Distribution

I haven’t heard much about FilmHub lately. I know that they raised another round of venture capital last year and are looking at ways to be profitable, hence the new tiered access.

I’m not sure what you mean. I have a film there and what I notice is they’re charging extra for certain statistics like more granular Amazon streaming stats. We don’t pay for that, and we’re doing fine.

Mike Boas they were an aggregator and now are a full distribution company. So I wanted to hear how the changes have affected people with movies with them. Are they now exclusive as when they were an aggregator they had a non exclusive agreement.

Richard Gemmell-Thrift They don't market your film in any event, in fact require a streamer to pay for access to their catalog, of between $5k and $10k reported to the Independent Producers Guild in the last year. Which means that most all independent streamers will never see your title. Also... when they get something that actually is getting traction, they can pull it from other streamers and monetize on their own. My personal interactions with the founder lead me to believe that is what they would do.

Hi Ashley, I haven't seen Maurice on here for a while

Ashley Renée Smith It’s an interesting idea, but honestly, I don’t think it’s very realistic. Thirty theatrical releases from a single merged studio feels like a red flag, especially when their own films could end up competing against each other and not getting the proper promotion each audience deserves in such a clustered calendar year.

So what did each studio used to release per year? I need that for comparison.

Thanks for sharing this, Pat. She is a total cinephile and I'm thrilled with this move that she is making. She had a pretty impactful talk at Cannes last year with our partners at Breaking Through the Lens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucbSDvhCN30

Heck ya, I gotta check that out!

It’ll be interesting to see where the line ends up. Writers have always used tools throughout the creative process, but the heart of storytelling still comes down to the ideas and the voice behind them.

Paramount buying WB, now with HBO... the MPA cartel continues to move to monopoly.

Very interesting move. It shows the power of the audience to safeguard the purity of the art. I am curious to see if this is an ongoing stance or a one-off incident. Also wondering if all cinemas will take this approach. Is this offer to screen AI shorts provided to other film festival winners of naturally made films in the past? I know where I am from it's not easy to get into the major cinema chains as an independent.

Amanda Toney They are pitching this story as "mounting resistance to AI's encroachment on the arts" but in truth, IMO it's because the results are far from acceptable from a technical, artistic or storytelling aspect. The film audience has never cared about "the art" of film or the livelihoods of film creators. They respond to good storytelling, and I see this as part of the continually growing dissatisfaction with continuing growth in vapidity of studio films.

Congratulations on having your first meeting with a distributor, Karen "Kay" Ross! An eye-catching poster.

Karen "Kay" Ross PowerPoint templates are a great cheat sheet for mapping out a marketing plan, etc. I used them a lot for each book I published. In book publishing re traditional publishers (and you should do this for self-published projects), you need to have a specific plan to know where to begin.

Of course, everything is fluid, but I do find PowerPoint templates the best at guiding me. They will of course be outdated regarding media choices, but absolutely, if you have a built-in community (which is developed usually in social platforms like TikTok), promo clips, such as an Instagram/TikTok/YouTube Short video...these are all helpful for determining if someone wants to invest in you.

Deliverables are dictated by the distribtor, you usually don't get to decide what goes in them.

I'd ask a US based distributor for their deliverables list and use that as your guide. US distributors by far have the most extensive requirements. These will include physical delivery items as well as a long list of legal deliverables. Make sure your cast and crew have all signed their agreements, music clearences are all ok, E&O insurance is done and that you have allocated part of your budget for prepping and creation of deliverables. Your film's come too far to lose a distribution deal because you haven't got any of your budget left to fix the last item on a Q&A report.

Official Pilot Presentation

The following material represents the first pilot episode of the epic fantasy series:

HEIRS OF SILENCE

Created & Written by Haider Al-Hashemi

This episode has been fully developed as a production-ready cinematic pilot, prepared specifically for serious studios, producers, and streaming platforms seeking long-form, high-concept fantasy content for international audiences.

