MoPix: Putting Filmmakers in Charge of Their Audience

How do you convince artists trained to pursue the traditional distribution path — and the legitimacy that came with it — that they were worth more than the system had ever paid them? Sundance received 5,300 submissions in 2012. 232 were shown. Fewer than 100 were picked up for distribution. The ones that were routinely surrendered up to 80% of sale price to middlemen and lost control of pricing and release dates.

The studio system didn't protect filmmakers. It protected itself. The real leverage wasn't festival selection or a distributor's logo. It was direct relationships with audiences — and the tools to build those relationships already existed in software. Nobody had assembled them for film. Our conviction: distribution is power. Give filmmakers a platform that makes a direct-to-fan release feel as premium as a studio one, and the balance of power shifts.

MoPix operated on three capabilities: The App Builder (filmmakers uploaded their film and received a full-featured iOS or Android app), Multi-Platform Distribution (iOS, Google Play, a MoPix-owned Roku store), and The Economics (creators kept the vast majority of each sale at an average price point of $6.99, compared to the 5-to-17 cents on the dollar they'd typically see under traditional distribution).

Our flagship launch title was The Silver Goat by director Aaron Brookner — a DSLR feature created exclusively for iPad, released through MoPix and the iTunes App Store, and the first UK film to debut on iPad. We built awareness around it with a bus-tour activation that matched the intimacy of the work. Alongside direct filmmaker onboarding, we struck a partnership with FilmBaby (a division of CDBaby) — giving MoPix access to more than 2,000 filmmakers and 3,000+ film titles to convert into apps at launch.

• Public launch in August 2012 out of private beta, opening the platform to any independent filmmaker.
• 500 Startups Accelerator — MoPix was a member of the fall 2011 class, alongside time in Portland-based incubator Upstart Labs.
• FilmBaby / CDBaby deal unlocking 2,000+ filmmakers and 3,000+ titles for conversion into branded apps.
• The Silver Goat shipped as the first UK film to debut on iPad.
• Multi-platform pipeline live at launch: iOS, Android, and a MoPix-owned Roku store.
• National press across TechCrunch, CNET, and industry outlets.