Distribution Deliverables for Independent Film

A distributor's delivery schedule lists the picture masters, audio stems, caption files, artwork, and legal documents required before release and payment. Treat it as its own production schedule.

Exact requirements usually arrive with the distribution agreement. They vary by buyer, change over time, and may be negotiable. Building a complete package before receiving the schedule risks paying for the same work twice.

Finish archival-ready. Produce specifics on demand

Get the foundational, expensive-to-recreate elements right during finishing: a clean high-quality archival master, textless elements, and a complete audio stem set. Defer the format-specific deliverables until a buyer hands you real specs. Done this way, whatever a distributor later asks for can be produced quickly and cheaply from materials you already have, without an expensive archival restore or a re-mix.

What to lock now, and what to defer

Lock now: while the stage is open	Defer: until the buyer sends a spec
Master mezzanine render: what every other deliverable is made from	ProRes flavour, raster and frame-rate build
Archival master, graded and ungraded	Loudness-normalised near-field mix
Textless elements for every shot carrying text	Caption and subtitle formats, and language versions
Mix session, discrete stems, fully-filled M&E	Head and tail builds, slates, distributor bumpers
Conform project and LTO archive	Platform-specific encodes

Items on the left require the stage, vendors, or source elements to recreate. Items on the right vary by buyer and can be generated from those retained assets.

Master format: ProRes, not IMF

Independent distributors overwhelmingly ask for a self-contained ProRes QuickTime (.mov), not an IMF package. ProRes is the picture master across VOD, TVOD, and home-video distribution. The distributor makes its own platform-specific encodes downstream. IMF is a studio-and-streamer interchange format. Produce it only when a studio, major streamer, broadcaster, or large catalog aggregator specifically asks for it.

ProRes 422 HQ is the common default. Some distributors require 4444 or 4444 XQ. Retain a high-quality archival master so any requested flavor can be generated without re-finishing. See Common Working Formats.

The picture master baseline

A few things hold across almost any HD picture master and are safe to assume before you have a spec:

Raster and rate. 1920×1080, progressive, at the film's native frame rate, usually 23.98 fps. Deliver at the original aspect ratio, letterboxed to fill the 1920×1080 raster (mattes baked in, not a cropped 1920×858 file).
No up-conversion. A 4K master is meaningful only for a film actually finished in 4K. Do not up-convert HD to 4K or SD to HD.
Color. Resolution and dynamic range are separate decisions: do not assume 4K means HDR. A 4K SDR master is ordinary and is still Rec.709. Plenty of indie 4K deliverables are SDR. An HDR master is the one that moves to a BT.2020 container with the PQ / ST 2084 EOTF, at 10- to 16-bit, usually with an SDR derivation. Where HDR is required, expect HDR10, Dolby Vision, or both. The buyer decides, so read the schedule rather than assuming. See HDR Mastering.
Heads and tails. Modern file deliverables want the file ready to play: about one second of black at head and tail, no bars/tone/slate/2-pop, but some schedules still want a full broadcast head (bars, tone, slate, program at 01:00:00:00). This is a classic per-buyer variable: build it when you know the spec, not before.

Audio: what to mix, and to what target

Budget for both the stem ladder and separate theatrical and near-field mixes. Reconstructing either after the session closes is expensive.

The stem ladder: build it during the mix

Produce linear PCM at 48 kHz/24-bit, a 5.1 mix, a true stereo or Lt/Rt fold-down, discrete dialogue/music/effects stems, and a fully-filled M&E containing every effect in the composite. A partial M&E can block foreign dubbing and international licensing.

Print these elements while the mix session is open. They are inexpensive to create during the mix and expensive to reconstruct later.

Theatrical vs. near-field: two mixes, two targets

A cinema mix and a home/streaming mix are separate deliverables:

A theatrical mix is monitored on a dubbing stage at reference level (each screen channel at 85 dB SPL from −20 dBFS pink noise, Dolby fader at 7) through the cinema X-curve (SMPTE ST 202). It is mixed by ear with wide dynamic range and is not loudness-normalized to a number. This is what feeds a DCP.
A near-field mix (home / home-theater / streaming) is monitored on near-field speakers at lower level and delivered to a specific integrated-loudness target measured per ITU-R BS.1770 (LKFS/LUFS), with narrower dynamic range so it holds up on a TV, laptop, or phone.

Do not deliver the theatrical printmaster to a streamer. Derive a near-field pass with the required dynamic range and loudness target.

Loudness targets by destination

Destination	Integrated loudness	Max true peak
Theatrical / DCP	Not normalized. Mixed at calibrated reference (85 dB SPL, X-curve)	Headroom. No fixed cap
Netflix (near-field mix)	−27 LKFS (±2 LU), dialog-gated (BS.1770-1)	−2 dBTP
Apple (iTunes / Apple TV feature master)	−24 LKFS: stated bare, with no tolerance or measurement standard given	−6 dB (unit not specified in the source)
Amazon (Prime Video Direct)	No figure published	No figure published
US broadcast (ATSC A/85 / CALM Act)¹	−24 LKFS (±2 dB). Dialogue-anchored for long-form, but full-program mix for commercials	−2 dBTP (±0.5)
Streaming (ATSC A/85:2026 Annex L)	Pick one value between −23 and −27 LKFS and apply it consistently to everything on the service	−2 dBTP
EBU R128 (European broadcast)	−23 LUFS (±1), program-gated	−1 dBTP

These numbers are not directly comparable

Netflix and ATSC A/85 long-form are measured dialogue-gated. EBU R128 is program-gated. Match both the number and the gating method. Under A/85, use dialogue gating for long-form and full-program measurement for commercials. For long-form, use BS.1770-1 or disable relative-level gating on a later meter.

