Kickstarter-funded films are coming to Tubi

Tubi’s next move to expand its streaming catalog sounds like a win for the indie movie set. Today, Tubi (which is owned by Fox) announced that it is partnering with Kickstarter to distribute a number of films funded on the crowdfunding platform. Beginning this fall, more than 20 movies “that uniquely resonate with Tubi fandoms” will begin exclusively streaming on the service. Additionally, Tubi plans to invest in Kickstarter’s FilmStream Collective Fund, which is focused on providing emerging filmmakers with financial assistance to complete their projects. Tubi and Kickstarter also plan to pledge directly to 10 specific Kickstarter-funded movies, which will stream exclusively on Tubi for three months once they’re finished. In a statement about the partnership and how many more people will be able to see the crowdfunded films, Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor described it as a natural expansion of the company’s core mission to empower creators. “Fulfilling that mission means reaching beyond our core crowdfunding service finding aligned partners like Tubi who want to collaborate on reducing the barriers that stand in the way of creatives bringing their ideas to life,” Taylor said. “Together, we’re building a new opportunity for filmmakers to share their work with global audiences and get the visibility they deserve.” Tubi CEO Anjali Sud noted how much exposure the Kickstarter-funded films will organically receive after making their streaming debuts. Sud also emphasized that Tubi sees itself as “the home for the next generation of Hollywood talent.” Tubi and Kickstarter did not announce exactly how many films will be distributed, when we can see them, or how much money both companies will pledge to the FilmStream Collective Fund. But the partnership feels very in line with some of Tubi’s other recent moves to posture itself as a streamer committed to cultivating new talent rather than just licensing content from other studios. Last May, the company launched its (clearly Kickstarter-inspired) Stubios program that offered creatives a chance to develop films and series that could go on to stream on Tubi if they garnered enough engagement and support from fans during the public-facing development process. Last October, four Stubios projects were greenlit, and Tubi announced that it had selected a new class of creators to begin working on the next wave of Stubios ideas. Tubi has yet to have a proper hit that takes the internet by storm, but initiatives like the Kickstarter deal seem like a solid way to up the chances of that happening. It’s great to see a streamer actually experimenting with new ways to throw its money around as opposed to, say, greenlighting projects, barely advertising them, and then canning them before they can build an audience. But we’re going to be waiting at least a few months until we can check out what Tubi has in the pipeline.