Distribution

You may have seen my latest video in Instagram talking about this but I had five conversations this week with producers and distribution execs who are actively packaging and selling projects right now. A pattern emerged that I can't stop thinking about:

Companies can't just excel in one area anymore. Production companies are opening management firms. Sales agents are becoming distributors. Distributors are financing titles and turning into studios. Everyone's scrambling to vertically integrate, building larger libraries to have more leverage when negotiating with networks and streamers.The market itself is healthy.

Tax incentives in places like Saudi Arabia are hitting 50%. Projects are getting financed. But here's the catch: the problem isn't finding money: it's cutting through the noise.

We're competing with TikTok creators, digital studios, vertical content platforms, and hundreds of other options audiences have at their fingertips. More content is being made than ever before, but audience attention is finite.

Which brings me back to the same conclusion everyone keeps arriving at: talent is the #1 commodity. A-list actors, Oscar-winning directors, breakout showrunners—they're what cut through the noise. They're what get projects financed, packaged, and sold.And what attracts talent? Great writing.

Here's what I keep wrestling with: If you're a producer or filmmaker trying to get a project financed and distributed right now, how do you decide which path to take? Do you go straight to buyers and let them front the money? Or do you take the indie route, rely on private equity, and bet on acquisition after a festival run?

Some projects are obvious: sub-$3M budgets belong in the indie world. But so many projects fall somewhere in between, and the line keeps getting blurrier when most indie films end up on streamers anyway.

So here's my question for you: How are you deciding which distribution path is right for your project right now? Is it budget? Talent potential? Your existing relationships? Or are you just taking your best guess and hoping it works out?

I'd love to hear how you're thinking about this—especially if you're in the middle of figuring it out yourself.

Heya, Stage 32 Fam! I had my first meeting with a ditributor not too long ago - how exciting that a couple of my shorts my find other platforms to live on! But what caught my attention was just how many things they look for as part of those "deliverables".

What's that thing we should ALL have in our DELIVERABLES? Anything you learned the hard way? Anything new that's popped up of late?

SHARE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

The traditional path to film distribution is increasingly unreliable for indie filmmakers, as the blog post powerfully argues. Gone are the days of making a film first and simply hoping a distributor will handle the rest; this strategy often leads to a finished movie with no audience. Instead, we must adopt the new narrative: planning distribution and marketing before a single frame is shot. This means identifying a niche audience and determining if platforms like YouTube or Vimeo could serve as direct, viable channels to reach them. By budgeting for marketing from the start and building an audience early, we take control of our film's destiny. Ultimately, embracing this producer-distributor mindset is not a compromise of artistry, but a necessary step to ensure our creative work is actually seen and supported.

https://youtu.be/9Z1AH73aIaM

https://www.documentary.org/online-feature/dont-panic-doc-industry-looks-upsides-amid-decimation-sundance-2026

“It’s an opportunity to make a space to gather and scheme and dream together. This project is about creating a new school and restructuring our processes, finding a better way forward,” she explained. “We want to make it a family affair, something for the community. It’s not just for pretentious Hollywood cinephiles. I see it as an antidote to all the corporate bullshit, a place that takes movie culture away from just buying and selling. I think there’s a huge desire and craving for what this kind of space can offer.”

(https://deadline.com/2026/02/kristen-stewart-buys-highland-theatre-plans...)

Here's another great piece of research from Stephen Follows, this time concerning the shifting audience trends and therefore a shift in the market for our films.

He moves us through the 20th Century with its trends for films, to the 21st Century, where he sees three forces at play:

Force 1: Audiences have changed what (and how) they watch

"Non-English film and TV viewing has become fairly commonplace in English-speaking markets. Ampere’s tracking across the US, UK, Canada and Australia shows 54% of internet users aged 18–64 now watch non-English content “very often” or “sometimes”, up from 43% in Q1 2020.

The shift is strongest among younger viewers, and the older end is moving too. Ampere reports 66% of 18–34s regularly watch non-English titles, compared with 41% of 45–64s, with the older group rising from 30% to 41% over the same period."

Force 2: Localisation is transformatively easier

"On the industrial side of creating and adapting movies, localisation is going through a quiet revolution.

Last year, Amazon Prime Video announced it was employing “AI-assisted dubbing” automatically on a number of international titles. Amazon will have a tight rein on their proprietary software, but:

Other companies are also building tools along the same lines.

It shows that localisation is moving away from being a manual specialist skill toward something the industry wants to run routinely at scale across all titles."

Force 3: Distribution is global by default and discovery is cross-border

"The final force for us to consider is the growing prominence of global deals - i.e., one deal for worldwide rights to content, replacing the per-territory deals that used to be the norm.

