Get Your Movie on Tubi & More

Note: I typically write about filmmaking tech, but sometimes I cover other film-related topics such as in this article about indie film distribution.

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Whether you've shot a movie on an iPhone or a Sony FX3 or an ARRI Alexa you have lots of ways to get it seen today - and without using a traditional distributor.

It used to be the dream of every indie filmmaker to make a movie and then sell it to the highest bidding distributor. And that still is the dream for many - and it does happen some today - but not often, and not in they way it used to. And a lot of filmmakers (maybe most) are still living in that idealized past.

And before I go on, don't think - well, what about Obsession?

That is a lottery winner and I'm not talking about those kind of one-in-a-million deals. Those are great and everyone would love that to happen, but they are and always have been exceedingly rare (watch a video I made about this topic).

I'm talking about the majority of truly independent low-budget indie films made today that go straight to digital (no theatrical or very limited theatrical and no major festival wins). And for the sake of argument (and for the approach I'm using), I'm categorizing low-budget here as sub $400k. BUT REALLY for most indie films it's probably closer to $250k - and actually for a heckuva a lot of them it's $100k. Obviously the more you spend the more you have to recoup and it gets increasingly more difficult as the budget rises. For this distribution approach I'm using I personally would NOT spend over $300k unless you have very recognizable name talent and/or IP involved.

[Note too: There's also a TON of micro-budget features made for under $25k and so those are also part of this discussion, especially as it relates to Tubi.]

At the top I said, "a lot of filmmakers (maybe most) are living in that idealized past", and that is 100% true and I include myself - that is until recently with what I've learned releasing my latest films.

In the past you could make a $250k film (especially a genre film like an action/thriller) and expect to make a distribution deal and recoup your budget, and hopefully more depending on the film. You could get a sizable MG (minimum guarantee) or a buyout deal with both domestic and international distributors or sales agents. And that was largely driven through the home entertainment market (a.k.a. DVD & Blu-ray sales to video stores and consumers). And there were often cable TV deals made too, in particular if you had any recognizable cast (even B or C list talent). I'm simplifying things here, but that's basically what could realistically happen.

BUT THOSE DAYS ARE LONG GONE. However, that's still the thinking of too many filmmakers today and those deals just aren't there anymore with streaming.

The deals that are here today go mostly like this:

• No MG (no money up front)

• 5-15 year license term

• High distribution fee (percentage of gross revenue)

• Marketing or other expenses they recoup ($10k or more - and they do NOT market)

• Distribution expenses (QC, encoding, captions, etc.)

For my latest film Casey Makes a Mixtape we got a lot of these offers - and from some well-known companies - but I turned them all down.

Here's why and why I think you probably should, too:

1. No money upfront - without any minimum guarantee you will likely never see any money on these kind of deals. But be careful too if one IS offered. Don't accept it if it's very low because then - that's all you'll ever get. There are companies around they will offer $5000 (we got one like this) and it is tempting, but unless your budget was $5k don't accept it because you'll likely never see another dime. So yes, you do want money upfront, but only if it's a significant enough amount that it will cover all or a large part of your budget. Every deal is different of course, but that's how I'd look at it.
   

2. License term - with no money up front and thus no guarantee we'd ever see a dime I could not give away a license to the film for 5 or 10 years. Period. If it didn't work out (which most deals today don't) that's a long time to wait to get the rights back.
   

3. Distribution fee - these can range, but most are between 20% to 35% of the gross, but I've seen them as high as 60%. I can't fathom why a filmmaker would GIVE AWAY their film for no money upfront and then ALSO let that company take 30% of the revenue for doing something that you can now largely do yourself.
   

4. Marketing expenses, etc. - Most distributors charge a variety of fees for marketing, publicity and delivery of the film. And some of these are totally fine. However, many are not. One big reason is most companies now do not actually market your film. And they definitely don't pay for a publicist or advertising (unless you arrange that separately and pay for it yourself). A lot of these companies will put a poster or trailer on Facebook or YouTube and call that "marketing". And a really big trap here is if you don't specify a CAP on expenses. There are lots of horror stories from the indie and studio worlds of this creative accounting tactic that shows films never make any money. So if you do go with a traditional distributor definitely cap any and all expenses, and ideally have it require your prior approval (and with receipts provided).

Before I go on, while there are shady and predatory distributors out there, I actually don't think there are as many as some would have you believe. Most I've met are good people just working in a bad (dying) business model. I think that many of the mid-tier distributors will likely go away in the next few years (or perhaps consolidate). The market just isn't there to sustain them. But in my past dealings with them I've largely had positive experiences. Yes, I did have to threaten to sue one once, but they did end up paying me. :)

But I wouldn't use any of them now.

Largely because today what I think is one of the main reasons filmmakers often don't recoup much or any money from distributors is... There isn't much money to recoup.

The streaming era has really hurt indie film revenue. We all thought it would be different, but it's not. A large section of movie audiences today have been trained to not buy or rent a digital release - they just wait until it shows up on Netflix.

And that's a problem.

Very few indie films today get licensed by large streamers. So that movie they want to watch later for "free" on Netflix never arrives.

When you sign a distribution deal the most likely outcome (barring a few rare examples today that get theatrical or big streaming deals) is the film will go straight to TVOD, which is transactional video on-demand, meaning rentals or purchases. That's primarily on Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube Movies, Fandango at Home and Google Play. There are some cable VOD options too from DirecTV, etc. but most of the revenue will come from Amazon and Apple.

