They operate on specific territories! So if your film is picked up by Netflix, it will only be available for the US. If you use Amazon to release your film on VOD, it won’t be available for people outside the US either. Video on Demand is great but you know what’s even better? Worldwide releases!

I live in France, I love (very) indie films but sometimes, it is very frustrating when some films I want to watch are only available through Netflix or Amazon. Filmmakers might feel that those two platforms are good enough, but they are not for two reasons: We don’t have Netflix over here! We don’t have Amazon VOD either! And I’m pretty sure it goes the same for a lot of other countries. I spend a lot of time begging on Twitter so that filmmakers realize that Netflix and Amazon are not available for foreign viewers.

Yes, releasing your films on Netflix and Amazon is great and you’ll be able to connect with a lot of US viewers. But that’s not good enough if you want to provide the other 6.9 billion people outside the US a opportunity to see (and enjoy) your film.

Please do not forget about us, foreign viewers. There are a lot of great worldwide VOD platforms out there : VHX, Vimeo on Demand, Yekra, IndieReign, ReelHouse, Distrify and so on. Platforms that let you create regular editions of your film, special editions, bundles of films plus soundtrack or bonus, pay-what-you-want system… Anything you can think of. Most of them are free-to-use and commission-based. So the initial investment is very limited but it can pay off. You know what, use them all, the more the better. Put your films everywhere. Splash the web with your films but please make them available on platforms that are available worldwide.

Netflix and Amazon are good. But worldwide is better. Worldwide is the future of film distribution.