Topic: Distribber Review

Ok guys here we go. I am writing a review on Distribber - Distribber is a company that lets you keep 100% of the profits derived from digital outlets such as iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu. Distribber does take an upfront fee, so I am here to review Distribber on a day to day basis from submitting, to receiving payments and comparing to past distribution experiences so subscribe by clicking "Thread Tools" and click Subscribe To Thread you may choose to get instant email notification as well.
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Rating Removed - For now - Until I figure out what the heck is going on.


___UPDATE_April_6th___2013______
(If you are looking for someone that can offer what Distribber offers but without paying a fee VOD services and DVD Distribution


I am going to use Distribber with my next feature film that is complete

What I will do is pay the fee and begin to compare my past films on iTunes and this new one.

I am very interested to see personally what 100% of the profits look like, and compare those numbers with a past distribution company that took a 30% but they also marketed the film.

So hopefully through this experience you guys can see this through my eyes on every step. I will be doing some youtube videos but most updates will come here.

Nick Soares

Update: Distribber Review Jan. 24th 2012

Ok so I filled out all of the info needed to submit my film, after receiving my username and password. After that I was taken to the area where you choose your channels, in my case I will be using iTunes, and Hulu. Clicked Next and it brought me to the License Agreement, this is where I had to stop (for now) because while Distribber claims you keep 100% of the rights, the contract clearly states that Distribber will be the rights holder. I totally understand why they need the rights if their going to be the one that pays me 100% So I send the contract to my lawyer and will just confirm thats all it is.

Update: Distribber Review Jan 25th 2012

Haven't heard back from lawyer, but I did here back from there marketing manager. I looks as if you have to pay the FULL amount just to submit your trailer. It states to submit your film but has no option to upload or send your full movie, instead you need to pay (for me) would be about $2,000 straight from my account without knowing if I will be accepted. If I am not excepted I am supposed to get my money back minus a $30 processing fee. This seems like bad business in general for the indie filmmakers to make them pay all fees upfront just to send in a trailer. Though im not bashing Distribber, I believe there services will do great things, but in my opinion there are a few flaws keeping them from succeeding. I will contact the CEO of Distribber and will update shortly.

Update: Distribber Review Jan 25th 7:20pm 2012

Emailed - 6 hours later no reply

Update: Distribber Review Jan 25th 7:51pm 2012

Ok so for those curious what they would have you sign. This will be very important to go over and having your entertainment attorney read before you agree. Following is the agreement and contract between Rights Owner and Distribber - Overall Distribber still looks very promising to the indie filmmaker

Update: Distribber Review Jan 26th 9:02pm 2012

I received an email about 30 minutes ago stating that it is true - I need to pay $1,200 to submit my info and trailer (not the entire film yet) as well as sign this agreement below before I can do anything else. It is promised that if the film is not excepted that I will receive a full refund minus a $30 transaction fee... I could not fined anywhere stating that if the film is not excepted that this contract below is terminated, because before signing you have to agree to them. So that is the only part that is still unclear to me, but I will pay the fee and continue with this journey....

Update: Distribber Review Jan 27th 10:10pm 2012

An interesting quote from the contract that contradicts the website info
"Payments will be made for the preceding calendar quarter within 30 days of each quarter ending on: March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 31st."
According to the current website they state you may pull your profits at any time, this statement (I believe means different) Has been forwarded to lawyer for clarification purposes.

Update: Distribber Review Jan 31st 10:35pm 2012

Ok guys, lawyer states "It is not clear whether contract is terminated even if film is declined in process, though it is highly unlikely there are any malicious possibilities with this company owned by IndieGoGo" So I will continue as planned and will make the payment tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Update: Distribber Review Feb 3rd 1:02pm 2012

Something came to mind just before I sent the payment, some of you might have thought the same. "If I can only submit the trailer when I pay the funds, does that mean that iTunes will base their decision off the trailer alone and not the entire film? Because I only have the option to submit the trailer--- So I emailed Adam Chapnick this questions and am waiting for a reply.

Update: Distribber Review March 12th 5:35pm 2012

Sorry for the halt on this review, had to do some pickup scenes for a new feature I am working on, but im back at it and payment has been made two days ago, and I am currently getting deliverables ready - Dylan and Adam are a pleasure so far, and Distribber still seems to be the most promising.

Update: Distribber Review August 1st 7:35am 2012

Ok, looks like Distribber has a new member - Jason Brubaker! I love this guy. While i cant say that Dylan was the reason why Distribber was so slow to respond, I do know that my communication took a 180 when Jason came on board. I think Jason is exactly what Distribber needed. So far Thumbs up to Jason and Distribber.

