Tag: AVOD
Understand ad-supported video-on-demand platforms and how indie films generate revenue.
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Film vs. Music Streaming — Exclusivity, Payouts, and Future Convergence
Streaming transformed both the film and music industries, but the two have evolved very differently. Both film and music streamers offer vast libraries on demand and use subscription models (often with ad-supported tiers), delivering entertainment across devices. However, a closer look reveals divergent strategies: film/TV platforms fiercely guard exclusive content to stand out, while music
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Where to Distribute Your Indie Film (Based on Its Genre)
Self-distribution isn’t about throwing your film onto the biggest platform and hoping for the best. It’s about strategic placement, getting your film in front of the people who are most likely to watch, love, and share it. And that starts with genre. Each film genre comes with a different culture of viewership. Horror fans flock
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Turning Indie Films into Revenue Streams Via Licensing
Film licensing is the process by which the rights to distribute, exhibit, or broadcast a film are granted to a third party. This can take many forms: a TV channel buying the rights to air your movie for six months, a streaming platform acquiring exclusive distribution for a region, or a foreign distributor licensing the
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Why Your Forgotten Indie Film Might Still Make Money
Most indie films get a brief moment in the sun, maybe a small theatrical run, a festival circuit, or a modest DVD release. Then they quietly fade into obscurity. But streaming platforms have rewritten that script. With the right tweaks, older indie films can find new audiences, generate fresh revenue, and build the filmmaker’s brand
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A Survival Guide for When Your Film Doesn’t Sell
Every year, thousands of independent films are completed, and most will never land a traditional distribution deal. Not because they’re bad. Sometimes they’re too niche. Sometimes they’re poorly timed. Sometimes they simply fall through the cracks of an overcrowded, trend-driven industry. If you’ve made a film and it’s not getting attention from buyers, it’s easy
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Stop Waiting for a Sales Agent Start Studying Film Sales
Filmmakers love to say, “I’ll worry about distribution later.” But later is too late. By the time your film is finished, the die is cast. The tone, the length, the genre, the rating, the platform fit, the market positioning. All of it’s baked in. So if you made every decision assuming someone else would handle
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Want to Make Money Off Your Indie Film? Stop Obsessing Over Theaters
Most indie filmmakers treat the box office like it’s the final boss. But here’s the truth: it’s barely the tutorial level. Theaters are nice for prestige. They’re great for premieres, red carpets, Instagram posts, and a handful of press quotes. But financially? They are not your finish line. For most independent films, they’re a vanity
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Your Indie Film Just Hit Tubi. Now What?
So your film just got picked up for AVOD. First of all, congrats. You’re officially in front of a real audience. Not just a theater of friends and family, not just a festival screening with a Q&A, but actual eyeballs. Now here comes the part that matters more than the pickup itself: How are you
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You Can’t Upload to Amazon Anymore, But You’re Not Out of Options
If you were hoping to release your indie film directly to Amazon Prime Video, it may already be too late. Amazon Prime Direct, once a wide-open platform for filmmakers to upload their work without a middleman, has quietly finished phasing out open submissions from independent creators. No fanfare. No press release. No dramatic public takedown.
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Your Film Isn’t Too Niche. It’s Exactly What Streamers Want.
The idea that your story needs to be “universal” to succeed is outdated, false, and frankly, dangerous. For years, filmmakers from marginalized communities were told to smooth the edges of their culture. To make their characters “more relatable.” To replace specificity with sameness. All in the name of “marketability.” But in 2023, the numbers told
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If Sundance Is Your Only Plan, You Don’t Have a Plan
Let’s rip the Band-Aid off: if your entire distribution plan revolves around getting into Sundance, you don’t have a strategy. You have a fantasy. Look, we get it. The idea of your film premiering in Park City (ahem…Boulder…), packed into a sold-out theater full of buyers, agents, and Variety journalists is intoxicating. A standing ovation.
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AVOD, SVOD, or TVOD? How to Pick the Right Release Strategy for Your Indie Film
It’s the question every indie filmmaker eventually has to face: where should your film live? Should you put it on a paid platform and aim for prestige? Drop it on an ad-supported streamer and reach the masses? Sell it directly to fans? AVOD. SVOD. TVOD. Three distribution models. Three radically different outcomes. And no, there’s
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The Distribution Checklist You Need Before You Ever Hit Record
Here’s a horror story too many indie filmmakers have lived through: You’ve wrapped your shoot. You’ve locked the edit. You’re celebrating your final color pass. Then you get the distribution offer. And with it? A deliverables checklist that makes your stomach drop. Suddenly, your finished film… isn’t finished enough. And fixing it? Expensive. Time-consuming. Sometimes
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The Most Valuable Thing Your Trailer Gives You Isn’t Views, It’s Data
You posted the trailer, you shared the ticket link, and you begged your followers to “check it out.” Now you’re refreshing the page, wondering where the views are coming from, or why they’re not showing up at all. Here’s the truth: if you’re not tracking how people are finding your film, you’re not just flying
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The Real Path to Indie Film Success? Searchability.
Every January, indie filmmakers hold their breath. Because Sundance. The buzziest titles get six-figure deals, glowing press, and social media love. It’s the dream! Validation, visibility, and maybe even a shot at the big leagues. But for every film that premieres in Park City, hundreds more are just as good, just as heartfelt, just as
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How a $125K Indie Horror Film Made $1M Without Festivals or Stars
This is not a Cinderella story. It’s not a “right place, right time” fluke. It’s not about an indie filmmaker charming their way into Sundance and getting swept up by an A24 deal. This is a story about distribution done right—and the numbers don’t lie. Last year, the most-watched independent film on Tubi wasn’t a
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What I Wish I Knew Before Releasing My Indie Film
Distribution is where most indie filmmakers go to die—or at least to disappear quietly. After the blood, sweat, and credit card debt of production, it’s easy to think your job is done. But distribution is not dessert. It’s not a celebration. It’s the war after the war, and most of us walk into it completely
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The One Stat Netflix Prioritizes Above All
Here’s the brutal truth Netflix doesn’t advertise, but their internal documents (leaked in 2023) confirmed: completion rate is king. Not views. Not likes. Not even watch time in minutes. If viewers don’t finish your film, the algorithm assumes something’s wrong—and it buries your title. It gets recommended less. It drops lower in search. It quietly
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The Global Revenue Stream Filmmakers Always Forget
You finished your film. You hit the festival circuit. You pitched to streamers. Maybe you got an AVOD deal. Maybe you’re grinding through self-distribution. But there’s a good chance you’re missing one of the easiest, most overlooked revenue streams in the industry: Foreign educational licensing. Yes—classrooms. Lecture halls. Academic libraries. Especially if your film tackles
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Want Your Indie Film to Make Money This Year? Choose One of These Three Genres
Let’s talk genre. Not as an artistic decision. Not as a festival strategy. But as financial leverage. Because if your film is headed for AVOD (ad-supported video-on-demand), one truth stands above the rest: The three genres most likely to break even in under a year are: Horror, Thriller, and Documentary. This isn’t a guess. It’s
