What is the best way to distribute a short film (not so short lol) on Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, YT Originals, etc.? Thank you. (UPDATE: Okay, this has turned into a FULL Feature film, not a short. So any help on getting this out there would be appreciated!) \o/
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Indiewire has an interesting article (5/27) about a new shorts distribution platform. It might interest you.
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There are several sales agents that specialize in seeking distribution for short films. If you find shorts out there that are similar to yours, check out their IMDb page and look for distribution companies and see which distributor has the world rights and contact them.
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Thanks. Question would be how to "find" those.
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If its the short films, taking a look at what is in selection at film festivals with a short category is a good place to start. A lot of shorts list their credits on IMDb including the comapnies attached including distributors. To find this on IMDb, you can select the "company credits" heading on a film's page and see which companies are attached as distributors.
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Thanks, Ewan. Great tips! :)
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No worries! Hope you find a home for your short. It can be tricky but there are specialists out there.
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you can check out filmhub.com it is for feature and shorts, shorts won't make that much but it can get you out there. Amazon do not take short films (only a few smaller cases they do). Hulu/Netflix etc will need an aggregator, like FilmHub.
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Great answers here. Thank you for asking and sharing!
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Did you see this blog on "The Economics of Short Films"? https://www.stage32.com/blog/The-Economics-of-Short-Films
Yes, Karen, I did. It's a "good" article but very general / generic. Also extremely little on any helpful information on getting into a distributor. Seems that's the newest brick wall, getting into a viable, money making distributor that has a good presence on all the channels/platforms. :(
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There is no such thing as distribution for shorts. You can get it on Amazon Prime and maybe a few Roku channels but you WILL NOT MAKE ANY MONEY from shorts. Do them for experience, connections, because you MUST tell a story. Promote them yourself on YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook. You can get a lot of views if you put a little money behind your promotion, and some great experience. Put it out there and then move on. If you're interested in distribution, making money or even making your money BACK, you'll need to move on to a feature. Even then you will need a strategy to monetize, but you'll have a shot.
Oh and Filmhub is a scam.
Robert Rosenbaum please enlighten us on why filmhub is a scam?
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Johnny K. Wu - They just submit you to channels that you can submit to yourself. Their accounting is unintelligible. Perhaps I shouldn't say scam, but they are not adding any value through their service. They are really not a distribution channel, but an aggregator that is just taking advantage of the uninformed.
Robert, just updated the thread. It is now a full feature film, so if you have helpful direction to actually make ROI/money and full distribution properly, much appreciated. :)
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Mike Fox what's the genre of your movie?
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These guys are a pretty good distrib https://shorts.tv/en/ & I've made alot of $ off of short films in the past. Very specific kinds of shorts, but still lotta $... read on:
http://thenightstalkintippytoe.blogspot.com/2019/08/can-short-films-make-money-hell-yes.html
These guys are another shorts distrib:
https://www.ouatmedia.com/
Johnny, it's a drama/sci-fi but dealing with topics such as bullying, teen responsibility, family dynamics, time travel and making your life what it needs to be. Here's the site: www.theboxinthebasement.com :)
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Joseph, thanks. Is there a direct line/connection you can refer to me other than simply being among the masses of unsolicited submitters? :) That would be awesome. Thanks!
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yeah, try Simon here: s.young@shorts.tv sorry I don't come on here often:)
Thank you! :)