Getting your films on Netflix
- Thread starter Mickey Munday
- Start date
shutterspeedfilms
Well-known member
Does New Video require certain deliverables before selling to Netflix? And does Netflix, too, for that matter?
Sounds like the best a micro-budget indie can reasonably expect is to break even when going through a distributor. And that's probably looking at the best of the crop (discounting the one lottery pick here or there that gets picked up by a major or mini-major).
Sounds like the best a micro-budget indie can reasonably expect is to break even when going through a distributor. And that's probably looking at the best of the crop (discounting the one lottery pick here or there that gets picked up by a major or mini-major).
Really, where did you hear this. I'm UK based.
Thanks for the info. We're in talks with a UK aggregator for Lovefilm, HMV and VOD so good to know. Lovefilm also track films http://www.lovefilm.com/film/Beyond-Biba/135288/?cid=ppctitles. Hopefully this will help with the amount of DVDs they buy from us...
Mattykins
Cute Member
Zak,
Is that 15k digitization fee accurate? I ran it by a guy at Weinstein a few weeks back and he said you are talking several hundred for digitization not thousands. Unless of course IFC is simply using that as an Adjusted Gross Revenue number without calling it AGR. Which it sounds like they are.
Is that 15k digitization fee accurate? I ran it by a guy at Weinstein a few weeks back and he said you are talking several hundred for digitization not thousands. Unless of course IFC is simply using that as an Adjusted Gross Revenue number without calling it AGR. Which it sounds like they are.
We have been quoted a few hundred dollars by our distributer for itunes/VOD.
Anthony Todaro
Well-known member
Matt,
Slightly off topic, when you refer to AGR, is this similar to the Distributor's Adjusted Gross; i.e. Gross after off-the-top exclusions and deductions?
Thanks
Slightly off topic, when you refer to AGR, is this similar to the Distributor's Adjusted Gross; i.e. Gross after off-the-top exclusions and deductions?
Thanks
Mattykins
Cute Member
Cue insta-reply. I was actually about to respond to pekar, so don't think I just wait anxiously. 
Well, basically, I didn't really know how else to describe it. So I used Adjusted Gross Revenue which would indeed be gross revenue after services, off the top exclusions and deductions or a determined break even. Whichever is noted.
And Pekar, that sounds about right from what I heard. I just couldn't remember the approximation he gave me, so I used "several".
But no matter the definition of the AGR, 15k is a lot of money. I don't know where they justify those expenditures.
Well, basically, I didn't really know how else to describe it. So I used Adjusted Gross Revenue which would indeed be gross revenue after services, off the top exclusions and deductions or a determined break even. Whichever is noted.
And Pekar, that sounds about right from what I heard. I just couldn't remember the approximation he gave me, so I used "several".
But no matter the definition of the AGR, 15k is a lot of money. I don't know where they justify those expenditures.
Anthony Todaro
Well-known member
Cue insta-reply. I was actually about to respond to pekar, so don't think I just wait anxiously.
Well, basically, I didn't really know how else to describe it. So I used Adjusted Gross Revenue which would indeed be gross revenue after services, off the top exclusions and deductions or a determined break even. Whichever is noted.
But no matter the definition of the AGR, 15k is a lot of money. I don't know where they justify those expenditures.
Noted and thanks again.
5000% markup on such an otherwise inexpensive process does peak ones curiosity.
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
This info comes form several case studies I have obtained as a Film Independent member. These specific umbers are from the "In Search of A Midnight Kiss" study and the $15,000 "digitization fee" is what Comcast charges IFC/Rainbow Media who recoups it from the filmmaker's cut. I don't think there is a way around it. It's something Comcast does in-house once they receive your HDCAM to compress the file for their VOD delivery system. Definitely a ridiculous number.
Anthony Todaro
Well-known member
Zak,
Thanks for the insight and the article, great stuff. Comcast says it all...
