Guide · checked
How to get an indie film onto streaming in 2026
Most streaming services no longer take a film straight from the person who made it. Here’s who does, who doesn’t, and where deliveries fail. Every platform rule links to its source.
Platform by platform
Amazon Prime Video Aggregator or vendor
Amazon’s self-service path (Prime Video Direct, now part of Amazon’s Slate portal) is closed to newcomers: Access to self-service submissions is by invitation only. We are not accepting new content submissions for rent or buy from content providers that do not already have an account.
It also isn’t taking unsolicited titles for Included with Prime
, and Short films aren’t accepted.
Instead, Amazon keeps a list of aggregation vendors to provide independent film makers with plenty of options
.
Sources: Amazon’s Licensing consideration and title review, Title Hub and Content aggregation services.
Apple TV (rent or buy) Aggregator or vendor
Apple’s own guide says you’ll need to use a qualified encoding house to have the movie package delivered
. Filmhub is one aggregator that delivers to Apple TV, and it warns that Apple TV enforces stricter technical and creative standards than our Premium QC verification process.
Sources: Apple’s Transactional Movies User Guide (version 1.3.4); Filmhub’s Scheduled Release Date.
Google TV and YouTube (paid movies) Aggregator or vendor
Google has a pre-qualification form that its business team reviews monthly, but it says The preferred and fastest path to getting your content live on YouTube and Google TV is by working with one of our existing aggregators
. In the Americas it lists one: Premiere Digital Services. Even direct partners deliver files through Deluxe NMS, and Google doesn’t take anything shorter than 15 minutes.
Sources: Google’s Before you can start selling and Delivering, updating and removing content.
Netflix Agent or festival
To pitch Netflix you must work through a licensed agent, producer, attorney, manager, or industry executive, as appropriate, who already has a relationship with Netflix.
Otherwise, Netflix may purchase finished works at film festivals or other established venues.
There’s no way to submit a film yourself.
Source: Netflix Help Center, How ideas are pitched to Netflix.
The Roku Channel Deal first
You can email Roku an avails sheet (its list of your titles and rights), but the same page says: If you own or control the necessary rights for only a small volume of VOD titles, please consider working with one of Roku’s Preferred Aggregators.
Roku doesn’t name them. Its FAQ adds that QC can take a minimum of 30 days
.
Building your own Roku channel is still possible with Roku’s developer kit, but that’s running an app, not getting onto The Roku Channel.
Sources: Roku’s Video on Demand and FAQs.
Tubi Deal first
Tubi has a self-service Creator Portal, but Access is currently limited to creators and aggregators with approved deals with Tubi.
Its partner pages describe sending titles on Tubi’s avails sheet for review and selection
. Tubi’s delivery guide doesn’t accept anything under 20 minutes.
Sources: Tubi’s Creator Portal article and Partner Help Center (Delivery FAQ, Asset Requirements).
Pluto TV Deal first
Delivery of all content files to Pluto TV will be processed; packaged and delivered by an approved Post House / Vendor.
The vendor checks a test delivery first, and Pluto may charge estimated overages
for anything outside its specs. We found no public page for applying.
Source: Pluto TV Content Delivery Guide (version 3.0).
The rest
- Fandango (rent and buy): no public delivery spec or partner page. Filmhub lists it as a channel it delivers to.
- Samsung TV Plus: no public spec. Filmhub names it among its premium channel partners.
- Plex, Kanopy and Hoopla: we found no page where a filmmaker can submit.
Sources: Filmhub’s Scheduled Release Date and October 2026 changes.
Aggregators: the usual way in
An aggregator (or a distributor) takes your files once, checks them, and delivers them to the platforms it has deals with. Two that indie filmmakers can approach directly:
Filmhub Open sign-up
- Plans: Free, Basic $499 a year, Premium $999 and Premium Plus $1,999. You keep 80% of revenue on every plan.
- Every plan includes Standard QC, but it
does not qualify a title for pitch consideration to premium channel partners like Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, YouTube Movies & TV, Pluto TV, and more.
- That takes Premium QC, which
is only available through Basic, Premium, and Premium Plus. It can’t be purchased per title.
