A new streaming service called Olyn gives indie filmmakers the ability to sell their movies directly to audiences.
Indie film is in a tough spot, with titles from top markets like Sundance and Toronto looking for distribution sometimes a year after they premiere. By using a streamer that relies on (a compensated) word of mouth over an algorithm, films could break out from two simple factors: the strength of the movie and the strength of their grassroots marketing.
Olyn can perhaps best be described as a mix between Shopify and YouTube; and the recent Brian Epstein biopic Midas Man, a film about the manager of The Beatles, did not debut on a platform like Netflix or Amazon, but on a startup that bills itself as “Shopify for filmmakers.” But why?
The answer is that the new platform, Olyn, claims to offer a new model for film and video distribution that leans on the power of social referrals. Although any size of production - from Hollywood blockbuster downwards - can use the platform, the company believes it could be a game changer for the independent film industry, which tends to struggle against the marketing budgets of the bigger movies distributed on mainstream streaming platforms.
California-based Olyn allows filmmakers to retain up to 90 percent of their revenue while giving audiences access to a streaming experience. Instead of films being sold to platforms like Netflix, the model hinges on the marketing budget of the filmmakers themselves, combined with influencers, film critics, and content creators acting as distribution partners by embedding purchase links within their content, blogs, and social channels.
This peer-to-peer approach does away with the platform as a middleman and turns movie distribution into more of an e-commerce-style engagement.