NATPE + Real Screen - Real Talk

A playbook for independently producing and distributing your series

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

I was talking with a former client the other day about a series they independently funded and produced and are planning to distribute across You Tube.

You Tube is an amazing platform for distribution and it has recently overtaken Netflix as the largest streaming platform… in the world. So no doubt by distributing your series there you will have access to a very VERY large audience (the largest!).

But why stop there when many more options exist these days for distributing your independently produced docs or series - and most of them non-exclusive so you can dabble and double-dip with different platforms all over the place to get your show in front of your target audience.

I’m sure you’re thinking well that’s all well and good but how do we make the dang series in the first place to be able to take advantage of the cornucopia of distribution options that exist nowadays - including the vast world of CTV (Connected TV aka your Smart TV aka the AVOD/FAST universe).

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The New Series Economics

One thing that came to me after two back-to-back TV industry conferences last month (NATP + Real Screen) is that everyone is dancing around the fact that network commissions are in a ‘contraction’ phase yet ultimately, these networks and streamers still need to program shows, and not everyone can afford to be in business with the top A-list celebrities and production companies.

So that leaves all of us Indies to apply some new economics and become suppliers to the new and expanded distribution universe. We already know how to be scrappy and put together shows on a shoe string budget because we’ve done it our whole careers on the film side.

Branded sponsorship funding certainly isn’t a new concept for entertainment media but it’s taking on a sort of renaissance at the moment where many production companies look to brands for funding or partially funding their independently produced (aka non network commissioned) series.

I’m having conversations with brands right now who are accustomed to investing in video for Social Media, but once I educate them on the vast CTV (Connected TV) landscape available, they begin to see new possibilities that expanded distribution can bring them including access to new and expanded audience segments.

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As an aside, I''ll be touching on brand funding as well as donor funding models in next week’s Funding Strategies Playbook course. With cold hard cash taking center stage in not only film but now series finance plans, we gotta look under every nook and cranny to figure out how get that cold hard cash into our cold empty pockets :)

You can join the Funding Strategies Playbook course here and get all caught up over the weekend…

Register Here

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One benefit of producing series independently (with or without brand funding) is that you have the opportunity to own your show outright, rather than the ‘work for hire’ model a streamer or network commission demands (at least in the US). It allows you to start building your own catalogue of media assets, that can be cash flowing assets over time as you take the long, LONG tail approach to distribution.

As part of any series distribution strategy you can easily distribute on You Tube but that may not be the first stop. If you can get to all the Tier 1 streamers directly via existing relationships go that route first but know that you have ‘guaranteed’ distribution via the many digital aggregators that exist to distribute it on hundreds of platforms worldwide, and therefore offer any brand sponsors you’ve partnered with immense reach and exposure.

If you’re a production company considering production or distribution of an independently produced series, what strategies are you leaning into?

With commissioning down across the board, how are you green-lighting your own productions?

Hit me up in the comments below and have a lovely weekend ahead!

Stacey

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