From HBO Max to Kinema: How "Land of Gold" is Finally in Control
On surviving mergers, strikes, and the streaming abyss.
When I asked, “Why Kinema and why now?” Pallavi Sastry, Land of Gold producer and actor, half-joked that the IRS was coming. “I do taxes for the film every year. I texted the producers chain and I said, ‘Hey guys, we're running out of money.’”
Laughing, Nardeep interjects, “Don't just make it that simple.” Nardeep Khurmi, who wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Land of Gold zoomed further out. Needing some fast cash was a kick in the butt but Nardeep and Pallavi both made it clear that getting the film to more people was always part of the plan.
“We knew we had the six-month exclusive with HBO. And we did have a lot of conversations amongst ourselves, like okay, what do we want to do after that? Do we want to put Land of Gold on the Apples, the Amazons?....That being said, when we came back to it, we also came to the conclusion that we want people to see the damn thing!”
There's no single path for indie films when it comes to distribution. And there’s often a plot twist (or two) that no one planned for. Such was the case for Land of Gold. After winning AT&T's Untold Stories grant at Tribeca in 2021, premiering at Tribeca in 2022, landing on HBO MAX in 2023 (which was touch and go), and subsequently weathering industry strikes that silenced their promotion plans, the team is now charting a new course with Kinema to connect directly with audiences.
Here's the story of how they ended up winning the indie film game, losing it all, and then taking back control.
Distribution Timeline:
June 2021: Land of Gold wins AT&T's Untold Stories $1M prize at Tribeca, which includes production funding, one-week theatrical, and a first-look deal with HBO.
Late 2021: To help with COVID costs, the team launches a non-equity crowdfunding campaign on Seed&Spark, building an email list of about 350 supporters.
Summer 2022: The first look with AT&T/WarnerMedia team results in a licensing deal to stream on HBO MAX. The team feels set.
Summer 2022: Then, disaster—Warner Media is sold to Discovery. “The company that we made the agreement with technically didn't really exist anymore,” Nardeep explains.
June 2022: The film premieres at Tribeca as planned, but with distribution suddenly in limbo. They have no sales agent because they thought they were set.
Summer 2022 - Spring 2023: With no certain distribution path, the team pivots to a festival-focused strategy, playing nearly 20 festivals, winning awards, and building community connections.
December 2022: Through Tribeca's advocacy, HBO reconnects with the team.
Early 2023: The HBO Max deal is revived.
May 2023: Limited theatrical release in Los Angeles, followed by launch on HBO Max with a 6-month exclusive licensing deal. “We lovingly joked that we were the last movie to be on HBO Max, and we were the first movie on MAX.” Nardeep smirks, referring to the platform's rebrand.
June 2023: Just as their film launches on streaming, the SAG and WGA strikes begin. As actors and writers, the team cannot promote their film.
2024: The film continues streaming on MAX and the team is in “survive til ‘25” mode.
May 2025: Launch on Kinema for non-theatrical community screenings and VOD for one year, while still maintaining presence on MAX.
Making Every Dollar Count: Production That Built Distribution Assets
"We pulled a lot of rabbits out of hats," Pallavi explains, to give Nardeep "the one thing that he really wanted"—time to properly shoot this ambitious story.
Land of Gold follows a Punjabi truck driver who discovers a young Mexican-American girl inside his trailer. As a road movie with multiple locations, a child actor, and a 26-day shoot, working within their production budget presented some challenges.
“A million dollars seems like a lot of money,” Nardeep notes. “It's a really strange budget level to work at because you're kind of in between things. We believe in paying people equitable, livable wages, so that just means that there's less money to work with in terms of the actual production itself. The way to make the movie is a lot of in-kind donations.”
In stretching their budget, they built relationships crucial for production that would later support their distribution efforts:
Examples of in-kind services:
Locations: The Cherokee Nation provided locations in Oklahoma and later PR assistance for their theatrical release.
Graphics: A close friend's company, Weimar Pictures, donated VFX and graphics.
Color correction: They secured 50% discounts on color correction in post-production.
Music: Music composition was partially recorded in Iceland for cost savings and song licenses were secured at significant discounts through personal connections.
Distribution guidance: During their festival run, they met filmmaker Shrihari Sathe, who Pallavi calls their "distribution therapist."
Pro tip: “If you have any sort of music you want, keep money aside for that, because you'll be shocked at how much this stuff costs if you don't have a personal relationship with the artists. And even then, sometimes it costs a lot.”
The Distribution Rollercoaster: From Certainty to Scrambling
When Land of Gold premiered at Tribeca in June 2022, the team expected to be celebrating as they thought had secured distribution. Instead, they were scrambling.
“HBO had looked at the film before Tribeca. They were like, “Oh, we love this film. We're so excited to have it,’” Nardeep recalls. “So we enter into Tribeca with no sales agent because we think we're good to go.”
With their HBO deal suddenly gone due to the WBD spin off, they consulted with distribution experts who unanimously advised them to try to salvage the HBO relationship rather than seek other options.
