Google's YouTube buys Directr video app and makes it free

Google’s YouTube division has bought the Directr movie-making app for smartphones and will offer it free.

Directr is an app that businesses can use to shoot videos for marketing purposes, then upload them to Facebook and YouTube, for instance, or embed them in newsletters.

The app provides help with things like frame selection and building a storyboard, to provide “point-and-shoot moviemaking” on a smartphone.

The app was priced at between US$25 and $400 a month, depending on the features and amount of usage. Directr says the app will now be free, though it’s unclear how long it will exist in its current form.

“For now, everything you love about Directr is staying the same and we’ll continue to focus on helping businesses create great video quickly and easily,” Directr said on its website.

“One immediate bonus: Directr will soon be all free, all the time. Thanks, YouTube!”

The 2-year-old company is joining YouTube’s video ads team.

The app is offered today for Apple’s iOS. Google didn’t immediately say if it will build a version for Android, though it seems likely, assuming the app is to continue.