Bay City is home to one of the premiere film festivals in the state with the Hell’s Half Mile Film & Music Festival. Each year in October I’ve enjoyed seeing some great Independently (sometimes locally) produced films in wonderful venues like Bay City’s historic State Theatre.

Well now you can also get the flavor of a film festival streaming to your own home with Kanopy streaming video service provided by Bay County Library System. BCLS card holders can stream quality, award winning, independent & classic films from studios like A24, Criterion, and PBS.

There are also kid-friendly movies and shows on Kanopy Kids and educational videos from the Great Courses series. Literally thousands of streaming videos from which to choose.

To get you started, here’s a quick overview and "how-to" for this exciting new BCLS digital service.

What is Kanopy?

Kanopy is a video streaming service that provides instant access to thousands of critically acclaimed movies, documentaries and Kids’ favorites. We partner with studios like A24, The Criterion Collection, PBS and more to bring your library access to thoughtful entertainment.

How Can I Watch Kanopy?

You can stream Kanopy on any of your favorite devices! Kanopy is accessible via mobile and tablet apps for iPhone and Android. You can also access Kanopy on your Desktop, and SmartTV apps like Roku, Apple TV, and Fire Stick.

How do I create and account?

• To get started, visit baycountylibrary.kanopy.com and select the “Add Library Card button on the lower left.
• Enter your library card credentials
• Create an account using your preferred email
• Begin streaming!

How do credits work?

Patrons have 10 credits per month to use on Kanopy films and television shows in the main collection.

• 1 Credit is issued for 72 hours of access to one film, or all episdodes in a season of an A&E or the History Channel series.
• 1 Credit is issued for The Great Courses. When you press play on the first lesson in a course, that course is checked out for 30 rolling days, and you have unlimited access to all lessons in that course for 30 days. There is a limit of 1 course per month available to check out.
• Credits are not issued for Kanopy Kids. When you press play on any film or TV show inside of Kanopy Kids, then all content in Kanopy Kids has unlimited access for 30 rolling days.