These distributors were blunt: “If we take your film, we're going to put it in theaters at a loss. It'll be a limited release at best. And we don't have a pipeline to the streamers. We would be trying to sell this to Hulu or Netflix or whatever, at a loss, and you'll lose your rights.”
Message received.
HBO Returns, Then the Theatrical Hustle Begins
In December 2022, six months after their Tribeca premiere, the team finally reconnected with HBO through Tribeca's advocacy. By early 2023, their deal was back on—a 6-month exclusive licensing deal.
Land of Gold still had the promised one-week theatrical through the Untold Stories program, which they strategically planned right before their streaming launch. Because they'd already screened at Tribeca in New York, they decided to do their theatrical in Los Angeles, where they hadn't yet shown the film.
“[Untold Stories] four-walled us for a week at the Laemmle in Los Angeles,” Pallavi recounts. “We did a Friday premiere, and then three full days after that of partner screenings with Define American, Indian Film Festival Los Angeles, South Asian Women in Entertainment, Cherokee Nation, SALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund), Product of Culture, and Boxed Up. We literally called in every favor.”
One of the joys in a theatrical run is discovering the unexpected audiences and connections:
“The coolest thing about that process was the randos who showed up because we had the trailer playing at the Laemmle for the two weeks prior. I remember this one woman who stopped me in the street. She was like, ‘You're the guy.’ Nardeep exclaimed. “And she's like, ‘More people need to see this film.’ I'm like, ‘Please stand on a skyscraper and shout it!’”
The Worst Timing: Strikes and Silence
Just as Land of Gold was making its debut on HBO Max in May 2023, the industry was hit with back-to-back strikes—first the Writers Guild, followed by SAG-AFTRA.
The strikes created a promotion blackout. As actors and writers, the creative team couldn't promote their own work.
“It does suck because we have this thing we're so proud of that's out there, but we can't tell people to go see it,” Nardeep reflects. “by the time November rolls around [when the strikes ended], TIFF has happened, Venice has happened, Cannes has happened. The noise, it can't speak loudly enough.”
Nardeep speaks plainly about the mixed blessing of their streaming deal, “We're grateful and proud that we have distribution, but, I hesitate to say this, it's still difficult to get eyes on the project. We've got this victory, we got the thing, we got the clout. But our deal came with no P&A spend so no marketing means no one knows it's there unless they stumble upon it.”
Pallavi added, "Even though we were in this pipeline of sorts, what it didn't come with, [marketing or audience development support], was the most surprising. So that's where we really had to get scrappy."
Adding to the challenge, “The streamers are under no obligation to share data.” Even as the team is being scrappy, it becomes impossible to know the impact of that effort.
Kinema: Taking Back Control
Now that Land of Gold’s exclusive period with Max has ended, the team is writing a new chapter with Kinema.
Nardeep affirmed, “Kinema being an indie distribution platform that champions indie filmmakers, when Pallavi pitched it, I immediately said, that's it. That's perfect."
The platform advantages they see:
Revenue: Let's be honest—paying those taxes!
Promotion, finally: After being unable to properly promote during the strikes, they can now market their film how they want to and reap the reward.
Community screenings: The ability to host in-person and virtual screening events with Q&A’s.
Data: Collecting data to assess what is working and to potentially use when their HBO deal comes up for renewal.
Mission alignment: Working with a platform that champions independent films.
“Unfortunately, the topics of the film are still really relevant, as people are getting disappeared and families are being separated. It just felt like the right time, as our HBO deal is coming into its final stages. Let's put it up somewhere where people can see it, in a place that feels not corporate, that feels indie friendly.”
For their May 2025 Kinema launch, the team is hosting virtual screening events with curated panel discussions, organizing partner screenings that can serve as fundraisers for aligned organizations, and publishing articles about the film's journey.
“What's really rewarding about this film is that it sparks conversation,” Pallavi notes. “That's really what we're trying to market...relevant conversation, necessary conversation. And this film is also part of that conversation.”
Lessons from the Journey
For the Land of Gold team, “The most shocking thing was how important marketing and PR are,” Nardeep reflects. “It wasn't just making the movie—we could do that. It was everything that comes after. We're artists, we're storytellers. We wanted to tell stories. Not realizing how important, particularly nowadays, it is to have that marketing engine. Because if the audience doesn't know the thing exists, how do they even know to go see it?”
Top takeaways:
Distribution plans can implode overnight: Be prepared to pivot when industry changes affect your deals.
Building relationships during production pays off during distribution: Those in-kind services get contributors invested in your project and can extend beyond production.
Marketing is as crucial as making the film: Budget for it. Plan for it.
The distribution journey doesn't end with a streaming deal: Different windows can complement each other.
Create your own opportunities: You can build connections and market your film in ways that distributors or streamers can’t / won’t.
For Land of Gold, the journey continues as they explore new ways to connect with audiences through Kinema while maintaining their streaming presence. In today's fragmented distribution landscape, filmmakers can and should be active participants in shaping their film's path to viewers—even after securing major platform distribution.
“Land of Gold” is available for virtual screenings on Kinema starting in May 2025 and will be available for VOD on Kinema later in the year. The film continues to stream on Max (now re-re-branded to HBO Max, lol).