And the nice thing is you are on the major platforms with Hollywood studio films, which adds legitimacy and some prestige, but people will have to buy or rent the movie.

This is good and bad. Good if you have a large audience ready to go. Bad if you don't.

Hopefully you'll sell thousands, maybe 10,000 or more. But most indies only sell a few hundred. You've got just so many friends and family willing to buy. ;)

And even if you do sell 10,000 (and that would be very good) for say for an average of $5 each (so $50k gross), after Amazon takes 50% - that leaves $25k. And the distributor takes 25% of that, so you're left with just over $18,000. Not terrible, but also not great, especially considering this is a high number for most indies to sell.

So I think you can quickly see how the TVOD math just doesn't work for most indies today (depending on their budget).

Now of course there are other windows and markets to monetize like AVOD (Tubi, etc.) or airlines, and I'll get to that. But for most indies there are no SVOD deals (Netflix, Hulu, HBO) and the thing is, even those don't pay what they used to anyway if they do happen.

So it's really important to keep your budget as low as possible. And it's also very important today to handle your film's distribution yourself.

I know this scares a lot of people and I completely understand, but it's really the only way today for the majority of indies to have any chance of making money. And I believe this is now an essential part of the indie filmmaking process, so plan accordingly.

The thing is though, this is NOT self-distribution. I'm not saying just upload the film to your website or to YouTube (you can, but I wouldn't unless you have a large monetized channel with a loyal fanbase).

This is true distribution using the same channels as the various distributors.

I call it a hybrid distribution approach using a variety of different companies to exploit the film around the world (more or less "carving up the rights"). And yes, you have to coordinate it all and work with lots of folks, and it is a lot of hard work - but again, right now I think it's the ONLY way to make it work if your goal is to recoup your budget and ideally make money.

If you don't care about the financials and you just want to get your film "out there" and not worry about distribution - then sure, go with a distributor if you get an offer. And hey, you might get lucky. But realistically, don't expect to have happy investors later.

In the past the only way to get your film in Blockbuster or later on a streamer was through a distributor. But now that's not the case.

You can get your movie on all the exact same TVOD platforms as any distributor. The exact same AVOD platforms. You can do airline deals (which can be lucrative). You can do your own physical media release. You do not need a distributor to do any of this today.

Now - if you want to go theatrical or try for an SVOD deal, then yes, you do need to work with a distributor or sales agent or a producer's rep. But again, most indie films in this budget category will go straight to digital - and that's where you use an aggregator.

The two most well-known right now are probably Bitmax and Filmhub, although there are others including some smaller distro companies that more or less act like aggregators but with some limited curation (like Indie Rights, who I do like and have one film with).

With aggregators you do pay upfront for the QC and encoding expenses, which you often have to do with a traditional distributor as well (or they charge you later one way or another). But after that, there are no more hidden expenses to worry about (with Filmhub you can opt to pay a yearly subscription for more analytics, but it's not required).

Aggregators are non-exclusive and have no long term licensing terms. And their distribution fees are generally lower than most distributors. Bitmax is 0% for TVOD and 10% for AVOD. Filmhub is 20% for both. Aggregators also pay every 30 days and you can see daily analytics (most distributors pay quarterly and you get quarterly reports). I made a video comparing Bitmax & Filmhub you can watch to learn more.

I've used Bitmax for two films, and Filmhub for four films so far (three of those were older library titles). And through them I've gotten on every TVOD platform mentioned in this article, along with lots of AVOD including Roku, YouTube, DirecTV. Xumo, Tubi and more.

Right now Tubi is one of the best, if not the best, AVOD platform to be on. It's one of the main ways indie films make money today. People are much more willing to watch an unknown film for free (with ads) than they are to rent it. So even if your film tanked on TVOD, don't despair, it can get a new life on AVOD (but you will need to promote it).

And for those true movie fans don't forget physical media.

Bitmax doesn't offer physical media, but Filmhub does (for some select films through Midwest Tape and/or Allied) or you can work with another company like Kunaki (this is the way to go for the highest profit margin, but you have to have an authored disc and your own site to sell it). There are some other ways too, but that's for a different article.

Btw, the counter argument I've heard for using a distributor versus an aggregator is that some distributors claim they get better placement on TVOD and AVOD platforms, and they also get better revenue share splits.

I've not seen evidence for the first one, especially for a low budget indie with no stars. Though distributors can run a spotlight ad to make your film "Sponsored" on Amazon, which might help but can cost a lot (I tried it through my company and it wasn't worth it - I have an old Amazon Slate account). But the second point is true about the better splits. I've heard some are 60/40 on Amazon instead of 50/50. Nice, but not worth it to me.

So ultimately the main point I want you to take away here is that for most independent films today you do not need a traditional distributor to get your film released, and importantly - monetized in the marketplace. And YOU need to take control of all this yourself if you want to make money.

Every film is different of course. Every path is different too. Traditional distribution might be the right way for you.

There are no guarantees for success either way. Quite the opposite actually. Your film will more than likely not generate much revenue. Sad but true.

But the way I look at it... I'd rather it fail with me in control and have the potential to recoup, then have it fail with someone else in control - and with almost no chance from the get-go.

Have you used an aggregator or worked with a distributor? Let me know on X or Threads. (Comments are turned off here due to spambots)

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You can watch my latest film Casey Makes a Mixtape free on Tubi right now. Or if you'd prefer to rent or buy and watch commercial-free go here. And it's also available to own on Blu-ray.

And all of this was made possible though my hybrid distribution approach. Thanks for supporting indie film! -BC