UPDATE: Distribber Review February 6th 1:38am 2013

I apologize for the delay, I have a new baby girl in our family and I was also laughing my own company. So yea.... - Ok back to topic, I will be finishing up the submission for "The Recording" and I will update everyone here how it goes. Again, since Jason Brewbaker has come on board with Distribber things have been really lookin UP!


UPDATE: Distribber Review April 27th 3:00pm 2013

So it seems that Jason Brubaker has left Distribber. I do believe that he left on good terms and that he had a great time working with everyone at Distribber. My concern now is what it was before Jason arrived, I felt Jason was a great stepping stone for Distribber and now that he is gone it makes me wonder what is going on over there. I now have to deal with Dylan again who does not seem to have the best working hours and it frustrating getting emails at midnight when my child is sleeping. This never happened with Jason and Jason was always, and I mean ALWAYS on top of everything and I even had his personal cell number which he would answer at all times if I had a question. Using Distribber for "The Recording" now is questionable. I think I should use my own company for this now, and for those that do not know I was using one of my films to hopefully find a company that people would be able to pay and get their film up on iTunes - I have submitted three films (not The Recording) and as of yesterday I am not to happy. I am not saying I am not happy with Distribber, but rather I am not happy with some of the process that occurs with Distibber and their game plan if that makes sense. It seems they are very unorganized and under staffed for the operation they are trying to accomplish. I wonder why IndieGoGo would not put more man power to this, but that might be because they do not take a royalty and therefor is not worth the time. it seems to me that this is the conclusion that this is not a company that will grow but will be more of a pain to IndieGoGo unless they change something fast.

More updates coming soon
_____________________
Related Threads: Virool Review

Ok I just made my first youtube video on distribber

Ill post it here when its done uploading

When it's up, post the link! :)

Originally Posted by hoodsdavidscott

When it's up, post the link! :)

Ok so i recorded it with my iMac on youtube, but when im finished it says loading, BUT IT NEVER loads! So mad, I did a 4 minute video and it just doesnt compress.

Oh will ill get it figured out for tomorrow

Update: (added this to the top)

Ok so I filled out all of the info needed to submit my film, after receiving my username and password. After that I was taken to the area where you choose your channels, in my case I will be using iTunes, and Hulu. Clicked Next and it brought me to the License Agreement, this is where I had to stop (for now) because while Distribber claims you keep 100% of the rights, the contract clearly states that Distribber will be the rights holder. I totally understand why they need the rights if their going to be the one that pays me 100% So I send the contract to my lawyer and will just confirm thats all it is.

More to some tomorrow

Subscribed

Update: Jan 25th 2012 (added to original post)

Haven't heard back from lawyer, but I did here back from there marketing manager. I looks as if you have to pay the FULL amount just to submit your trailer. It states to submit your film but has no option to upload or send your full movie, instead you need to pay (for me) would be about $2,000 straight from my account without knowing if I will be accepted. If I am not excepted I am supposed to get my money back minus a $30 processing fee. This seems like bad business in general for the indie filmmakers to make them pay all fees upfront just to send in a trailer. Though im not bashing Distribber, I believe there services will do great things, but in my opinion there are a few flaws keeping them from succeeding. I will contact the CEO of Distribber and will update shortly.

Thanks for the update.

Phil

Update: Jan 26th 9:02pm 2012 (added above)

I received an email about 30 minutes ago stating that it is true - I need to pay $1,200 to submit my info and trailer (not the entire film yet) as well as sign this agreement below before I can do anything else. It is promised that if the film is not excepted that I will receive a full refund minus a $30 transaction fee... I could not fined anywhere stating that if the film is not excepted that this contract below is terminated, because before signing you have to agree to them. So that is the only part that is still unclear to me, but I will pay the fee and continue with this journey....

added to top

Ok guys, lawyer states "It is not clear whether contract is terminated even if film is declined in process, though it is highly unlikely there are any malicious possibilities with this company owned by IndieGoGo" So I will continue as planned and will make the payment tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Added ^^ this

Something came to mind just before I sent the payment, some of you might have thought the same. "If I can only submit the trailer when I pay the funds, does that mean that iTunes will base their decision off the trailer alone and not the entire film? Because I only have the option to submit the trailer--- So I emailed Adam Chapnick this questions and am waiting for a reply.

Added to the top:

Update: Distribber Review March 12th 5:35pm 2012

Sorry for the halt on this review, had to do some pickup scenes for a new feature I am working on, but im back at it and payment has been made two days ago, and I am currently getting deliverables ready - Dylan and Adam are a pleasure so far, and Distribber still seems to be the most promising.

