While all market data indicates that the viewing public still has plenty of appetite for indie films, and several recent releases have performed excellently (for their class) at theaters, one thing is becoming ever more apparent. The difficulty of effectively marketing and releasing smaller film content in theaters has grown exponentially in ways that mainstream movies simply don’t face. One rising potential way to address this is micro-distribution. Today, our Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, examines the potential of this model for the indie industry.
Distributor Difficulties
One key hurdle for many smaller products lies in securing a distributor. We’ve seen this recently with The Graduates, which was hoping to build interest before its 2025 streaming debut. Small but good movies are struggling to sell on the current festival circuit, too, and limited resources create marketing issues. A more bespoke release strategy could be key to offsetting this.
Hundreds of Beavers, a somewhat madcap silent black-and-white comedy release from 2022 that only opened in theaters this year, has managed to reinvent itself as a cult classic and net $700,000 worldwide without ever finding an official theatrical distributor. The production team instead retained theatrical rights and made an “event” out of its “road tour” style screening. It has never been on offer at more than 30 screens simultaneously but has had an immensely successful theater run all the same.
Micro-Budget is Neglected
With the current focus on big-budget IPs, many distributors are not interested in the kind of profit margins indie films can generate. Yet, the audience’s appetite for them is there, and it is becoming increasingly clear that new content is critical to the health of theatrical overall. Rejuvenating this market through these micro-distribution models may place more weight on the producers’ shoulders, but does seem to be rising as an acceptable alternative for the indie market.
Of course, no single strategy provides all the answers. However, investing in a stronger focus on these micro-distribution styles could well become an important part of helping keep indie movies in front of the audiences that want them.
Film and Television 