Deals, Aggregators & Middlemen

Here's a thing that surprises new filmmakers: even in "DIY" distribution, you usually can't just upload your film to the big platforms yourself. Most major VOD and streaming services only accept films delivered by approved aggregators — companies whose job is to take your finished film and deliverables, meet each platform's technical requirements, and push it live across the services you want. So even when you're self-distributing, there's often a middleman in the middle of the chain. That's not necessarily bad — a good aggregator saves you enormous technical hassle — but it means you need to understand what these middlemen do, what they charge, and how the deal is structured, because the way an aggregator or distributor is paid determines how much of your film's revenue you'll actually keep. This chapter is about reading those deals with clear eyes.

The players and how they charge

Know who you might be dealing with and how the money is structured:

• Aggregators. Services that deliver your film to platforms on your behalf. Some charge a flat fee (you pay upfront, keep more of the revenue); others take a percentage of revenue (no upfront cost, but an ongoing cut). Which is better depends on how well your film will sell.
• Distributors. Broader than aggregators — they may handle marketing, sales, and strategy, not just delivery, in exchange for a larger cut and often your rights. This is the traditional deal from Chapter 3.
• The platform's cut. The platform itself always takes a share of each transaction before anything flows down to the aggregator and then to you. That's baked in on top of everyone else's cut.
• Fees vs. percentage. Flat-fee models favor films that will earn well (you cap the middleman's take); percentage models favor films that may earn little (no upfront risk). Match the model to your realistic expectations.
• Marketing spend & recoupment. Watch for deals where the distributor spends on marketing and recoups it from your revenue first — you may see nothing until their costs are covered.

Reading a deal without getting burned

The single most important habit is to trace where every dollar goes before it reaches you. Revenue starts at the platform, which takes its cut; then the aggregator or distributor takes theirs (a percentage, or they've already taken a flat fee up front); then any recoupable costs — marketing, delivery, expenses the distributor fronted — may come out before your share; and only then does the remainder reach you. When you stack those cuts, a film can generate real money at the platform and leave you with very little, which is exactly how filmmakers get blindsided. So when you evaluate any aggregator or distribution deal, do the arithmetic: understand the platform cut, the middleman cut, and especially any recoupment clause, because "we'll market your film and take it out of revenue first" can mean you're last in line and see nothing. Two practical decisions come up constantly. First, flat fee or percentage? If you genuinely expect your film to earn well and you can afford the upfront cost, a flat-fee aggregator lets you keep more of the upside. If you're unsure it'll earn much or you can't front the cost, a percentage model shifts the risk off you. Neither is universally right — it depends on honest expectations for your specific film. Second, aggregator or full distributor? If you mainly need the technical delivery to platforms and you'll handle marketing yourself, a straightforward aggregator is cheaper and keeps you in control. If you genuinely need someone to do marketing and sales you can't, a distributor may be worth the larger cut — but only if they'll actually do that work, which loops back to the Chapter 3 warning about mediocre distributors who take rights and do little. A few more cautions worth their own line: watch the term (how long they hold your film), watch for exclusivity that stops you selling elsewhere, watch for vague or opaque reporting (you want to be able to see the actual sales numbers), and be wary of anyone who wants a lot of your rights for a long time in exchange for little concrete effort. And as always with real contracts: have someone who knows entertainment deals look at anything before you sign. The point isn't that middlemen are the enemy — a good aggregator is genuinely useful and a good distributor can be worth every point. The point is that you should understand the structure well enough to tell a fair deal from a bad one, because nobody protects your revenue but you. Once you've chosen how your film reaches platforms, you're ready to actually execute — which is the step-by-step process in the next chapter.