Tubi & Kickstarter Launch Initiative To Help Indie Films

Tubi and Kickstarter have launched FilmStream Collective, an initiative designed to help offer indie filmmakers funding and distribution support.

The Fox-owned free streamer and the long-established crowdfunding platform are coming together at a time of seismic change for the specialty film business. The marketplace has been in a state of upheaval over the past few years as arthouse exhibitors struggle and stakeholders cope with streaming‘s ongoing challenge to the theatrical business.

Under the partnership agreement, the FilmStream Collective Fund will be exclusive to Kickstarter. The fund is designed to support “final or near-final projects,” a Kickstarter blog post said. The financial resources will help filmmakers cover post-production costs such as editing, sound, marketing, and other finishing expenses. Ten films will receive a pledge directly to their live Kickstarter campaigns, helping them meet their funding goals. Completed films will stream on Tubi, offering additional distribution and visibility. In 2024, Tubi hit 97 million monthly active users, with more than 10 billion hours of viewing.

In addition to 10 films selected for the fund, more Kickstarter-funded projects will enter the Tubi collection on a rolling basis. Titles will be chosen from the pool of crowdfunding campaigns launched by filmmakers on Kickstarter’s platform. The collection, which will ultimately include more than 20 films, will span various genres.

Tubi has recently leaned into feature films as part of its push into originals. The streamer’s content chief, Adam Lewinson, touched on the topic during a keynote appearance Tuesday at the Stream TV Show in Denver. Films have helped Tubi defy early skepticism about free, ad-supported streaming’s place in the overall media business. People assume that “it’s impossible to have premium and free,” Lewinson, a former FX exec, said during the session. “I think we’ve proven that those two things do go together quite well.”

Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor said the partnership is consistent with the company’s mission dating back to 2009. “Fulfilling that mission means reaching beyond our core crowdfunding service finding aligned partners like Tubi who want to collaborate on reducing the barriers that stand in the way of creatives bringing their ideas to life,” she said. “Together, we’re building a new opportunity for filmmakers to share their work with global audiences and get the visibility they deserve.”

Tubi CEO Anjali Sud said the company sees itself as “the home for the next generation of Hollywood talent. Whether we’re bringing crowd-funded films onto the platform, turning a Wattpad novel into a movie or putting the power to green-light in the hands of the fans, we are expanding the pathways for creators to grow their audience and adding greater diversity and differentiation to our content offering.”