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How to get your film on Netflix

How to get your film on Netflix, iTunes, and Hulu

Should filmmakers have to pay to have the privelege of an audience watching their film? We certainly hope not.

In today's high-paced technological world, filmmakers have become abundant. It has become increasingly harder for Indie filmmakers to get good exposure.

Sadly, winning film festivals does not always pay off. Films are too often picked up by distributors at the price it took to make them- leaving the filmmaker with no chioce than to break even. The film "Ballast"- winner of the 2008 Sundance film festival, for example, was offered a distribution deal by IFC. This, however, only left him breaking even. The $25-50,000 budgeted film was too much of an investment to turn down any distribution deal.

Technology however, has also brought a mass market of media over the internet which has helped many Indie filmmakers expose their film to mass audiences through big retail giants like Netflix and iTunes. But how does an Indie filmmaker get their video aired on such big platforms like Netflix and iTunes when they are now over saturated?

Platform giants don't have the time of day to wade through the millions of videos that are being made- no matter how good of a filmmaker you are.

They must have a filtering system to prevent poor quality content and determine what is acceptable (according to their audiences) and what is not. Distributors help filter content. They contract with big distributers who offer catalogues of movies to choose from that have already been rated by audiences. Unfortunately, these companies rarely choose Indie filmmakers who only have a few movies under their belt, have a low budget, or unknown actors. Frustrating isn't it?

Does this mean we are approaching an age where the filmmaker becomes the modern age starving artist?

Luckily there are companies out there who recognize the struggle Indipendant filmmakers face. New companies refered to as "aggregators" began popping up allowing Indie filmmakers to acces these larger retail platforms with, of course, a fee for their services. This, unfortunately, quickly became a way for greedy companies to become greedier. Some of their upfront fees included a percentage of the film's profits usually ranging 15-50%. This is a huge chunck of profits considering the aggregators are doing very little front work and don't even assist in promoting the film. They end up getting away with this overcharge because too many filmmakers are desperate to expose their film.

The love of art has not died.

Fortunately for filmmakers, there are still companies out there who recognize us for our art and not just a means of profits. These companies began seeing the hard dividing line between the distributors' and filmmakers' interests.They strategized a new model that would better fit the charge of services for filmmakers. This new model takes away the many middle men the old model had- which only allowed the filmmaker to receive the smallest share of profits. The new model conserves the payout rates of the retail platform (usually 100%) to the filmmaker by instead charging a full upfront price.

How big are the payouts on platforms such as iTunes and Netflix?

Once you finally get your film onto one of these big retail platforms, what's the payout? Is it even worth it? Each platform has different outcomes for each filmmaker; research is a prority when deciding where you will showcase your movie. Here is some information on the most popular patforms:

iTunes may be the way to go if you're looking for the platform with the highest payout rate. iTunes offers a split of 70/30, wherein the filmmaker receives 70% of profits and the remaining 30% is left for iTunes. Keep in mind, however, that the payout depends on the traffic and conversion rate your film has. The downside of iTunes is that it is less effective in terms of mass exposure.

Hulu may be a preferable choice if you're seeking mass exposure. Hulu streams films free; 50% of the revenue from advertising goes to the filmmaker and the other 50% to Hulu. The downside to Hulu is that ad revenue is not generally high in profitable payouts.

Amazon VOD shares 50% of what they collect to the filmmaker. Downside- not one of the highest traffic platforms.

Netflix will purchase a license for your film for a period of 1-2 years wherein this allows them to play your film any number of times within the contracted period. This is a great platform for filmmakers looking for mass exposure. Licensing fees, however, are based on a film to film basis so it is difficult to determine the actual payout you will receive.

How can we find legitimate companies that can help us access these platforms?

Here are a couple of recommendations suggested by NYC Lights and Film School that offer these services with an upfront fee and assure 100% profits the film makes to the filmmaker.

Distribber: Upfront cost: $1295 (SD) $1595 (HD). Distribber was purchased by indiegogo and is one of the most popular aggregators for filmmakers. Distribber has access to US and Canada only, however they access more retail platforms than TuneCore.

TuneCore: Upfront cost: $999 (SD) $1249 (HD). TuneCore started off helping musicians get access to larger retail platforms but has now branched out to help filmmakers as well. TuneCore seems to have access to more regional iTunes stores than Distribber, but again has access to less retail platforms than Distribber.

Make sure you do extensive research with both companies to find which distributor suits you/your film best before commiting to one of them. Check them out and see what they have to offer. The important question is: will the investment be worth it?

Never give up for the love of art will never die.

For more information on aggregators and distributors check out NYC's Lights and Film School website:
How to Get Your Indie Film onto iTunes & Netflix

How to get your film on Netflix!

