Tubi Originals Are Booming: Your Indie Film Should Be Next

You’ve heard it before: “Everyone’s chasing Netflix.” But while indie filmmakers crowd the gates of the big SVOD platforms, a quiet disruptor has been building momentum, and paying for mid-budget films with real speed.

We’re talking about Tubi Originals.

They’re not a gimmick. They’re not a fluke. They’re a growing juggernaut in the indie film ecosystem.

Tubi’s original content grew by 33% year-over-year, and that number isn’t slowing down. Backed by Fox, armed with deep AVOD data, and aggressively expanding into original productions, Tubi is carving out a space that indie filmmakers can’t afford to ignore.

So stop sleeping on them. If you’re making a mid-budget indie with clean rights, you might already be exactly what they’re looking for.

Wait…Tubi’s Making Originals? Yes. And They’re Scaling Fast.

Tubi isn’t just hosting deep-catalog titles and random creature features anymore. In the past two years, they’ve launched:

• Dozens of Tubi Originals, across horror, thriller, docu-series, romance, and true crime
• Strategic partnerships with indie production houses
• Day-and-date exclusives that hit Tubi before any other platform
• A push for underrepresented voices and diverse stories that big streamers often overlook

This is the AVOD era, and Tubi knows it. They’re not trying to be the next Netflix, they’re doubling down on what works in ad-supported ecosystems: engaging genre films, tight runtimes, and strong thumbnails.

Why Mid-Budget Indies Are Their Sweet Spot

Tubi doesn’t want $200M blockbusters. They’re not looking for prestige festival darlings. What they want is content that:

• Has a production value that looks professional on a big screen
• Can deliver fast engagement and clean storytelling
• Features recognizable actors or unique genre hooks
• Has no legal baggage, meaning you own your rights, your music is cleared, and your paperwork is pristine
• Fits neatly into audience-driven categories like horror, thriller, true crime, romance, or docu-drama

That $250K feature you shot in 18 days with a tight cast and a smart location? It could be a Tubi Original.

Especially if your film plays to bingeable, brandable audiences.

What Makes a Project Tubi-Ready?

Tubi isn’t Netflix, and that’s a good thing. Their selection criteria skews lean and practical. Here’s what they’re scouting:

1. Genre First

Tubi users come for clear categories. Your film needs to telegraph its identity fast. Think:

• “Paranormal thriller set in a suburban nursing home”
• “Single-location crime drama with a twist ending”
• “Romantic comedy about two rival Lyft drivers in Atlanta”

Tubi’s audience wants films that know who they’re for.

2. Strong Hooks and Short Runtimes

This is a platform where 80–90 minutes is ideal. Anything over 100 better be worth every second.

If your concept can be pitched in a sentence, your film will survive the scroll.

3. Clean Deliverables

Your film better come with:

• A clear chain of title
• All music and image rights fully cleared
• 4K or 1080p ProRes masters
• English closed captions
• No sagging legal issues or hidden licensors

Tubi doesn’t want to chase down paperwork. They want ready-to-go packages that are easy to license and easy to stream.

4. Cast Recognition (Even B-Level Counts)

You don’t need Oscar nominees, but a familiar face helps. Reality stars, genre veterans, and cult icons can move the needle. So can strong audience data. Show that your actor has 500K engaged TikTok followers and you’ve made your case.

What Tubi Originals Offer Indie Filmmakers

When you land a Tubi Original deal, you’re not just getting a streamer. You’re getting:

• Platform-backed marketing
• Front-page placement
• Access to millions of monthly viewers
• Licensing fees that can cover or exceed your budget
• Global distribution expansion through Fox’s growing AVOD pipeline

Unlike self-uploading to AVOD, Tubi Originals come with visibility, positioning, and repeat value. Viewers binge them. The algorithm recommends them. And they stay in rotation longer than festival titles or buried VOD rentals.

How to Get on Tubi’s Radar

Start with your positioning. If you’re developing a mid-budget indie:

1. Build your project with genre-forward clarity
2. Secure all rights upfront (music, footage, locations, name/image/likeness)
3. Package with a clean deliverables list
4. Keep the runtime under 100 minutes
5. Develop a strong logline, poster, and trailer
6. Work with a sales agent, aggregator, or submit through production companies with AVOD connections
7. Highlight your audience with measurables like social data, newsletter size, or genre demand

If your project aligns with their lane, they’ll take notice. And once they do, they move fast.

Garvescope Helps You Play This Smart

At Garvescope, we’re not just watching the industry shift. We’re building tools to help you move with it.

We help you:

• Package your project with investor- and buyer-friendly data
• Show proof of audience traction
• Track which genres, formats, and runtimes are performing across platforms
• List your film in our marketplace where streamers and AVOD buyers browse for ready-to-license titles

Tubi isn’t the future, it’s the right now.
If your film is close to completion (or even still in development) tailor it for the platform that’s buying.

And trust us: they are buying.