Let’s talk about money. Who is getting paid? And in what order? | Irina Albita (FilmChain)

If you’re managing it all in Excel, you’re doing it wrong.

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Irina Albita is the co-founder and co-CEO of FilmChain, the first automated collection account management service. With over 10 years of experience in the tech space and a background in mathematics and economics, Irina helps filmmakers and beneficiaries manage recoupments with near real-time payments, on-demand reporting, and tailored analytics.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• The revenue streams independent filmmakers need to manage

• Key terms and concepts in film revenue collection

• The importance of collection account management agreements (CAMAs)

• How technology is revolutionizing revenue collection in the film industry

• Strategies for negotiating fair agreements and maintaining transparency

• Payouts in direct distribution and hybrid models (including a recoupment schedule template shared in references below)

• Current trends in the independent film market

Key takeaways:

1. Understand your revenue streams: independent filmmakers may have anywhere from 5 to 20 different revenue streams to manage (e.g., theatrical, direct distribution, local distributors in different parts of the world, digital platforms, etc.)

2. Learn key terms. Some examples:

   1. "Waterfall" (recoupment schedule): if the film makes money, who get’s paid and in what order?

   2. "CAMA" (Collection Account Management Agreement): the governing agreement that aligns the interests of all the parties participating in the film (lenders, producers, talent, investors).

3. Case study: Sing Sing

   1. Celebrated for their pay structure. Regardless of their roles, all cast and crew members were paid the same day rate and granted equity stakes in the film.

   2. This is a very democratic way to produce films.

4. No handshake agreements. Think of a film project as a collage of agreements: financing, sales, talent, co-production. Any party that might get some upside when the film makes money needs to be documented.

   1. This would be in something like a CAMA, which includes all the future revenues.

5. Embrace technology: use tech to gain real-time insights into your film's revenue and manage the payouts, in perpetuity.

   1. Legal will help you write these agreements but how / who will distribute the payouts?

   2. This is what tools like FilmChain can help you do (NO excel spreadsheets).

   3. Tech will also allow for transparency — filmmakers often feel like they signed away ‘their baby’ and they have no visibility into how much revenue it’s generating. The right tech will show you both the revenue coming in and how it is being split.

   4. Every distributor (including a direct platform like Kinema or traditional distributors) would pay into one dedicated account — no other person or team will be collecting $$ on your behalf so filmmakers have full transparency.

6. Consider direct distribution: while traditional distribution routes are still common, direct distribution can offer unique opportunities for audience engagement and revenue.

   1. Irina loves seeing filmmakers take destiny into their own hands — they’re the best promoters of their film at the end of the day.

   2. She sees about 20% of films they work with leveraging direct distribution and doing so with incredible success.

   3. Case Study: a feature doc using FilmChain’s software sold globally to yoga studios. They had hundreds of revenue sources from individual yoga studios that each paid a few hundred dollars in licensing fees.

   4. Irina’s advice: Don’t get stuck in the technicalities of direct distribution (“how am I going to manage?”). There are solutions here to help so you as a filmmaker can keep your options open.

7. Educate yourself: take advantage of resources and workshops to improve your financial acumen before entering negotiations.

   1. FilmChain has a lot of resources and materials to support you before negotiations with sales agents, investors, EPs, etc.

      1. Filmmakers should be in the driver’s seat of their projects.

      2. Don’t sign an agreement, only find out during the exploitation side of the film what that deal meant for you!

Where to Find Irina Albita:

• Email: irina@filmchain.co

• Website: filmchain.co

• Medium: https://filmchain.medium.com/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction and Irina's background

(01:01) Overview of revenue streams for independent filmmakers

(02:05) Explaining key terms: waterfall and CAMA

(04:06) Discussion on complex revenue-sharing models (e.g., Sing Sing)

(06:20) How technology is changing revenue collection in film

(09:26) Advice for filmmakers on negotiating agreements

(13:44) Examples of successful direct distribution strategies

(16:42) Trends in the independent film market

(18:51) Irina's advice for filmmakers before starting production

(20:37) Where to find FilmChain and additional resources

Referenced:

• What is a CAMA? And Why Is It Important?

• What is a Recoupment Schedule?

• Recoupment schedule template (make a copy of this to use yourself)