That Peter Broderick article on the principles of Hybrid Distribution was just flat out genius. I am quite new to the process, but I feel the current transitional phase into broader exposure for indies, and the shift to a "mostly" digital format, is a prime opportunity to push projects through and get some great exposure.
Cue insta-reply. I was actually about to respond to pekar, so don't think I just wait anxiously.
Well, basically, I didn't really know how else to describe it. So I used Adjusted Gross Revenue which would indeed be gross revenue after services, off the top exclusions and deductions or a determined break even. Whichever is noted.
And Pekar, that sounds about right from what I heard. I just couldn't remember the approximation he gave me, so I used "several".
But no matter the definition of the AGR, 15k is a lot of money. I don't know where they justify those expenditures.
Between $300-400.
Thanks for that. Sounds like it would be a waste of time going on Comcast if your $15000 in the hole before you've even started. Will find out from our distributer if there is a way around it..
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
It's definitely worth looking into. IFC are known vultures so the In Search of a Midnight Kiss case study might be a "worst case scenario". The producers figured out that their VOD deal was so bad that essentially everyone standing between their film and their audience stood to make $200,000 before the filmmakers started getting paid.
I heard the director would never go with IFC again under any circumstances especially as they refuse to release the DVD in the U.S?
Any thoughts on Snag Films?
KyleProhaska
Veteran
I'll share some encouraging (hopefully) information about my experience with Netflix. I went through a mutual friend to get the film placed on the site. It was listed before they made an initial order. The internet marketing for the film was not what it is today and continues to be, but I used whatever resources I had to get everyone I knew (even friends/family or people involved with the film) who had a Netflix account to go and Save it to their queue. Netflix monitors how many people are requesting any given film, and I was hoping it would increase their initial order. Granted, our film is very small but when they made an initial order of like 200 units or so I was very happy and so was the guy who got it listed for me who told me to expect maybe 1/3 of that. I'm getting $8 per disc from the deal which is a lot and I know that. One thing I haven't been able to do is get a couple hundred spindles of the disc alone made by my dubbing house so I can just send those. Netflix so far has ordered 1300 or so of he film (150 every month and a half or so...something like that). So I'm sending them fully shrinkwrapped copies of my film in cases which means that case, cover, shrinkwrap, etc. is going to waste. Even so the dubs aren't costing me a ton so it's not a huge LOSS but a loss none the less.
Very encouraging for me to know that in the world of Sub $100k budgets that a guy can get 1300-1500 copies of his little nothing film on Netflix and roll in a good chunk of that budget back. It's a great time to be a low-budget filmmaker folks. A $ is a $.
Hopefully that encourages some of you.
Very encouraging for me to know that in the world of Sub $100k budgets that a guy can get 1300-1500 copies of his little nothing film on Netflix and roll in a good chunk of that budget back. It's a great time to be a low-budget filmmaker folks. A $ is a $.
Hopefully that encourages some of you.
www1320MOVIEcom
New member
That's actually incorrect information...
They might publicly state that, and their "official policy" might be that they don't accept direct submissions, but I directly submitted our feature doc and it was put onto Netflix no problem.
They haven't made a purchase for it yet but it is on Netflix...
Thought I'd share the info so that others will try this approach and not be discouraged.
If you always follow "the rules" you'll never get anywhere in life - you need to be aggressive.
www1320MOVIEcom
New member
HERE YOU GUYS GO - HERE'S SOME REAL INSIGHT FOR YOU:
Our film is still stuck on NETFLIX - not really going anywhere.... Even if they did "accept" the film we'd probably DECLINE their offer at this point in the game. We are selling the film on our website (1320movie.com) and Amazon primarily.
The email trail below proves you can get your film onto NETFLIX on your own. Distribution companies waste your time, don't return calls, and are generally an arrogant bunch...
Enjoy...
On Feb 24, 2010, at 1:57 PM, "Mike Grice" <mgrice@netflix.com> wrote: Matt – titles stay on the site indefinitely. There’s some titles that appeared at Sundance years ago, that have yet to find their way to DVD that are still available to save to queue.