- On the free plan, QC lists the problems but doesn’t fix them. Paid plans include Filmhub’s Asset Adjustment Service, which can fix things such as caption sync.
- A title gets three tries at Standard QC. After that it can’t be distributed through Filmhub.
Sources: Filmhub’s Plans, October 2026 changes, Asset Adjustment Service and How to submit your title to QC.
Indie Rights Apply
- A distributor:
We charge no up-front fees or expenses
, and the filmmaker keeps 80% of revenue. Files go on a USB drive you mail in. - Captions must come from Rev. Failed captions are replaced
AT YOUR COST
, andAny FAILS anywhere will cause the entire drive to fail.
- An SRT saved as UTF-8 with a byte-order mark is
an automatic rejection
.
Sources: Indie Rights’ Deliverables Guide (undated), linked from its distribution page.
Where deliveries fail
The video is only one file. Captions, artwork and metadata are checked too, and each platform has its own rules for them.
One caption file won’t pass everywhere
| Where | Caption formats it takes | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Filmhub | SRT; SCC only if it’s your only source | English SDH is required for every title |
| Amazon | SRT, SCC, DFXP/TTML, SMPTE-TT, EBU-STL, iTT | No WebVTT. English captions required in the US |
| Google TV | SCC (preferred), SMPTE-TT, iTT | No SRT listed |
| The Roku Channel | TTML, WebVTT, DFXP, EBU-STL, SRT, SCC | Must start at 00:00:00:00 |
| Tubi | SRT, WebVTT, SCC (preferred) | Must start at 00:00:00 |
| Pluto TV | WebVTT for direct delivery | Its vendors take more formats |
Captions timed to the editing timeline
Editing timelines often start at 01:00:00:00, and captions exported from them can start an hour late. Roku says caption files must begin at timecode hour 00:00:00:00 as the Roku encoder does not honor the timecode embedded in the video file
, and Tubi rejects captions that start at 01:00:00.
A missing artwork size
Filmhub needs three pictures for a film, each with the title on it: 2:3 (at least 1400 × 2100), 3:4 (at least 1575 × 2100) and 16:9 (at least 1920 × 1080). No laurels, credit blocks or web addresses. Tubi and Roku ask for other sizes again.
A synopsis that’s too long
Filmhub allows 255 characters and Tubi 180. Amazon’s own pages give its short synopsis 150, 190 or 400 characters, depending on the page. One synopsis has to fit the shortest limit you’ll face.
Sources: Filmhub’s Artwork Requirements, Common QC Errors and title profile pages; Roku’s Content delivery spec; Tubi’s Content Delivery Guide and Metadata Instructions (linked from its Asset Requirements page); Amazon’s Title Metadata Overview, Title Hub and MEC XML pages.
Advice that’s out of date
Some guides dated 2026 still describe routes that have closed:
- Roku Direct Publisher, the no-code way to make a Roku channel, stopped taking new channels on 12 July 2023, and Roku said every Direct Publisher channel would be removed on 18 January 2024. (Roku developer blog)
- Prime Video Direct isn’t open to new filmmakers. It’s now part of Slate, and self-service is by invitation only. (Amazon)
- Filmhub’s Premium QC for a single title isn’t sold any more. Since October 2026 it comes only with a paid plan. (Filmhub)
Before you deliver
- Pick your route from the platforms above. For most indie films that means an aggregator.
- Read the aggregator’s current rules on its own help pages, not in a blog post (this one included). They change without notice.
- Check your captions. Our free caption checker tests an SRT against Filmhub’s rules in your browser. The file never leaves your computer.
- Check artwork sizes and text lengths against the same rules, field by field.
Want a second pair of eyes? Sidecar QC checks your captions, metadata and artwork against your aggregator’s published rules before you submit: $99 a film, every finding cited. We’re not taking orders yet.
How we checked
We read each platform’s own pages on and quote them where we can. Where a platform publishes nothing, we say so instead of guessing. Platforms change these pages without notice, and most show no date, so check the source before you rely on a rule.
Spotted something out of date? Email hello@sidecarqc.com and we’ll fix it.