It reflects the narrative tone, character dynamics, emotional depth, visual scale, and sound-driven atmosphere intended for a 200-episode serialized production currently structured for screen adaptation.

All scenes, dialogue, environmental direction, lighting concepts, sound cues, and visual effects described herein are designed to support direct translation into filmed media.

This pilot is presented exclusively for professional evaluation and collaboration purposes.

Only parties genuinely interested in production partnership, development rights, or adaptation opportunities are invited to proceed.

—

Haider Al-Hashemi

Creator of Heirs of Silence

Episode 1: The Iron Awakening

Written by Haider Al-Hashemi

COLD OPEN

EXT. OPEN SEA – NIGHT

SOUND DESIGN:

Deep ocean ambience (low-frequency rumble)

Distant thunder

Wooden creaks of a strained hull

Whistling wind cutting across the deck

CAMERA:

WIDE SHOT – A small fishing vessel struggles against monstrous waves under a violet-black sky.

LIGHTING:

Naturalistic moonlight with intermittent lightning flashes

Water reflections dancing across soaked wood

VFX:

Ocean spray simulation

Subtle metallic shimmer beneath distant waves

INT. SHIP – LOWER DECK – NIGHT

The crew struggles to stabilize cargo.

A young blacksmith’s daughter (late teens) grips a rusted lantern.

Her name: LYRA

The lantern flickers violently — not from wind.

SOUND:

A faint metallic HUM beneath the storm.

LYRA looks down.

The iron chain beside her is vibrating.

EXT. SHIP – CONTINUOUS

A jagged rock formation looms ahead — too late to steer away.

CAPTAIN

(shouting)

HOLD FAST!

IMPACT.

The hull splits against a blackened cliff.

TITLE SEQUENCE

MUSIC:

Slow rising orchestral drone

Layered with reversed choral whispers

TITLE FADES IN:

HEIRS OF SILENCE

ACT ONE

EXT. IRON ISLAND SHORE – DAWN

SOUND:

Gentle wind

Faint echoing metallic resonance from the cliffs

Survivors crawl ashore.

Lyra opens her eyes.

She hears it again.

A distant, rhythmic tone — like a heartbeat made of iron.

CAMERA PUSHES IN

The mountain ahead is unnatural.

Not stone.

Metal.

EXT. CLIFF FACE – LATER

Lyra approaches the rock.

Touches it.

SFX:

Low-frequency resonance spike

The cliff responds.

CUT TO:

INT. CRYSTAL CITY – SUBTERRANEAN REALM

A glowing metropolis of colored glass structures.

Small humanoid beings (DWARVES) tumble through streets laughing.

One trips — accidentally turns his beard blue with magic dust.

Another laughs uncontrollably.

COMEDIC TIMING:

Soft xylophone tone

THRONE HALL

The QUEEN watches.

Elegant.

Otherworldly.

Gentle eyes — but concerned.

The ground HUMS.

OLD SCHOLAR (ELDER DJINN)

steps forward.

SCHOLAR

It has begun.

ACT TWO

EXT. MOUNTAIN SURFACE – SUNSET

Lyra collapses.

Her blood drips onto exposed iron.

SFX:

Massive tonal surge.

LIGHTING FX:

Cracks of white-gold light ripple outward.

INT. SUBTERRANEAN VAULT

A sealed CHEST ignites.

EXT. SHORE

Lyra gasps.

Eyes glowing faintly.

INT. CRYSTAL CITY

The Queen rises.

QUEEN

Prepare the watchers.

FINAL SHOT

EXT. IRON ISLAND – NIGHT

From above —

The mountain pulses once.

Ocean withdraws slightly.

Something inside has awakened.

END OF EPISODE 1

Just wrapped an information-rich webinar with Tony Piantedosi of Vertical Entertainment - many thanks to him for sharing critical things every filmmaker should attend to. Thank you also to those of you who joined us live and a pre-emptive thanks to the many who will watch it on demand! cheers