Can You Profit From Digital-First Distribution?
+ where the streaming opportunities are right now
Let’s face it, Premium Streaming distribution deals with multi six and seven figure licensing fees have become a rarity for most independently produced films and series - just like I mentioned in my Distribution Trends for 2024 post last week.
Luckily there’s a whole streaming universe that exists beyond the ‘premium’ players - everything from self-serve Prime Video Direct to the vast world of AVOD, CTV, and FAST (accessible via distribution partner) and on down to You Tube (both self-serve and distribution partner options). This is the Digital-First universe I’m referring to. I like to say it’s Streaming distribution for the rest of us 😜
Aside from the independent films I’m Producing and EP’ing, I’m devoting about half of my bandwidth to launching digital-first productions and a creating a distribution pipeline of new shows for these platforms.
Why? It’s fun! It’s the future! And in a world where it’s tougher to make a living producing in the traditional sense, I’m eager to explore new ways to leverage my expertise and talents.
And judging from some of the conversations I’ve had lately, particularly in the Post Production world where ‘traditional’ work on films and series is WAY down, more Editors are looking to diversify their portfolios and move into digital-first entertainment too.
* as a side note, it’s actually alarming how many Post houses are downsizing or going out of business as a result of the premium streaming bubble bursting and less shows getting made overall. Sad end of an era!
What Boggles The Mind?
There’s a bunch of questions I received in the last week that I plan to answer in an upcoming series of newsletters like….
• Are there Pro’s and Con’s to broad AVOD exposure?
• When to turn off the TVOD window and shift to SVOD?
• What are typical financial projections for an AVOD only release?
• What type of marketing spend is needed to effectively ‘push’ a release to market?
• What type of revenue should you expect from your TVOD window?
• What budgets should digital-first productions be and how to raise money for them?
Just to name a few…
☝️ What questions do you have around Digital-First / Alt-Streaming distribution?
Hit me up in the comments below or email me at stacey@filmspecific.com.
Editors In The House?
If you’ve read this far and you’re an Editor experienced with digital first or have started dabbling on You Tube productions, email me with a link to your body of work as we’ll be looking for talented Editors for upcoming projects.
Have a great day and speak soon!
Stacey
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Great questions. Looking forward to future posts!