What I didn't realize and I'm sure most indie filmmakers/start-up labels don't realize is that there is a huge bottleneck in the digital distribution pipeline. If you're working deals directly with digital distribution outlets like Itunes, Netflix, Hulu, etc. Then you have to deliver different files to each outlet and here's the big bottleneck, they have to be approved by each outlet's Quality Control department. Since your film is a small indie film you get pushed to the bottom of the pile, because the big studios need to have their films hit their release dates on time. If everything goes well, it can take up to 90 days or longer for your film to go live on a given digital platform, but if there was a problem with your film in the quality control department, you're back to square one.
There are literally hundreds of digital platforms out there, with new one's opening up and going out of business on a daily basis. So dealing with digital outlets on an individual basis for most filmmakers or smaller distribution labels is almost an impossible task. There is a solution, there are digital aggregators out there like Craze Digital, The Orchard and many more who deal with all the platforms for indie labels and then take a cut. Most of all the major wholesale distributors these days are dealing with a lot of the digital outlets as well. The other nice thing about dealing with aggregators is that you only have to deliver one file to them and they in-turn deliver to the other outlets.
The downside to aggregators is they take a decent percentage of the revenue coming in and just like the platforms they will have priority titles that will be put ahead of yours. So you end up at the bottom of two piles, not just one. The other benefit to aggregators is since they move so much content through the digital platforms you usually will get a break on encoding costs. Yep, even if Itunes accepts your movie there is an encoding fee of around $450 for Itunes to encode your film to their specs.
With every indie filmmaker, distribution label, major studio and aggregator out there submitting titles to the major digital platforms at the same time, you bet there is a big bottleneck in the quality control and encoding departments. It's a slow process, that can be very beneficial for an indie film, but don't plan on hitting your planned release date. Currently I have heard that Roku Streaming has literally hundreds of new channels in que waiting to go live at any given time. That's channels, each with over 100 titles, not just individual films.
The Official Apprehensive Films Store: www.TheGrindHouse.Net
Everything Apprehensive: www.afcinema.net
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