Since the title is available to save to queue, I’d prefer to leave it there, if that’s Ok with you.
Mike
From:
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 2:33 PM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Thanks Mike,
That certainly sounds fair. How long will you keep our movie in the queue? If you want, you can pull the film from the queue and I'll send you an email when the timing is appropriate and I can start forwarding people to Netflix.
Thanks,
Matt
From: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
To:
Sent: Mon, February 22, 2010 5:33:55 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hey Matt –
To answer your earlier question, if we were to buy the title, it would be under wholesale terms.
We buy to the queue and it’s premature to start talking $, due to the current queue number. If you are sending Netflix subscribers our way and they respond by adding it to their queues, then we will want to carry the title.
The range on buys varies from title to title and vendor to vendor. But to give you a ballpark, if I was solicited this by one of our vendor partners, it would be ~ $ 8/disc range.
Hope that helps
Thanks,
Mike
From: Matt Goff [mailto:mattgoff@rocketmail.com]
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 10:32 AM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Fw: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike,
To explain my last email better...
I'm confident that with my 45,000 youtube views / month + website traffic, that i can increase the "modest interest" to a level that you would be happy with. My dilemma isn't generating interest, but its the issue of putting my film on Netflix knowing it will cannabilize the sales of my film... I need to be able to weigh this against my estimates of revenue from selling the film, and determine the appropriate strategy I will take. If you can give me a rough estimate of what I should expect to receive from Netflix, I can take the next step. If I have no idea what Netflix might potentially pay, then this is a hard decision... I don't want to send thousands of people to Netflix, and then tell them "sorry we changed our mind, the film will not be available on Netflix..." if the offer you present to us doesn't make financial sense.
Thanks,
Matt
----- Forwarded Message ----
From:
To: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 2:39:07 PM
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Sounds good Mike.
The film should be featured in Hot Rod Magazine (600k audience) and Performance Auto Sound Magazine (170k Audience) in the next couple of months we hope...
Once the demand spikes due to my marketing efforts, I think you would be interested. I just have one question though: roughly what would be the royalty/purchase price for the film? I don't expect an exact price and I wouldn't hold you to anything, but I'm just curious... Are we talking $5-10k, $10-20k, $20k-40k, $40k+ ?
Thanks,
Matt
From: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
To:
Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 1:24:53 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hey Matt – thanks for the email. I’m afraid I haven’t yet made time to watch the doc.
It’s less about standards and more about what demand is. The title’s been on the site a month, and demand is very modest and it’s premature to place a buy at this time.
Thanks,
Mike
From:
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 12:33 PM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike,
Just wondering if you had a chance to review our film - and your thoughts... Is it to your standards for Netflix?
Thanks,
Matt
From: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
To:
Sent: Wed, January 20, 2010 1:40:03 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Matt – sorry for the delay, I was dealing with a 24 hour bug.
Sure, a screener would be appreciated. I’ve sent a request to our site content team to add this to the site and see if we can get a Queue to measure against.
I’m at
345 N. Maple Dr
Suite 300
Beverly Hills CA 90210
Thanks
Mike
From:
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:51 PM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Fwd: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike - just wanted to check in on my earlier inquiry.
Thanks
Matt
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
Have you had a chance to review our movie excerpts / website? If so, does your first impression warrant me sending in a screener? This is a truly independent film, and I think it would compliment the Fast and Furious series quite nicely... "Fast and Furious 5" is coming out over the next 12-18 months, and it should serve as a good catalyst to spark even more interest in our film. I understand your recommendation process, and am confident that your subscribers would be happy with a "real life" take on what Fast and Furious brings to the fictional table. If you haven't done so already, if you can take a look at the number of hits our clips have on YouTube (more than half a million), and review some of the YouTube user comments, you will see a positive vibe associated with the film. I am a true car enthusiast, and this film is 100% accurate - which is what many people appreciate in the car world.
The only other similar product around is a "docudrama" that Netflix carries that is called "Streets of Legend."
