Anyone on Amazon Prime?

B

Blade_Jones

How do you get on Amazon Prime? I'm already with Amazon Video Direct. I can't remember if I opted out of Amazon Prime or if it was even an option.

A friend of mine got their low budget indie movie up on Amazon Video Direct as well as for rent on Amazon. 99% of his sales were Amazon Prime! He reports earning $1,000 in the first quarter. Which leads to my next question... Do you get a big bump when your movie is a new release and then revenue drops off big time? Or can you expect the same consistent revenue quarter after quarter?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
buscando said:
Nice stuff, how long have they been there & how is their Amazon Prime income?
Did they spike at some point?
Click to expand...

My rep is revamping her company, so she asked if she could push a lot of my old stuff, again. THE AWAKENING just went up a couple of months ago. That's a movie from 2005, which we sold, years ago, to cable, foreign, and dvd sales. Now, we'll have to see how it does, being on Amazon for the first time. Like I said, it's older, it's standard def, but if it is able to bring in new revenue, then that will be nice.

EXILE has been on Amazon, since 2013. We're not talking big numbers, after all these are no name, backyard flicks. It was making around $300 - $600 per quarter, but it did spike up in 2017, going north of $1000 a quarter. I don't know if it will go higher, but time will reveal. There is also revenue from Vudu, Playstation, CinemaNow, Adrise, Youtube, and Google Play, but they don't generate as much as Amazon.

I haven't shot a feature in 10 years, so I haven't really been paying a lot of attention to streaming. Back then, all my focus was on sales made from AFM, national and international distribution. Amazon wasn't even a thought. I just go about my day job, family stuff, and some other projects. But, every once in a while, I get that check from my rep and I'm like "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that."


And when I talk about these being a backyard flicks, it's literal. There were some crazy setpieces in my yard. :>)

dragcomp2.jpg


drag.jpg


vanside.jpg


Spaceshipnightday.jpg


hallwaycryonauts.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Very cool, Scoopicman, it’s like you have a mini version of Lucas’ ranch & Rodriguez’s compound.
How did you get your rep?
Your info says you distributed your features yourself. How’d you learn to do that?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
buscando said:
How did you get your rep?
Your info says you distributed your features yourself. How’d you learn to do that?
Click to expand...

I met my rep on another film forum, back in 2004. I don't usually handle the distributor stuff, but years ago, I did. I looked at other movies, like mine, and noted who the distributors were.

This was pre-google. I bought one of those Hollywood Blue Book directories (with the addresses and numbers) and literally drove to CA to meet with distributors. One watched my movie (mostly fast-forwarded) and then the acquisitions guy wrote me THIS contract. That acquisitions guy was David Rimawi, who later ended up producing the SHARKNADO and Asylum movies. :lol:


For later movies, I did sell DVDs on mine and my co-producers' websites. THE AWAKENING did pretty well through a couple of super-woman sites, which already had that kind of fan base built in. We sold over $2000 of dvds the first 2 or 3 days, after announcing it. If you can find an existing interest base, that can be a boon. The writer of the movie posted an early scene from the movie and it got over 100,000 views, so we knew the interest was there:


Ironically, I made a synth tutorial that sold more DVDs than all my narrative features combined. People love tech stuff. Just look at the participation difference between a filmmaker forum and a camera forum and you'll get my drift.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Very interesting! About that contract:
-Were these typical percentages? I wonder if they’re applicable today.
-Around how much did you end up making on it?
-Do they tell you when they’ve arranged Cable/TV showings so you can look out for it when it airs?
-Does Foreign mean overseas sales of DVDs & Cable/TV?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
buscando said:
Very interesting! About that contract:
-Were these typical percentages? I wonder if they’re applicable today.
-Around how much did you end up making on it?
-Do they tell you when they’ve arranged Cable/TV showings so you can look out for it when it airs?
-Does Foreign mean overseas sales of DVDs & Cable/TV?
Click to expand...

I linked to that image because I get a kick out of the fact that David Rimawi wrote that up. That company, like many others, went under around that time - the recession that followed the 1st Gulf War. I didn't make much, as they filed bankruptcy. A real shame, because they were selling my movie - Netherlands, Asia, many mom & pop video stores that opened up around that time, had the movie in their catalogue.

I think those were fairly common numbers for the time. I doubt any no name, low budget production would get those kind of numbers, today. At that time (1990), it was the end of the VHS boom. There wasn't a whole lot of "indie" talk. The contracts were for everybody. 99% of releases were shot on film, so even the cheap productions weren't that cheap.

Obviously, there was another format boom, when DVD became popular and brick and mortar stores were the norm. Lionsgate was offering decent cash, but that all changed, after the 2008 - 9 recession. It's a new frontier, now, hence the Amazon discussion.

Foreign usually means a territory deal. A territory would usually pay a flat fee. U.K. might buy the rights for its territory, which used to include Hong Kong. Bigger deals might mean world-wide rights or multiple territories.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
-That is bad luck they went under. Is there a reason the company’s name is blurred?
-Are you still getting orders for the synth tutorial? I imagine most people use YouTube now for tutorials but your DVD is good for getting very in depth.
-So these days does your rep focus mostly on places like Amazon for streaming & DVD sales?
-Your body of work is impressive. Do you have another feature in the works?
This is great info, thanks so much for putting it out.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
More details on the Amazon streaming royalty structure.

"Amazon Video Direct Dramatically Changes How It Will Compensate Indie Creators, 2-7-18
The U.S. streaming royalty rate drops, international goes up, in a move that could help bigger films, but will likely pinch the profits of many U.S. indies.

The revenue-sharing program currently pays content owners $0.15 for every hour their content is streamed domestically in the U.S., and $0.06 for every hour it is streamed internationally. Starting March 1, royalty rates will be tiered based on the total number of streaming hours per year.

Rates will only reach $0.15/hour in the U.S. after a movie or TV episode streams for 500,000 hours. For the first 100,000 hours, the rate drops 60 percent to $0.06/hour. Between 100,000 and 500,000 streaming hours, the rates are $0.10/hour (a 33 percent drop). After a million hours are streamed, or at the end of a 365-day cycle, the streamed hours reset to zero and earnings begin again at the lowest tier of $0.06.

To the content providers’ benefit, international rates will be improved. Currently, international rates are a flat $.06 per hour. These also will be tiered under the same rules for domestic streaming. With these changes, Amazon will also lift its annual revenue cap next month. Currently, films stop earning revenue share after 500,000 hours, or $75,000 in the U.S."

http://www.indiewire.com/2018/02/amazon-video-direct-lowers-royalty-rates-1201925708/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top