Tag: Indie Film
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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The idea that your story needs to be “universal” to succeed is outdated, false, and frankly, dangerous.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 No-Pitch-Deck Way to Get Your Film in Front of Investors and Buyers
Pitching is exhausting! Investors want data, distributors want deliverables, and sponsors want audience alignment. You want someone (and sometimes, ANYONE) to just take a look at your film. But what if you didn’t have to send dozens of cold emails, edit your pitch deck a hundred times, or try to guess what each gatekeeper wants
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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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Want to Sell Your Film to Streaming Platforms? Prove You’ve Got an Audience
If you want to sell your film to a streaming platform, there’s one thing you need more than anything else: an audience. Forget the pretty cinematography, forget the big-name cast, and forget the awards. Streaming platforms don’t care about those things unless they come with the all-important audience. But here’s the kicker: most filmmakers are
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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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If You Don’t Budget for a Lawyer, Budget for Regret
You wouldn’t roll camera without a cinematographer. You wouldn’t record sound without a boom op. So why are so many filmmakers trying to launch careers without a lawyer? Let’s be blunt: if you don’t budget for legal help, you’re budgeting for regret. From rights agreements to release forms to distribution contracts, the film industry is
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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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Think You Can’t Afford Union Talent? SAG-AFTRA Disagrees
Thanks to SAG-AFTRA’s Micro-Budget Agreement, you can cast union talent in your indie film—even if your entire budget is less than what Marvel spends on catering in a single afternoon. If your film is under $20,000, you qualify. No loopholes. No shady workarounds. Just paperwork. And if you know how to use it, that paperwork
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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
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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