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Streets_of_Legend/70043592
Please compare the 2 films on YouTube for yourself -
Streets of Legend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NWxgLtPJV4
1320 A West Coast Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVrOAw4xGs4
Although "Streets of Legend" has been on YouTube for 2 years longer than "1320 A West Coast Story," it only has about 75k views, compared to our 475k views... Hopefully those numbers speak for themselves... We generate about 45k hits per month on our YouTube Channel.
Please let me know your opinion and next step here.
Thanks,
Matt
----- Forwarded Message ----
From:
To: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
Sent: Fri, January 8, 2010 6:25:57 PM
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike,
Yes- you can visit 1320movie.com, or go to our YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/www1320moviecom
There you can see the trailer and actual excerpts from the film. The film is roughly 93 minutes. If you would like to see the entire film I will send a screener to the address you provided.
Thank you for your reply and consideration.
Matt
From: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
To:
Sent: Fri, January 8, 2010 4:51:46 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Matt – I work with Lisa here.
Do you have a one sheet or a website for us to refer to? A screener by chance?
We’re at
345 N. Maple Dr
Suite 300
Beverly Hills CA 90210
Best,
Mike Grice
Independent Content Mgr
mgrice@netflix.com
From: Lisa Nishimura
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 11:48 AM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Fw: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
From:
To: Lisa Nishimura
Sent: Thu Jan 07 11:00:53 2010
Subject: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Lisa,
I have recently completed a feature length street racing documentary. What is your normal process for reviewing and considering distribution of such films through Netflix?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Regards,
Matt
Our film is still stuck on NETFLIX - not really going anywhere.... Even if they did "accept" the film we'd probably DECLINE their offer at this point in the game. We are selling the film on our website (1320movie.com) and Amazon primarily.
The email trail below proves you can get your film onto NETFLIX on your own. Distribution companies waste your time, don't return calls, and are generally an arrogant bunch...
Enjoy...
On Feb 24, 2010, at 1:57 PM, "Mike Grice" <mgrice@netflix.com> wrote: Matt – titles stay on the site indefinitely. There’s some titles that appeared at Sundance years ago, that have yet to find their way to DVD that are still available to save to queue.
Since the title is available to save to queue, I’d prefer to leave it there, if that’s Ok with you.
Mike
From:
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 2:33 PM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Thanks Mike,
That certainly sounds fair. How long will you keep our movie in the queue? If you want, you can pull the film from the queue and I'll send you an email when the timing is appropriate and I can start forwarding people to Netflix.
Thanks,
Matt
To:
Sent: Mon, February 22, 2010 5:33:55 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hey Matt –
To answer your earlier question, if we were to buy the title, it would be under wholesale terms.
We buy to the queue and it’s premature to start talking $, due to the current queue number. If you are sending Netflix subscribers our way and they respond by adding it to their queues, then we will want to carry the title.
The range on buys varies from title to title and vendor to vendor. But to give you a ballpark, if I was solicited this by one of our vendor partners, it would be ~ $ 8/disc range.
Hope that helps
Thanks,
Mike
From: Matt Goff [mailto:mattgoff@rocketmail.com]
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 10:32 AM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Fw: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike,
To explain my last email better...
I'm confident that with my 45,000 youtube views / month + website traffic, that i can increase the "modest interest" to a level that you would be happy with. My dilemma isn't generating interest, but its the issue of putting my film on Netflix knowing it will cannabilize the sales of my film... I need to be able to weigh this against my estimates of revenue from selling the film, and determine the appropriate strategy I will take. If you can give me a rough estimate of what I should expect to receive from Netflix, I can take the next step. If I have no idea what Netflix might potentially pay, then this is a hard decision... I don't want to send thousands of people to Netflix, and then tell them "sorry we changed our mind, the film will not be available on Netflix..." if the offer you present to us doesn't make financial sense.
Thanks,
Matt
----- Forwarded Message ----
From:
To: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 2:39:07 PM
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Sounds good Mike.