Nick - thanks for keeping everyone up to date with whats going on w/ your movie at Distribber, great company...

Looking forward to hearing more about your new VOD online and cable plateform, i heard from another forum that you are going to make VOD really cheap for filmmakers.. not sure how you can or plan to do that, but would love to hear more.

Originally Posted by M5Boss

Nick - thanks for keeping everyone up to date with whats going on w/ your movie at Distribber, great company...

Looking forward to hearing more about your new VOD online and cable plateform, i heard from another forum that you are going to make VOD really cheap for filmmakers.. not sure how you can or plan to do that, but would love to hear more.

Well we wont be of any competition to Distribber, we will only become an asset to them, as we will basically finance films for distribution, therefor allowing more films to be submitted to Distribber, its just we will be paying the fee, not the filmmaker.

I'm watching this thread with eager eyes. I saw distribber today and eager to see if it works out for you. I've already submitted my film to amazon video on demand, via Create Space.

Hi I've been successfully using distribber to distribute my feature film Bang Bang

I think it's a great service and it's been working out for me so far. The upfront is great if you know that your film is going to sell, as in, you have a marketing plan or you have some sort of niche market that you're hitting, which is true for my film if you look into it.

a few things which are on the downside:

1. for netflix streaming.. this can actually only happen if your film has already been accepted by netflix for their DVD que, therefore I haven't even tried it. I only have my film on itunes thru them, and currently awaiting amazon on demand.

2. Lag time. First off, it takes 3 months for your film to get onto itunes from the moment you submit to distribber. This they didn't tell me until I had already submitted everything. They claim that their "website is not updated". I call bullshit. I guess it takes iTunes a long time to QC your film, but they should have told me ahead of time so that I could have planned my release.

3. Systems not updating fast enough. So when you have your film LIVE and available on ITunes, and it starts selling, you want to track your sales right? well guess what, their systems don't update regularly, it takes months for it to update. So right now I only have the info for my sales up to april. And sometimes I question if the data they are giving me is accurate or not, there's no way for me to know. There's a lack of communication on their end, they don't email me with updates or anything about what's going on with my film. Everytime i email them it takes days for me to get a response, UNLESS i email their CEO directly. They always tell me they are waiting for iTunes to give them info before distribber data can be updated, or that it takes time for blah blah blah.. sometimes I doubt they even looked at my project b/c they would repsond with something like.. well, IF your film even makes money, then we will update this or that.. but i'm like.. dude, my film has BEEN making money, so for you to respond like that means you didn't even look into it. Lack of customer service.

in conclusion... it seems like this is a project they are just trying to make a lil bit of money on and not really investing the time or people to run this little subsectin of indiegogo. As a filmmaker, so far this is is the only option to get onto iTunes so I'm going to stick with them. I just hope they can start updating their systems regulary or do something to speed things up. Till this day, I still don't know if my film is on Amazon yet or not.. and my film has alrady been accepted and running on iTunes for about 5months.

HIt me up on my twitter for a faster response -- twitter.com/byronbcp

Unless things have changed, Amazon VOD is easy to get onto. Before my movie received distribution, I sold it through createspace. It's free and you split the money with their service. But, they literally do all the work. Amazon VOD is one of their markets.

This was a very nice moment for me. I thank God I downloaded the photo, because it didn't last long.

Originally Posted by byronbcp

Hi I've been successfully using distribber to distribute my feature film Bang Bang

I think it's a great service and it's been working out for me so far. The upfront is great if you know that your film is going to sell, as in, you have a marketing plan or you have some sort of niche market that you're hitting, which is true for my film if you look into it.

a few things which are on the downside:

1. for netflix streaming.. this can actually only happen if your film has already been accepted by netflix for their DVD que, therefore I haven't even tried it. I only have my film on itunes thru them, and currently awaiting amazon on demand.

2. Lag time. First off, it takes 3 months for your film to get onto itunes from the moment you submit to distribber. This they didn't tell me until I had already submitted everything. They claim that their "website is not updated". I call bullshit. I guess it takes iTunes a long time to QC your film, but they should have told me ahead of time so that I could have planned my release.

