Every video-on-demand (VOD) platform is inherently built with the same industry business model limitations that hinder their potential to grow subscribers daily. This fatal flaw emanates from the standard industry website point-of-sales (POS) payment product. The POS system utilized on their websites, forces the VOD platform to create business models that do not fit the needs of the independent film market – it does not supply sufficient income to the filmmaker to continue pursuing their art of filmmaking, nor does it help them build a support community from among their fans.

 

The filmmaker, the heart of the streaming independent film business, is able to provide two critical components to the VOD platform – the film and the initial fanbase subscribing to watch their movies. Yet, every VOD platform is forced to design flawed business models around the limitations of industry-standard website point-of-sales (POS) systems, that are not able to fully utilize these two essential components, except OPPRIME.tv through its Referral Link.

 

These POS systems were never designed to provide the VOD platform with the means to be able to financially incentivize the filmmakers to refer fans to the platform.  Because of this flaw in the design of the POS systems, they now create commission/royalty relationships that are inherently not sufficient to encourage more filmmaking through sufficient income for the filmmaker to pursue their art. 

 

When the fan comes to the VOD website to sign up, there is a disconnect between the filmmaker and the fan at the point-of-sale. The website point-of-sale (POS) system is not designed to identify these relationships, they just run the credit card payments. The VOD platform is blind to who referred the fan, so they cannot financially reward the filmmaker for the referral. With no financial incentive or other benefit, the motivation for filmmakers to refer fans to the VOD platform is effectively reduced, thus minimizing the platform’s potential for acquiring the filmmakers’ fans as subscribers. With OPPRIME.tv all of this changes.  

 

The industry standard commission/royalty model for every VOD platform is called the “Pool” payment. Revenue from the subscribers paid at the point-of-sale on the website is pooled into a bank account. To properly function the Pool model requires technology on the part of the platform that tracks the amount of time that a film is viewed.

 

The filmmaker’s royalty percentage from the “Pool” is determined by calculating the total number of minutes their film is viewed, divided by the total number of minutes of all films viewed.  The result is the ratio of time that the filmmaker’s film is viewed which is multiplied by the amount of money in the Pool.  The result of this calculation is what the filmmaker is paid, and it is insignificant.

How Filmmaker Janet Makes Little or No Money.

 

Here is how it works in the real world of independent filmmaking time and time again.  Filmmaker “Janet” releases her new film in January, contacting as best as she can - primarily by email - all of her fans alerting them to her new film.  She will earn her biggest commission/royalty payment in the first month of viewing because that is when all her fans will watch her film. But by February, all of Janet’s fans have viewed her films, and are now moving on to other new Indie film releases on the VOD platform, and Janet’s income from her film greatly decreases. Why is this?

 

The VOD platform tracks the performance of Janet’s film.  Because her fans are now watching other movies, there is little to no activity on Janet’s film and her commissions will reflect that. Janet worked hard to get her fans to subscribe to the VOD platform, but she receives no additional financial benefit from her fans’ continued participation as subscribers.  The biggest commission/royalty check Janet will earn is the first check, and after January, Janet will not earn any money from her previous efforts to refer her fans to the VOD platform, receiving only Pool income from the “normal” random traffic that may hit her movie, over which she has no control.

 

The Referral Link – Janet’s New Lifeline.

 

OPPRIME.tv’s Referral Link is a crowd-funding subscription technology that is one-of-a-kind in the independent film industry. Our Referral Link is our most important breakthrough for filmmakers who want to grow their fanbase and earn money directly from their fans. With the Referral Link, the number of films that the filmmaker has on the platform, the length of the film, and the popularity of the film’s genre, are irrelevant because the great percentage of the income from the film comes through the subscriptions to OPPRIME.tv from the filmmakers’ fans – friends, family, cast, and crew, and existing fans of the filmmaker’s art. The continuing subscriptions to OPPRIME.tv of the filmmaker’s fans will always generate additional monthly income for the filmmaker in addition to their percentage of the Pool income paid biannually by OPPRIME.tv (January and July).

 

Janet is very happy with her monthly Referral Link income through her fans’ subscriptions to OPPRIME.tv !!

 

The Mechanics of the Referral Link.

 

The filmmaker’s fans can respond to a powerful call-to-action to support the filmmaker and their film by subscribing to OPPRIME.tv through the Referral Link sent to them in an email or social media post by the filmmaker. The fan clicks the Referral Link associated with the film to pay and subscribe to OPPRIME.tv.  The point-of-sale is the Referral Link itself.  The fans can now subscribe to OPPRIME.tv and support the filmmaker directly through the Referral Link using their MC, Visa, Discover, and Amex to view the movie. Fans pay $5.00 per month to subscribe, and the filmmaker earns $2.25 of the monthly transaction (OPPRIME.tv earns $2.25, and the payment processing costs .50¢ per transaction). The filmmaker’s commission/royalty is paid to them every month for the life of the subscription. The fans who subscribed will be able to access the filmmaker’s movie and also enjoy the entire library of award-winning independent films, thus helping to ensure a continued subscription.

 

To see how it works, click the “Make Money from a Simple Email” or the “Make Money from a Simple Social Media Post” tabs.

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Referral Link Royalties Are Paid Throughout the Life of the Subscription.

 

Both parties can terminate this relationship at any time for any reason. In the case of the Referral Link, even if the film is deleted from the platform or the relationship is terminated between the parties, the commissions from that Referral Link continue to be paid to the filmmaker throughout the life of each subscription. When the subscriber cancels their membership with OPPRIME.tv, the commission for that subscriber ends.

 

The Pool Income & Payment.

 

The money within the Pool to pay the biannual commission/royalty payments to filmmakers, comes from the transactions of those who subscribe directly to the point-of-sale on OPPRIME.tv’s website, instead of through a filmmaker’s Referral Link.

 

The payment for each filmmaker is determined by applying a percentage calculated by the total number of minutes a filmmaker's films are viewed, divided by the total number of minutes of all films viewed. This percentage is then applied to the total revenue from the Pool. All filmmakers receive reports when the biannual payment is paid.  Below is the formula:

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