The film should be featured in Hot Rod Magazine (600k audience) and Performance Auto Sound Magazine (170k Audience) in the next couple of months we hope...
Once the demand spikes due to my marketing efforts, I think you would be interested. I just have one question though: roughly what would be the royalty/purchase price for the film? I don't expect an exact price and I wouldn't hold you to anything, but I'm just curious... Are we talking $5-10k, $10-20k, $20k-40k, $40k+ ?
Thanks,
Matt
To:
Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 1:24:53 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hey Matt – thanks for the email. I’m afraid I haven’t yet made time to watch the doc.
It’s less about standards and more about what demand is. The title’s been on the site a month, and demand is very modest and it’s premature to place a buy at this time.
Thanks,
Mike
From:
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 12:33 PM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike,
Just wondering if you had a chance to review our film - and your thoughts... Is it to your standards for Netflix?
Thanks,
Matt
To:
Sent: Wed, January 20, 2010 1:40:03 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Matt – sorry for the delay, I was dealing with a 24 hour bug.
Sure, a screener would be appreciated. I’ve sent a request to our site content team to add this to the site and see if we can get a Queue to measure against.
I’m at
345 N. Maple Dr
Suite 300
Beverly Hills CA 90210
Thanks
Mike
From:
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:51 PM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Fwd: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike - just wanted to check in on my earlier inquiry.
Thanks
Matt
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From:
Date: January 18, 2010 1:29:35 PM PST
To: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
Subject: Fw: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike,Date: January 18, 2010 1:29:35 PM PST
To: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
Subject: Fw: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Have you had a chance to review our movie excerpts / website? If so, does your first impression warrant me sending in a screener? This is a truly independent film, and I think it would compliment the Fast and Furious series quite nicely... "Fast and Furious 5" is coming out over the next 12-18 months, and it should serve as a good catalyst to spark even more interest in our film. I understand your recommendation process, and am confident that your subscribers would be happy with a "real life" take on what Fast and Furious brings to the fictional table. If you haven't done so already, if you can take a look at the number of hits our clips have on YouTube (more than half a million), and review some of the YouTube user comments, you will see a positive vibe associated with the film. I am a true car enthusiast, and this film is 100% accurate - which is what many people appreciate in the car world.
The only other similar product around is a "docudrama" that Netflix carries that is called "Streets of Legend."
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Streets_of_Legend/70043592
Please compare the 2 films on YouTube for yourself -
Streets of Legend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NWxgLtPJV4
1320 A West Coast Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVrOAw4xGs4
Although "Streets of Legend" has been on YouTube for 2 years longer than "1320 A West Coast Story," it only has about 75k views, compared to our 475k views... Hopefully those numbers speak for themselves... We generate about 45k hits per month on our YouTube Channel.
Please let me know your opinion and next step here.
Thanks,
Matt
----- Forwarded Message ----
From:
To: Mike Grice <mgrice@netflix.com>
Sent: Fri, January 8, 2010 6:25:57 PM
Subject: Re: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Mike,
Yes- you can visit 1320movie.com, or go to our YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/www1320moviecom
There you can see the trailer and actual excerpts from the film. The film is roughly 93 minutes. If you would like to see the entire film I will send a screener to the address you provided.
Thank you for your reply and consideration.
Matt
To:
Sent: Fri, January 8, 2010 4:51:46 PM
Subject: RE: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Hi Matt – I work with Lisa here.
Do you have a one sheet or a website for us to refer to? A screener by chance?
We’re at
345 N. Maple Dr
Suite 300
Beverly Hills CA 90210
Best,
Mike Grice
Independent Content Mgr
mgrice@netflix.com
From: Lisa Nishimura
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 11:48 AM
To: Mike Grice
Subject: Fw: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
To: Lisa Nishimura
Sent: Thu Jan 07 11:00:53 2010
Subject: 1320 A West Coast Story | Street Racing Documentary
Lisa,
I have recently completed a feature length street racing documentary. What is your normal process for reviewing and considering distribution of such films through Netflix?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Regards,
Matt