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"path": "/a-path-to-profitability-in-an-industry-built-on-fear",
"publishedAt": "2026-04-17T22:00:02.000Z",
"site": "https://nofilmschool.com",
"tags": [
"No film school podcast",
"Podcast",
"Kino",
"Brit macrae",
"Daril fannin",
"Distribution",
"Apple Podcasts",
"Spotify",
"Google"
],
"textContent": "\n\n\n\nIn this episode of the No Film School Podcast, host GG Hawkins speaks with Kino co-founders Brit MacRae and Daril Fannin about the broken handoff between post-production and release, and how insecure screeners, fragmented feedback workflows, and fear-based distribution norms undermine independent film.\n\nThey break down Kino’s evolution from an interactive streaming idea into a secure post-to-delivery platform, explain how they built a film fund around de-risked sub-$2 million features, and use A24's _u_ __ndertone__ as a case study for aligning budgets, creative ambition, and profitability.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**In this episode, we****discuss:**\n\n * Why the current post-production and release pipeline is still built around insecure links, scattered notes, and outdated habits\n * How piracy, leaks, and weak screener security can hurt filmmakers, investors, and distribution momentum\n * The original idea behind Kino and how it pivoted from interactive streaming to a B2B platform for secure screeners, dailies, cuts, approvals, focus groups, and final delivery\n * Why discoverability is one of the biggest problems in independent film, and why indie projects are competing with TikTok and other forms of passive entertainment\n * How fear-based thinking shapes decisions around marketing, exposure, festivals, and distribution\n * What “LVOD” means to Kino and how the company tried to create a window that adds marketing value without cannibalizing TVOD\n * Why MacRae and Fannin believe filmmakers need to think like business builders, not just artists, when raising money\n * How Kino structured its film fund around contained, creatively aligned stories with budgets under $2 million and meaningful de-risking through incentives and exchange rates\n * Why __Undertone__ made sense as a fund project: one location, a contained story, and a production model that matched the script’s scale\n * How equity participation and aligned incentives can help cast, crew, and investors move in the same direction\n * Why iteration, early feedback, and collaborative review should play a larger role in filmmaking, much like they do in tech and animation\n * What kinds of projects Kino is pursuing next, including a __Band of Brothers__ documentary and more genre-focused features\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Guests:**\n\n * Brit MacRae\n * Daril Fannin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n****\n\n****\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Subscribe to the No Film School Podcast on:**\n\n * Apple Podcasts\n * Spotify\n * Google\n\n\n\nGet your question answered on the podcast by emailing podcast@nofilmschool.com\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n_Listen to more episodes of the No Film School podcast right here:_",
"title": "A Path to Profitability in an Industry Built on Fear?"
}