Producing : AVD: Amazon Video Direct - have you had titles removed? by Cherelynn Baker

I would like to know who has as well. Amazon has dumped without warning many indie films which were taking audience away from it's prime favorites monetization group. Welcome to the post-theatrical world... the US having lost net neutrality earlier in 2020, we as independent producers are about to have the majors maneuver to keep us weak again... One reason we at Facet TV - ODG have been in dialog with other new platforms and indie distributors over the last few months.

Thanks for sharing Shadow. Did you have titles removed with no warning and no correspondence?

Yes, 3 of my short films got removed and without appeal, and the reason was it didn't garnered enough views... And also one of my feature film's trailer got 'switched' to an old trailer with the old distributor's name on it still

Cherelynn Baker Not myself (but we're waiting...) but in my discussions with potential content providers for my new platforms Facet TV and ODG, we have had several bitter stories. Usually it's an indie feature getting a fair bit of play and on the increase. Without knowing the actual algorithms Amazon is using, it seems that when an indie film starts to break out they decide whether to promote it and take profits or dump it. This is how Youtube has operated since it's inception (programmers don't even lie about it any more), so it should be no surprise that Amazon would do it too. After all, contractually they have to guarantee a certain amount of money to mainstream films, while (also contractually) having the freedom to reduce or stop payment to any indie product who lists with them.

Johnny K. Wu - so sorry that happened to you! Several of my short films were removed, without notice, and are not able to be appealed. Stinks!

I would be very interested in speaking with those who have similar experiences, potentially offering a special place for them on our platform.

Yes, I had a short form educational series (20 episodes) removed with the vague "does not meet our story quality standards" reason

Michael Mizov - ok, mine sounded similar...good luck to you! Keep creating!

Cherelynn Baker If you are looking for a platform for your content, contact me here.

Michael Mizov If you are looking for a platform for your series, contact me here.

Cherelynn Baker I'm sorry to hear that this has happened to you. I hope you've been able to find a new home for your short films. AVD has been a source of great anxiety for my production over the past couple of years. Our royalty rates have dropped around 93% from $0.15/hr to $0.01/hr, and now they are removing content with no notice or explanation. I produce a short form educational show for kids, and now 3 of my episodes just say "This video is currently unavailable" and there is no error in my dashboard and I'm not getting any response from support. Is this how it happened for you, or did you get some sort of error message or content policy notice on your films?

I dealt with them as a book publisher, and it was a nightmare. Constantly changing rules, impossible to communicate with, and making it increasingly expensive to use the platform.

Michael Moore ..oh, AVD which is now PVD - never said a word! Not one message! I found out when I logged in to the account. When I sent them communication about the titles being removed, I received a message saying that the title was "not" in their system so they can not respond. Wow. On a second inquiry from me to PVD about a title being removed, I was told that it had negative comments from the community so it was removed. Again, wow. 2 different responses from the same company. I never saw the comments and do not know if they were real, bots, or trolls. It was on the family action short. Thank you @ChristianeLange for sharing your experience!

Cherelynn Baker, I'm always on the prowl for short films for my cable show. Get in touch, thanx, Doug

Thank you @DougNelson

@WarrenEig - so so sorry that happened to you. And me! And a dozen plus other independent filmmakers I know. So mad. Yet - not discouraged - just looking for a different avenue. Keep creating!

They pulled my film off too, gave no excuse.

Cherelynn Baker Yes this happens lots I found out they pulled over ten of my short films, it would have been nice if they told me beforehand as I would have downloaded first before they pulled them.