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Is Amazon Prime The Place For Your Movie?

The pitfalls or hidden blessings of putting your movie on Amazon.

By Spencer HawkenPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Is Amazon Prime The Place For Your Movie?
Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash

It might sound silly but making a movie is relatively easy nowadays, as long as you have the ability or opportunity to get your movie edited and colour graded with good sound you’re flying. The downfall of this dream ends the minute your movie is finished, because then you need the ability to sell, yourself that is.

I made two films in 2014, both films were shot back to back and then edited later, by 2016 they were ready, however if I’m honest I was not. Despite a successful festival season I lacked the confidence and the charisma to move myself onto the next step. So many finished films sat on a metaphorical shelf.

So what do you do with your film once you hit this point?

My approach worked roughly along the level of looking at self-production, I reviewed the possibility of creating DVDs or selling the films via sites like Vimeo. Then suddenly like a light on the horizon Amazon Video Direct appeared before me. This gives indie film makers the opportunity to sell their film on Amazon’s global platforms. You can list them on the Amazon Prime platform where Prime members can watch your movie for free and like Youtube you earn pennies for each complete watch. You can also rent or sell your movie through the same route. It must be stressed that if you are going to sell your movie in the United States you can pretty much guarantee someone will purchase your film as a digital download and turn it into a torrent the same day, its that quick. The advantage is that if you are more concerned with the exposure than the cash, you will truly reach a worldwide audience via torrents. Getting full global Amazon Prime release takes a lot more effort.

Uploading your film to Amazon Video Direct, once you make that decision is both a blessing and a curse. Its going to take a little while to get used to Amazon’s protocols. Once you do however things go a lot more swimmingly. It is a good idea to get your film subtitled, because even if the language is English because of different accents, you’ll need subtitles to get your film to go truly global. Of course, it’s also nice to provide those with hearing impairments with the ability to enjoy your movie. Once uploaded and approved by Amazon’s quality controls, your movie can be live within a few short days.

Ok so here is the science bit, despite what Amazon or others may tell you, the earnings for your movie is a true mystery of science. Films are paid for by the minute in percentiles of pennies, you get a certain rate for a gets filmmakers blood boiling and creates 101 conspiracy theories.

Here’s the reality though, you will never make your fortunes with Amazon Prime, but that being said, it does not mean its not complete viewing, a different rate for a portion of a view, a different rate for repeat viewings, different rates for sale and for rental. But the logic of the payment system varies day by day. In October a sale of a film earned me £4.67 however in January it earned me £4.16. By the same token my different movies both selling at the same price earned different rates. While minutes streamed can sometimes earn you more one month, than the next for less views. It’s the ultimate conundrum that worth it. Everything you do when it comes to having your films on Prime is about the long game, you need to have patience and back-up plans. You will not make a film, put it on Prime and it achieve instant volume of hits unless you have a heavy marketing fund behind you that it. The most likely option is you will promote your film via social media and watch and wait, this is not a bad thing, as it is the cheapest option, also the watch and wait approach means you do not end up alienating your friends and family by continually trying to promote your film to them.

Amazon withholds payments for three months from the minute your film goes live on Prime, this is allegedly so they get an accurate count on views, although its probably more likely that they are just earning interest on your work and why not.

Once your film is live and earning, the shock of earning is a painful thing to happen, imagine you’ve spent thirty thousand or upwards dollars or pounds on a film and on the first month’s payment you receive 100 pounds? Yes, dear reader, the pain is real. I like to explain the story of a movie on Prime as a three-chapter movie:

Chapter 1 – Hitting Home, after releasing your film on Amazon, you promoted it on social media. Instantly your supportive family and friends watch it generating a solid £50 for three months. Obviously your friendship circle can effect this dramatically.

Chapter 2 – The Wilderness Years, at first the £50 a month appalled you, then you grew accustomed to it, but then all your friends and family have seen it. This is the longest and most unpleasant part of your Amazon Prime journey, suddenly from nowhere that £50 you just got comfortable with can drop as low as 69p.

Chapter 3 – Hitting The Algorithm, after what could literally be years, suddenly your film hits the correct algorithm that cross promotes your film appropriately. Its in Chapter 3, the final chapter that the magic happens. Having rested in Amazon’s tough underbelly your film starts linking up to more and more films. By users continually rating films it understands what the user likes and starts promoting your film to an appropriate audience. Also, maybe your actors have grown and link into other projects that then cross promote your films. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of famous names in each of my movies, people that either were a big deal “in the day” or are becoming one, its this that really helps boost your movie. These two factors work to create your long-term future.

My films have become an investment earning around £200-£300 a month, but it took 3 years to get there. Some months you get spikes as someone who finds your film tells their friends, but by and large the income becomes something more reliable.

Amazon Prime is an option for filmmakers whose release options are limited, it’s a big gamble in terms of finance, but it gets your work out there and for me, It does what I needed it to do. One day I’ll make back the money I invested with the potential to continue earning into my retirement.

Important Disclaimers: Earnings are connected to film quality, my movies rank between 3.5 and 4.5 on IMDB and 2.5 on Amazon. So, I’m hardly top rung, but I made films and they can be found.

As of writing (March 2021) Amazon are refusing short films and nonfiction documentaries, a year of lockdowns across the globe has seen a huge reduction in quality, and “lazy” filmmaking Expect this to become lifted once global lockdowns end.

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About the Creator

Spencer Hawken

I'm a fiftysomething guy with a passion for films, travel and gluten free food. I work in property management, have a history in television presentation and am a multi award wining filmmaker, even though my films are/were all trash.

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