Resident Select is a brand new program that provides students living on-campus with access to some of the hottest movie releases on the market. All students need is a computer, a wired internet connection, and some free time.
Students that are currently a residents in South Village or North Lake Village, you can enjoy such popular titles as The Amazing Spider Man 2, Godzilla, The Purge and Neighbors, to name a few. Streaming these movies is absolutely free for on-campus students.
“It’s like our version of Netflix,” said Sarah Levine, the president of the Resident Housing Association (RHA). Levine is very excited to bring Resident Select to Florida Gulf Coast University residents, who are largely dependent on paid rental services like Redbox, as well as paid streaming services like Hulu, for their movie-viewing needs.
“We have 13 titles available right now, and two more are coming by October,” Levine said. “We put out a lot of our movies faster than Netflix or Redbox can.”
Levine stressed that Resident Select is not your average movie streaming service — it is a unique, FGCU-based experience that connects to a variety of events happening on our campus. For example, in response to Banned Books Month, RHA added “The Great Gatsby” to the list of available titles, since the book on which the movie is based has been banned in certain schools around the country for its provocative content.
According to Levine, Resident Select is available through a contract with Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. The contract is valid for one year, but RHA may sign a three-year contract if Resident Select is well-received by students.
“This program is brand new. We’re trying it out to see if people like it,” Levine said. “Not many universities have this service, so residents should definitely take advantage of it.”
So far, the program seems to be catching on. According to a usage report provided by RHA, the movies were viewed 461 times between Aug. 18 and Sept. 23. The popularity of the service is likely due to the convenience of streaming as opposed to renting movies. And of course, it’s free.
Alee Petrova, a junior and art major living in North Lake Village, said she watched the movie “Divergent” using Resident Select. She loved both the movie and the service.
“I was surprised that it loaded so quickly. The quality was really good,” Petrova said.
Ryan Ghandour, another NLV resident, is also impressed by Resident Select.
“I feel like it lets you know the school appreciates you,” he said. “I don’t really like that I have to use an ethernet cable instead of wi-fi, but other than that, it’s really good.”
That drawback, as well as the fact that Resident Select is not available in West Lake Village, are common complaints. However, Levine promised that these problems are not permanent.
“We don’t have [Resident Select] in West Lake Village yet, but we’re working on it. And the wired connection is just to ensure the quality of the streaming. It may be possible to watch the movies over a wi-fi connection soon.”
So if you’re a student living in South or North Lake Village and you want to kill a couple hours without breaking your budget or even leaving your room, Levine said you should “try Resident Select at least once.” Try it out at movies.resnet.fgcu.edu.