Distributor vs Distributor: Who's Missing Revenue Streams

29 August 2025 - Filmmakers ask us all the time: why pick one distributor over another? And increasingly, some are bypassing distributors altogether—uploading via aggregators like Filmhub or Bitmax. (Full disclosure: S&R has a corporate Bitmax account for deliveries.)

Here’s the problem: I have yet to see a film truly succeed through aggregators alone (prove me wrong please). Without outside strings to pull, it’s nearly impossible. Why? Relationships and accounts. A single indie film has a 0.0% chance of landing vendor access across the TVOD, SVOD, AVOD, and FAST ecosystem. Aggregators can hand you TVOD, can sometimes help with AVOD, but SVOD is a slim chance, and FAST ain't happening -- let alone airlines, hotels, educational, maritime, etc). Aggregators should be seen as a last resort since they can really only guarantee your TVOD window. And forget about splitting rights—self-handling some platforms while asking a distributor to take the rest. Distributors won’t do the same workload for a fraction of the pie. Well, at least I won't,... unless you bring me a Russell Crowe movie. Then OK fine I'll only handle your SVOD and beyond.

Now, when it comes to choosing between distributors, here’s the calculus: the vast majority of indie films (80–90%) are made for $3M or under. And this budget band has been hardest hit by the collapse of Pay 1, shrinking TVOD (Amazon’s 50% cut hurts, and too much content to choose from), and tightening AVOD. Tubi remains king but is getting more selective, Peacock is even tougher but lucrative if you land, and Pluto walked away from AVOD altogether just a few weeks ago. FAST channels are rising, but even many middle-tier distributors still can’t crack some of the more lucrative accounts like Samsung or Vizio. That’s a problem for you.

For sub-$3M films, the key is maximizing the quantity of revenue streams. AVOD matters hugely, but skipping SVOD pitching outright (as some middle-tier distributors do just so they can get to the bigger money windows faster) is not in your favor. FAST, meanwhile, is becoming indispensable: audiences don’t need to proactively choose your film—they click on a channel for one movie, it keeps rolling into your movie, ad breaks trigger, and you earn revenue passively. That’s reach you can’t replicate on any VOD flavor.

Bottom line: don’t just ask which distributor has the biggest catalog—ask which one has the most accounts and the broadest revenue windows. That’s where your film has a fighting chance.