3. Systems not updating fast enough. So when you have your film LIVE and available on ITunes, and it starts selling, you want to track your sales right? well guess what, their systems don't update regularly, it takes months for it to update. So right now I only have the info for my sales up to april. And sometimes I question if the data they are giving me is accurate or not, there's no way for me to know. There's a lack of communication on their end, they don't email me with updates or anything about what's going on with my film. Everytime i email them it takes days for me to get a response, UNLESS i email their CEO directly. They always tell me they are waiting for iTunes to give them info before distribber data can be updated, or that it takes time for blah blah blah.. sometimes I doubt they even looked at my project b/c they would repsond with something like.. well, IF your film even makes money, then we will update this or that.. but i'm like.. dude, my film has BEEN making money, so for you to respond like that means you didn't even look into it. Lack of customer service.

in conclusion... it seems like this is a project they are just trying to make a lil bit of money on and not really investing the time or people to run this little subsectin of indiegogo. As a filmmaker, so far this is is the only option to get onto iTunes so I'm going to stick with them. I just hope they can start updating their systems regulary or do something to speed things up. Till this day, I still don't know if my film is on Amazon yet or not.. and my film has alrady been accepted and running on iTunes for about 5months.

HIt me up on my twitter for a faster response -- twitter.com/byronbcp

I know that Distribber has updated their team and has a new Operating Manager - Since he has been in this position, their response times have been much faster!

Any updates Nick?

Hey Guys -

This is Jason Brubaker from Distribber (and also FilmmakingStuff) - Firstly, I want to thank Nick for taking the time to do a full review of Distribber. I wanted to let all of you know that I care very deeply about Distribber and the service we provide for indie filmmakers.

I know there are a few people in the thread that are unhappy about our lag time. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. As a filmmaker myself, I was hired to improve this. Some of you have discovered the realities of encoding and you also now know that any hiccup in the QC process can delay delivery. Since joining the team, I have been working to streamline our processes. And it is my hope that in a few months, you will see less lag time and more communication.

Nick did a good job of covering the basics. But if any of you need additional info, you may want to check out the Distribber FAQs. You are also welcome to email me with additional questions. Jason [AT] Distribber [DOT] com

Anyway, I wish you well with your projects. And if you are currently experiencing any issues, please reach out to me. I really do want to improve our business - and all suggestions are welcome!

Sincerely,

Jason Brubaker
Director of Operations
Distribber

Hey Jason! Like I said in the last update on the review, I think Distribber has made a great choice with you. Looking forward to talking to you soon and seeing more of your products!

Nick Soares

Hi Guys,

The key to getting VOD revenues is covering the whole VOD market, AMAZON, iTunes, Cable VOD and Hulu cover a small portion of total US VOD market. Missing from Distribber's VOD distribution deals are many important VOD revenue sources - DISH, DirecTV, Verizon, ATT Uverse, XBOX, Sony Playstation, Vudu (Walmart) and so on.

Tunecore has done this model - fixed fee for posting content to iTunes, and I recall one of the unknowns was that most films were only doing $1500 on iTunes. Indie film does not generate $50,000 on iTunes very often, so the benefit of a fixed price model is much mor pronounced if its a big winner, if is typical, there wont be such a clear benefit. Plus, many distributors can help pay that $2000 - $4000 for posting your film, an they will cover 15 VOD sites, not 5, so you may lose 25% to your distributor, but the 75% you get may be able to triple the total dollars in your pocket. A more careful analysis should be done. More distributors will give you a total VOD forecast so you can guesstimate your final ROI and compare.

NetFlix subscription video on demand (SVOD) is such a big portion of a indie film's potential, filmmakers should be super careful to find the right deal at Netflix by working with a distributor who has access to managing the Netflix queue and who has a signed output deal with Netflix (if possible). Its often best to sell to SVOD services long after all the day and date VOD marketing is done, that way the Netflix queue is longest,the film well sell for. After Netflix SVOD, a bunch of new players in SVOD licensing are emerging, Amazon Prime, DISH, Comcast Streampix, Verizon Redbox etc. SVOD deals are are actually better than a VOD deal. Why? - because 1) they write checks 2) they are not "rev share" 3) the payments come every 90 days consistenly startign 120 days from street date (much sooner than VOD which can be + 9 months) 4) the total dollars are often more than VOD (Fact - in 2012: 94% of all paid VOD online is SVOD versus 6% for VOD). So Distribber is hitting VOD only - and potentially missing SVOD revenue streams, money which is vital to an indie filmmaker.

Although you may collect 100% of Distribber's VOD revenues, Distribber is missing more than 50% of the transactional VOD market, and not covering the critical SVOD segment beyond Netflix. So it is what you are missing that matters.