How to get your film on Netflix, iTunes, and Hulu

Should filmmakers have to pay to have the privelege of an audience watching their film? We certainly hope not.

In today's high-paced technological world, filmmakers have become abundant. It has become increasingly harder for Indie filmmakers to get good exposure.

Sadly, winning film festivals does not always pay off. Films are too often picked up by distributors at the price it took to make them- leaving the filmmaker with no chioce than to break even. The film "Ballast"- winner of the 2008 Sundance film festival, for example, was offered a distribution deal by IFC. This, however, only left him breaking even. The $25-50,000 budgeted film was too much of an investment to turn down any distribution deal.

Technology however, has also brought a mass market of media over the internet which has helped many Indie filmmakers expose their film to mass audiences through big retail giants like Netflix and iTunes. But how does an Indie filmmaker get their video aired on such big platforms like Netflix and iTunes when they are now over saturated?

Platform giants don't have the time of day to wade through the millions of videos that are being made- no matter how good of a filmmaker you are.

They must have a filtering system to prevent poor quality content and determine what is acceptable (according to their audiences) and what is not. Distributors help filter content. They contract with big distributers who offer catalogues of movies to choose from that have already been rated by audiences. Unfortunately, these companies rarely choose Indie filmmakers who only have a few movies under their belt, have a low budget, or unknown actors. Frustrating isn't it?

Does this mean we are approaching an age where the filmmaker becomes the modern age starving artist?

Luckily there are companies out there who recognize the struggle Indipendant filmmakers face. New companies refered to as "aggregators" began popping up allowing Indie filmmakers to acces these larger retail platforms with, of course, a fee for their services. This, unfortunately, quickly became a way for greedy companies to become greedier. Some of their upfront fees included a percentage of the film's profits usually ranging 15-50%. This is a huge chunck of profits considering the aggregators are doing very little front work and don't even assist in promoting the film. They end up getting away with this overcharge because too many filmmakers are desperate to expose their film.

The love of art has not died.

Fortunately for filmmakers, there are still companies out there who recognize us for our art and not just a means of profits. These companies began seeing the hard dividing line between the distributors' and filmmakers' interests.They strategized a new model that would better fit the charge of services for filmmakers. This new model takes away the many middle men the old model had- which only allowed the filmmaker to receive the smallest share of profits. The new model conserves the payout rates of the retail platform (usually 100%) to the filmmaker by instead charging a full upfront price.

How big are the payouts on platforms such as iTunes and Netflix?

Once you finally get your film onto one of these big retail platforms, what's the payout? Is it even worth it? Each platform has different outcomes for each filmmaker; research is a prority when deciding where you will showcase your movie. Here is some information on the most popular patforms:

iTunes may be the way to go if you're looking for the platform with the highest payout rate. iTunes offers a split of 70/30, wherein the filmmaker receives 70% of profits and the remaining 30% is left for iTunes. Keep in mind, however, that the payout depends on the traffic and conversion rate your film has. The downside of iTunes is that it is less effective in terms of mass exposure.

Hulu may be a preferable choice if you're seeking mass exposure. Hulu streams films free; 50% of the revenue from advertising goes to the filmmaker and the other 50% to Hulu. The downside to Hulu is that ad revenue is not generally high in profitable payouts.

Amazon VOD shares 50% of what they collect to the filmmaker. Downside- not one of the highest traffic platforms.

Netflix will purchase a license for your film for a period of 1-2 years wherein this allows them to play your film any number of times within the contracted period. This is a great platform for filmmakers looking for mass exposure. Licensing fees, however, are based on a film to film basis so it is difficult to determine the actual payout you will receive.

How can we find legitimate companies that can help us access these platforms?

Here are a couple of recommendations suggested by NYC Lights and Film School that offer these services with an upfront fee and assure 100% profits the film makes to the filmmaker.

Distribber: Upfront cost: $1295 (SD) $1595 (HD). Distribber was purchased by indiegogo and is one of the most popular aggregators for filmmakers. Distribber has access to US and Canada only, however they access more retail platforms than TuneCore.

TuneCore: Upfront cost: $999 (SD) $1249 (HD). TuneCore started off helping musicians get access to larger retail platforms but has now branched out to help filmmakers as well. TuneCore seems to have access to more regional iTunes stores than Distribber, but again has access to less retail platforms than Distribber.

Make sure you do extensive research with both companies to find which distributor suits you/your film best before commiting to one of them. Check them out and see what they have to offer. The important question is: will the investment be worth it?

Never give up for the love of art will never die.

For more information on aggregators and distributors check out NYC's Lights and Film School website:
How to Get Your Indie Film onto iTunes & Netflix