The writing was on the wall in 2019 when Fox bought Tubi, and then changed its "algorithm" to focus your timeline and searches more and more on major studio (though older) films and series. Then of course last summer they purchased "independent" Van Mar who will now exclusively produce "Tubi Originals." NOW the IIPG has found out through insiders that Tubi is preparing a purge of the independently produced films from it's catalog. Clearly, being owned by Fox, who is owned by Disney, MPA members both, they will continue the war on independent production. Let the independents build the platform... then remove the ability to market from them and keep it for the major studios. What does this mean for independents? COME TO THE OPEN FORUM ON FEBRUARY 14, 2023 11AM PACIFIC and discuss what this means for independent producers. Will one-trick-pony "FilmHub" go down, like Tag & Distribber when Netflix cut them off? What alternatives do you have to get to market? Do you have comments, suggestions or rants? Join the Open Forum - register at https://independentproducersguild.org/open-forum-february-14-2023 IT'S FREE TO ATTEND.
Distribution : TUBI Preparing To Prune Indie Films, Promote Major Content by Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq
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Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq Thank you for this, Shadow. I registered. Wow. That sucks BIG time. What the hell?
I was under the impression that most titles go into Tubi, Vudu, etc in bundles. Usually many at a time through a single distributor like Indierights. It could be that they're cutting back on those deals due to a lack of views.
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That's super disappointing - I really enjoy the Tubi content, thanks for sharing!
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Sounds like an indie film platform should launch to grab this market.
Sam Sokolow There already is. Mubi is crushing it. Revenues are very healthy and it's entirely indie arthouse & foreign content. There's no popcorn movies, or genre B movies propping it up. But it's important to be honest about the quality of the content. Most of the films on Tubi, wouldn't get into Mubi. It's a curated platform.
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Sam Sokolow Funny you should say that... the IIPG is in process of creating the Direct To Audience Network, which will syndicate smaller streamers, giving them access to higher paying adverts, and drastically increasing the revenues for independent producers. The model also has an at-cost marketplace, which will compete favorably with more-or-less parasitic middle-man sites (which I will not name here). Regarding MUBI, they do have a good model for themselves as a streamer, in fact based on the ONLY subscription model which works in a VOD environment - meaning curated and rotated catalog so they don't exceed subscription revenues which are always finite. But the real issue is what do they pay independent producers for the privilege of streaming their shows, and as far as the IIPG can determine, it's next to nothing. I am not asserting that as a fact, but that's the only commentary I find from filmmakers and I have never yet heard of anyone who makes money from MUBI. So... not an attractive option for professional filmmakers. MUBI of course has close connections with Criterion, whose collection now costs them like, nothing, to maintain.
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I was planning to reach out to mubi to inquire about the licensing deals. I follow them on Linked In and it's been public when they make a significant Sundance purchase, they are very competitive with the other streamers and have outbid them a number of times. Yes it's SVOD and not AVOD but unlike a lot of streamers, their cash flow is consistently positive.
Regarding filmmakers not making money from mubi or any other platform. Yeah, that's because the distributors have very clever ways of hiding all the revenue any title on any platform earns. Doesn't mean the platform isn't paying for the content. It just means the filmmakers are not seeing it. Not necessarily the platforms fault. Often, you can blame the distributor.
I'll inquire and report back if I can find specifics on licensing terms and the platform's cut. Kanopy.com reportedly gives a dollar a stream to the distributor provided the viewer watches over 10 minutes of it. Pretty straightforward and simple. It'd be great if every platform had simple metrics like that. But I'm guessing in Mubi's case, it's more complicated and very dependent on the title. But maybe not.
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M LaVoie That would be interesting to know, thanks. I think in cases like MUBI and several others, they curate the content so they would be the ones paying or not paying. In the days of private screening numbers (all streamer numbers being private) the falling profits to filmmakers is not likely due to a rise in unethical distributors. The history of exhibitors and numbers indicates just as, if not more, sleaze. (Public theatrical box office was created because the studios and distributors couldn't trust cinema owners to tell the truth on the numbers. We still need to follow up with our own scrutineers to ensure they aren't cooking the books.)
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Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq I can’t make that forum, but please keep us informed of the discussions and any actions agreed upon. Thanks.
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The transcript will be available publicly!
Reminder: the nest Open Forum is this Tuesday Feb 14 at 11am Pacific. Come participate, express yourself and find out the mood of the independent industry!
1 more day to this Open Forum. Lots of people signed on... you should be one of them!
This was excellent, by the way.
Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq thank you. I look forward to reading it.