FilmNation CEO Says Indie Films Are Being Built for Streaming

FilmNation founder and CEO Glen Basner says independent cinema’s biggest challenge is an industry still too focused on conventional packaging: attaching a recognizable actor, director and set of financing terms to make a project viable. The account is based on reporting by The Hollywood Reporter.

Speaking at a TIFF: The Market panel on Saturday, Basner said that approach increasingly produces films designed for streaming companies rather than theatrical audiences. A major actor can help a package, he said, but is not necessarily the key ingredient for every independent project.

Basner urged buyers and financiers to consider a film’s broader potential, including theatrical exhibition, home video, pay television, free television and international markets. For intellectual-property holders, he said, that may mean developing projects that can work as series and have longer lives across platforms.

Roeg Sutherland, CAA’s co-head of media finance and co-head of its International Film Group, said independent films need stronger connections between North American expectations, international markets and new financing strategies. He said packaging should begin with the script or source material and at least a producer, before casting.

The era when an independent film could be mostly pre-sold at Toronto, Berlin or Cannes is also largely over, Sutherland said. Buyers are now fortunate to pre-sell four or five major territories, leaving sales agents to assemble the rest of a budget from a more fragmented financing structure.

Sutherland welcomed exhibitors moving into distribution, while cautioning that the model has worked most clearly with concert films featuring Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. He said it has not yet worked as well for major narrative movies.

Basner nevertheless expressed confidence in theatrical box office through the end of 2026 and into next year. He pointed to films premiering at festivals such as TIFF and said filmmakers are continuing to make distinctive work that audiences are responding to.

For global film audiences, the discussion highlights a business tension behind many independent releases: a project may need to satisfy streaming economics while still offering a compelling reason to buy a theatrical ticket.