The Cable VOD coverage and revenues from Distribber also raise a question - how are they accessing CABLE VOD? Most likely, I would guess (and I have no info here) - its through an aggregator (InDemand or TVN maybe, I am not sure, or through a studio deal). In many cases, VOD aggreagtors take a big cut of the pie (too big) it can be > 50% or more of all VOD revenues. So Distribber may be giving a filmmaker 100% of all revenues after the middleman's fees are paid, but there is a good chance that those revenues are going to be halved because of other services taking their cuts -- before a filmmaker ever see a dollar.

What is the rev share that Distribiiber gets (that the filmmaker receives). All VOD revenues come from rev share agmts - but different folks have different rev shares - it can be 80/20 (content rights holder/VOD portals), 70/30, 60/40, 50/50 or worse.

So the key issue is not what % of the revenues does the filmmaker get - it is the total # of VOD households covered - what % of the total is that - and what is the average revenue share the film distributor has negotiated in their deals.

Having a fixed fee distribution model looks simple and maybe feels on the surface like a better deal, but it is not that easy. It would help to ask any distributor, how many direct VOD deals do they actually have - and how many aggregators are they using - if a distributors has less than 10 -15 direct VOD deals, then their distribution has to be going though an aggregator and bigger % of your revenues are being lost to more and more middlemen.

Ask for a list a VOD deals and what average rev share the provider has executed in their deal for, then, with better data, a more complete analysis and ROI can be done of the Distribber VOD option.

Steve

steve.harnsberger at gmail dotcom

All very valid points.

Filmmakers should always evaluate each deal and go where the deal makes the most sense. Distribber is not the correct fit for all filmmakers.

As an UPDATE - Distribber now offers Filmmaker Direct, which also allows for distribution on major cable, satellite and telco VOD systems.

More info on this and our other services can be found here:
Distribber

Jason Brubaker
Distribber

This time Distribber is waiting on me. I need to call back, just been so busy with new baby and upgrading our top websites :)

I'm very interested in reading how it all goes/doesn't go with Distribber, as I look at my plans for my feature.

This has been added to the review.

Code:

I apologize for the delay, I have a new baby girl in our family and I  was also laughing my own company. So yea.... - Ok back to topic, I will  be finishing up the submission for "The Recording" and I will update  everyone here how it goes. Again, since Jason Brewbaker has come on  board with Distribber things have been really lookin UP!

You know, I also called Distribber about a month and a half ago with specific questions on NetFilx SVOD. I can't remember the guys name (maybe Ryan, but not sure). He said that NetFilx is probably not such a great deal for indies, as they would probably just offer a small flat fee ($1,000 to $2,000), yet a million people could watch it, which, depending on how you look at it, could be a good or a bad thing. Good in the sense that you got a million views, but in the sense that you didn't make squat.

However, if you decide to go the NetFilx route, you are almost definitely cutting yourself off from other revenue sources as so many people have streaming NetFilx, (yours truly included). My point being, after I've seen it on NetFilx, what's my motivation to buy it?

I don't know, but there has got to be a better way.

BTW, Nick, congratulations about your daughter!

That's a good point. I've put some thought into going the Netflix route for my film, and I figure that Netflix streaming is a great -- nay, fantastic option for getting a film truly "out there," but best left as a last step in the distribution process. Like you said, once you go Netflix, literally millions can see it at no additional cost to them, which makes it probably the most enticing option for the viewer.

Thus, I imagine holding off on a Netflix release until a good period of time after other sources of revenue (VOD, rental, DVD) have been well-tapped might be the best of both worlds. You'd be getting money from those who'd be willing to pay in the first place, and then getting the bulk of your audience (who isn't likely to pay for media anyways) second.

Hi
I am new here and trying to understand things. Can I sell my scripts here?

I have mixed feelings about Distribber. I'm not sure why but their sales pitch made me expect more of a computer based daily sales report like Amazon Advantage. It's horrific. It took a very long time before I could log in and access the information and once I could it was just a pile of pasted data with no overview summary. Really poor and useless.

My biggest problem has been communication too. It almost feels as if one individual is trying to run the whole show. It has been a year since I submitted the film for itunes and Amazon and have received one payment to date in february for October-November 2012. That took some doing and confusion on their part too. The payment process from "hey you have money" to getting paid was about 3 weeks. I realize there is a 120 day lag time with initial payments but I'm still not sure if I'm supposed to get paid every month or every quarter. E-mails rarely get answered.

I'm fairly confident they're not ripping me off like some of the distributor and aggregate horror stories I've heard but it is quite a clunky frustrating experience that leaves the producer/filmmaker in the dark.

UPDATE: Distribber Review April 27th 3:00pm 2013

See OP