Who Should Distribute Your Indie Film?

Call me old fashioned, but the point of making films is to watch them in a theater with friends, family, and strangers. That's what a "movie" is.

A movie is not "content" for a streamer or something to be watched on a phone (or, heaven forbid, a watch...), and it's not something shot in a vertical landscape.

I'm not against new media, I just cherish the experience that started over 120 years ago. Let's call "content" and "vertical video" something else besides a "movie".

If you feel the same way, it may be helpful to know what companies exist to help you put your movies in theaters, so that audiences can see them.

Below I've outlined the majors, mini-majors, and independents, and included many in an airtable that allows you to search and sort as your heart desires.

If I'm missing anyone, or if you'd like to have your distribution company added to the list, please send me an email.

The Major Studios aka "The Big 5"

I've listed "The Big Five" studios by order of 2023 market share, and their Indie/Arthouse labels. These represent almost 80% of the 2023 box office. They are also incredibly hard to reach as a first-time or independent producer.

The typical route is to have a friend or contact who can connect you to someone at the studio, or to have a film get into a large festival or market where these studios attend and are looking to acquire films.

Universal Pictures (21.77% market share)

• Focus Features
• Working Title Films
• (Dreamworks and Illumination for animation)

Walt Disney Pictures/20th Century Studios (21.26%)

• Searchlight Pictures
• Lucasfilm
• Marvel
• (Disney and Pixar for animation)

Warner Bros (15.73%)

• New Line Cinema
• HBO Films
• Spyglass Media Group
• Castle Rock Entertainment

Sony Pictures (11.26%)

• Columbia Pictures
• TriStar Pictures
• Sony Pictures Classics
• Affirm Films
• Screen Gems
• Crunchyroll

Paramount Pictures (9.55%)

• Miramax
• BET Films
• MTV Entertainment Studios
• Republic Pictures

The Mini Majors

These are distribution studios with a smaller footprint than the majors but still have a track record of large box office grosses and international distribution.

These are slightly more accessible, as many can be found at markets like the American Film Market and Cannes, but are still hard for first-time filmmakers and independents to partner with for distribution - there is much more demand for their services than they have supply, or room in their release schedule each year.

For example, from 2020-2024, Lionsgate released on average 26.2 movies per year or about 2 per month. 131 films total. Many more than 131 films would like to have Lionsgate as their distributor, so they can choose the "best" ones.

Lionsgate Studios (6.48%)

• Lionsgate Films
• Summit Entertainment
• 3 Arts Entertainment
• Pantelion Films
• Roadside Attractions

Amazon/MGM Studios (2.9% market share)

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Orion Pictures
• United Artists Releasing

A24 (1.54%)

• (No indie/arthouse label)

STX Entertainment (0.07%)

• STX Films

The Indie Distributors

With the majors and mini-majors listed, most of which are out of reach for first-time or small-budget indie filmmakers, we turn now to the indie distributors who have released at least one movie that did more than $100k at the box office since 2020.

I've researched for you so you don't have to!

Here they are, with their notable releases. Many of these have contact info listed on IMDb Pro and/or can be found at major film markets like AFM, Cannes, etc:

Best viewed on desktop/tablet. Click/Tap on any distributor to see more details, and use desktop to sort by box office, genres, etc...

Did I miss anyone? Leave a comment or shoot me an email to let me know and I'll add them to the list!