £12 a month, 10% of pay-per-view | Per-screening split with host and film |
| Revenue retained | You keep 90% of every sale | Your share of each screening split |
| Payouts | Real time, into your own Stripe account | Settled per screening |
| Audience data | A CRM you own, exports to CSV any time | Host-level data |
| Forensic watermarking | Included on every paid plan | Not supported |
Kinema is built for host-led community screenings. It is good at the genuinely hard part: finding hosts, handling the split, and filling a room. Hiway does not organise screenings for you. If a community screening tour is the whole campaign, Kinema does that job properly.
Hiway suits the window after the screening. Direct sales through SmartLinks, ticketed live nights, secure screeners for press and buyers, and syndication when you want reach. You keep 90% of every sale, paid in real time, and every viewer lands in a CRM you own and can export.
These two sit at different points of the same campaign rather than in competition. Screenings build the audience in a room. Direct sales turn that audience into income once everyone has gone home and told a friend.
Community screenings are act one. Hiway handles the direct window, the live events, the syndication and the archive.
10% on pay-per-view, with no per-screening split to reconcile afterwards.
Ticketed live events with instant VOD, so the audience beyond one room still counts.
Every buyer and viewer lands in a CRM you own. Export it to CSV, or push it into the tools you already use.
This is rarely a switch. It is usually an addition, made once a screening tour has built an audience with nowhere to buy.
The permanent free account gives you 5 GB and one piece of media. Enough to put your film behind a real paywall and test the whole flow.
Import the list your screenings produced. From then on every buyer and viewer lands in a CRM you own and export to CSV.
Set a price and share one SmartLink. Everyone who heard about the screening but could not attend can finally buy it.
Ticketed live for Q and A nights, Screener Rooms for press and buyers, syndication when you want reach rather than margin.
Nothing on Hiway is exclusive, so a screening tour and a direct window can run at the same time. Many films do better when they do.
Not exactly. Kinema is built around host-led community screenings, and it will find hosts in a way Hiway does not. Hiway covers what comes next: direct sales, ticketed live, screeners and syndication. Many filmmakers run a screening tour first, then open a direct window on Hiway.
They charge differently. Kinema works on a per-screening split between host, film and platform. Hiway charges from £12 a month, takes 10% of pay-per-view sales, so you keep 90%. On direct sales, more of the money stays with you.
Yes, and you can run both at once. Upload your master, set a price and share the link. Import your screening audience so those people land in a CRM you own and can export to CSV whenever you want.
A direct sales window and the audience list behind it. Every buyer, ticket and view is yours to export. You keep 90% of every sale, paid in real time into your own Stripe account rather than settled per screening.
Book a demo and we will show how Hiway extends what Kinema starts.