This affects both the industrial side (i.e. who filmmakers can sell to) and the consumer side (i.e. what content consumers can access).

Within the distribution world, deal-making has shifted towards scale. Streamers increasingly want rights that travel widely and move through one pipeline, rather than a patchwork of separate territorial licences."

Sadly, the whole text is limited by subscription, but you could get a free read of the article by downloading the SubStack app. I've done that and copied some of the insights here.

Force 3 has implications for independent filmmakers, in that even if pre-sale territories were bought, a Streamer could potentially force a buyback and push for a global Pay-1 licensing deal. This would hit potential pre-release income for investors and producers (if I've read this correctly). What are you thoughts about this and the findings of Follows' article, for things like AI-assisted dubbing?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/a-bigger-market-is-emerging-for-indie-film

https://www.vulture.com/article/this-years-sundance-sales-are-just-getting-started.html

My short The Cost of Silence about domestic abuse has been doing well in festivals, getting semi finalist, Best First Time Director, and yesterday Finalist.

People are asking where they can see it. I don't want to put it online on open view because its doing the festival run. What is the best way to show it so people can view it, without affecting the festival run. Is distribution the way to go and how do I go about that please?

Two major players in the UK’s emerging vertical video space just teamed up, and it feels like a real signal about where mobile-first storytelling and distribution are heading next. Full Deadline article for context:

https://deadline.com/2026/02/tattle-tv-onset-octopus-uk-microdrama-produ...

Tattle TV, which positions itself as Britain’s first microdrama app, has entered a strategic partnership with Onset Octopus, led by producer Ben Pengilly. Together, they’re building a slate of premium vertical dramas with a clear focus on stronger scripts, stronger performances, and higher production value across the board.

From a distribution perspective, a few things really stand out:

- Vertical drama is being treated as a primary distribution format, not a side experiment

- Onset Octopus already has global reach, with localized series and tens of millions of views worldwide

- Tattle TV is actively developing originals and adapting IP, positioning itself as a UK hub for mobile-first storytelling

- Rights and territory restrictions still matter deeply, especially when adapting legacy IP

- Vertical platforms are rapidly evolving into structured, serialized distribution ecosystems

And this moment lines up perfectly with an opportunity for writers who want to break into this space.

The Stage 32 + DramaBox Screenwriting Competition is approaching its FINAL DEADLINE this Wednesday, February 4th.

If you’ve been curious about vertical storytelling, this is one of the most direct on-ramps available right now.

You can submit your vertical drama script here:

https://www.stage32.com/happy-writers/contests/Stage-32-%20-Drama-Box-Screenwriting-Competition

Grand Prize Winner receives:

- $5,000 writer contract with the opportunity to adapt existing IP matched to your voice

- Career Accelerator Prize Package (valued at $4,000) including script development, career consulting, writer branding, and education

- Personal mentorship with dedicated 1:1 career development sessions

- Industry marketing campaign to Stage 32’s roster of 2,500+ managers, agents, producers, and executives

- Strategic partnership with Stage 32 and DramaBox executives to prepare your project to go directly to market

Finalists receive:

- An invite to the Stage 32 + DramaBox Writer Incubator, a free, invite-only vertical drama development experience

- A Career Momentum prize package valued at $1,500

- Logline placement in a Stage 32 Look Book sent to 2,500+ top industry executives

With companies like Tattle TV and Onset Octopus actively expanding the vertical ecosystem, it’s clear this format isn’t a trend, it’s a lane.

For those working in distribution, development, or writing, how are you thinking about vertical platforms right now? Are they part of your current strategy, or something you’re just starting to explore?

Sundance 2026 sales is a great snapshot of how distribution works today. It shows a real range of paths: from massive, star-driven bidding wars like Olivia Wilde's The Invite to more niche, single-buyer pickups for titles like Leviticus. What I find most telling is that only about a dozen of the 90+ films arrived with distribution already set, highlighting just how crucial the festival remains as a marketplace for independent films. It makes you wonder how the deals being made now will shape what we actually see in theaters and on streaming later this year. Exposure is also a huge plus when finding distirubiton, a Stage 32 filmmakers shared how the community led directly to an agent reaching out and kickstarting a distribution deal for their transmedia project. It shows that actively sharing your creative process and building an audience online can open unexpected doors long before you get to a festival. It makes you wonder how the combination of traditional markets and modern networking will continue to shape what we actually see in theaters and on streaming later this year.

Read ongoing sales here: https://www.indiewire.com/news/festivals/sundance-2026-movies-sold-so-fa...