# Indie films are being built for streamers, not theaters

> FilmNation's Glen Basner says the indie business is packaging movies for streaming deals and losing the theatrical instinct along the way.
- Title: Indie films are being built for streamers, not theaters
- Summary: FilmNation's Glen Basner says the indie business is packaging movies for streaming deals and losing the theatrical instinct along the way. A film assembled…
- Keywords: indie film, streaming, film distribution, tiff, film sales, Indie, films, built, streamers, theaters, The Hollywood Reporter
- Source: The Hollywood Reporter — https://hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/top-sales-agents-streaming-companies-challenges-1236699147
- Author: Etan Vlessing
- Published: 2026-09-12T19:31:06+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: indie film, streaming, film distribution, tiff, film sales
## Packaging is stuck in the past
FilmNation head Glen Basner says the biggest problem in indie distribution is how rigidly films get put together before anyone shoots a frame.
## The math actors and directors
The formula runs: this name actor is worth this much money, plus this director, plus X, Y and Z, and only then does the budget pencil out.

> this name actor means this much money and this director and it has to have X, Y and Z to make sense
## Buyers chase safe money
That formula pushes buyers toward selling titles to pay TV giants and streamers in their own markets, because a pre-sale spreads the risk before release.
## Risk management becomes the plan
Managing downside is now the organizing principle of the deal. The film gets shaped around who will write the check, not who will buy a ticket.
## Made for the streamer
Basner's warning is blunt: the industry is designing movies to satisfy streaming companies first, and the result is tuned for a home screen.

> we're building movies for the streaming companies
## Streaming hit is not theatrical hit
A title can perform well on a service and still have nothing that gets people into a cinema. Basner told a TIFF market panel those are two different propositions.

> it may work great on the streamers, but it's not the same as building a theatrical proposition
## Key takeaway

A film assembled to satisfy a streaming buyer is not the same film as one built to make people leave the house.