Vimeo has announced it is extending its flagship Staff Pick channel into a year-long online film festival and has added new laurels honoring films selected as Best of the Month and Year, plus weekly premieres.

“The Vimeo Staff Pick channel represents the most progressive and imaginative filmmaking direct from our community of world class filmmakers,” said Peter Gerard, General Manager, Vimeo. “The iconic Staff Pick laurel has helped launched the careers of many filmmakers coming up through the Vimeo platform and we’re excited to continue to honor and elevate our Staff Picked filmmakers with two new levels of prestige, while also making the channel a must-watch for audiences tuning in weekly to the new Premieres programming.”

The Vimeo Staff Pick will continue to exist, in addition to new laurels honoring films selected as Best of the Month and Year, plus Staff Pick Premieres.

Each month, an hour’s worth of films and videos across a variety of genres are selected from that month’s pool of Staff Picks to receive the ‘Best of the Month’ laurel. There will be roughly 120 films selected per year creating 12 hours of online programming.

At the end of each year, Vimeo will select ‘Best of the Year’ winners from its monthly Best-of pool in each of its core categories. In addition to receiving the ultimate Staff Pick laurel, filmmakers will receive dedicated marketing and promotional support for their winning film.

As part of the initiative, Vimeo is also introducing Staff Pick Premieres, a weekly global online film premiere of a pre-selected Staff Pick. Vimeo will support the film through both on and off-site promotion, including editorial coverage and marketing support. Staff Pick Premieres are selected by Vimeo’s in-house curation team, but will also have an open submission process for any film that has played in competition at an Oscar-qualifying event within the last 24 months. Qualifying filmmakers interested in having their work considered for a Staff Pick premiere can email premieres@vimeo.com for more information.

Danny DeVito’s short film Curmudgeons has been selected as the first Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere and is now streaming (you can also see it above).

Making its theatrical debut earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, the short was directed and produced by Danny DeVito, alongside his co-producers, and children, Lucy and Jake DeVito.

Other Upcoming Vimeo Staff Pick Premieres include:

● Wednesday, October 12 — These C*cksucking Tears from Dan Taberski (SXSW 2016)
● Wednesday, October 19 – Partners from Joey Ally (Sundance 2016)
● Wednesday, October 26 — Night of the Slasher from Shant Hamassian (SXSW 2016)
● Wednesday, November 2 — Burnout from Miguel López Valdivia (Sheffield Doc/Fest 2016)

For more information visit Vimeo.com/StaffPicks.