Netflix accepts either −27 LKFS dialogue-gated (BS.1770-1) or −24 LKFS full-program (BS.1770-4), ±3, and flags a mix only when both fail. Do not measure −27 LKFS program-gated. That produces an unnecessarily quiet mix.

ATSC A/85:2026 permits streaming services to choose a consistent target between −23 and −27 LKFS. The apparent spread partly reflects different measurement methods.

Without a buyer specification, ask the mixer for roughly −24 LKFS full-program with a −2 dBTP ceiling, and log the dialogue-gated value at the same time. This preserves a practical route to Netflix, US broadcast, and EBU R128 deliveries.

Independent VOD schedules remain inconsistent. Many name no LUFS target. Confirm both the target and gating method in the buyer's schedule.

Keep the printmaster, stems, and mix session archived and accessible. A changed loudness target may require a new stage pass and QC cycle.

What to ask your mixer to bid

At bid time, specify every plausible destination:

If theatrical is at all possible, bid a theatrical mix and a near-field mix. Mixing theatrical first and deriving the near-field is the cheaper order. Retrofitting theatrical from a home mix is not.
Bid the full stem and M&E ladder: 5.1 and stereo, discrete DME stems, and a fully-filled M&E, produced during the mix.
Bid the near-field loudness master to a real spec (e.g. −27 LKFS for streaming), not "a stereo bounce."
Even a streaming-only film needs that near-field mastering pass done to the platform's loudness target. Budget it instead of discovering it at QC.

Textless, forced narrative, and the "three masters" problem

Distributors may require three picture versions:

the texted master (titles, credits, and any on-picture text present),
a non-subtitled master (all creative text present, but no burned-in subtitles), and
a fully textless master: every shot that has text over picture supplied clean, so the distributor can localize it. (Rolling end-credit crawls are usually exempt. End-credit cards over picture are not.)

Keep forced narrative subtitles for foreign dialogue or signs separate so each territory can replace them. Never burn subtitles into the only master. Rebuilding a clean version later becomes a new package and may limit international sales.

Captions and subtitles

Caption and localization files are their own deliverable stack:

Closed captions, usually English SDH, in the buyer's required format such as .scc. Legal captioning obligations do not prescribe one file format. Reading speed, line length, duration, and line-count limits also vary. Follow the delivery schedule rather than a generic caption template.
Subtitles in a format that varies by house, usually .srt, .stl, or .itt, with foreign-language subs (Latin-American Spanish and French are the most-requested) expanding the sale.
A CCSL (combined continuity and spotting list) and/or dialogue list is a standard legal and localization deliverable. See the DCP chapter for how caption and continuity files also feed accessibility tracks (OCAP/CCAP) on the theatrical side.

AI captioning

Use automatic captioning to create a rough transcript or initial timing pass, not a delivery master.

AI captions are a draft, not a deliverable

Raw automatic output commonly fails platform QC on:

SDH non-speech information: captions must identify speakers and describe music, sound effects, and off-screen audio. Auto-transcription captures none of it.
Reading speed and formatting: hard limits on words-per-minute / characters-per-second, line length (≈ 32 characters), two lines, and minimum/maximum durations that raw output ignores.
Timing and sync: in/out must track the edit precisely. Auto-timing drifts, especially over overlapping dialogue.
Accuracy on the hard parts: names, technical terms, accents, and homophones are exactly where it errs, and exactly what a viewer notices.

A distributor may repair a failed file and charge back the cost, sometimes with a penalty.

Budget a professional captioning vendor or, at minimum, a human conform and QC pass against the delivery specification.

Quality control

Almost every distributor requires the masters to pass QC at an approved third-party facility before delivery is accepted, and the licensor usually pays for it. This is not a formality:

Facilities are frequently pre-approved: some distributors will not accept delivery from a lab not on their list.
QC failures are typically recouped against you: a distributor may repair a failing file and charge back the cost, sometimes with a penalty, before paying revenue.
The bar can be a specific standard: an international-broadcast QC rather than a domestic-release pass, or a clause that HD masters are not approved until a Blu-ray QC pass.

Include a QC cycle and possible re-export and re-QC in the delivery timeline.

The legal and metadata package

A full schedule can contain thirty-plus legal and metadata items, including:

E&O insurance (errors & omissions): effectively universal. Limits commonly cluster around $1M per occurrence / $3M aggregate with a deductible near $25K and a multi-year term, and can run higher at the top end. Confirm the exact limits and exclusions your distributor requires.
Chain of title and a current (≤ 30-day) copyright & title report, proof of copyright registration, and often a UCC search confirming no secured creditor interests in the film.
A music cue sheet and executed music licenses (and composer agreements).
A CCSL / dialogue list, metadata sheet, billing block, key art (usually layered, with fonts), festival laurels, cast/crew list, and photo IDs & clearances.
Lab access letter, certificate of origin, talent agreements, and, for some buyers, an ISAN number.

Timelines are long and front-loaded: aggregators commonly want all approved elements 90–120 days before the street date, and the delivery clock often does not start until every item is received and QC'd. Set a release date only against a realistic deliverables schedule.

For a large schedule, budget a post-production supervisor or delivery coordinator.

Trailer and marketing deliverables

Match the trailer to the feature's aspect ratio, frame rate, finish, and colour pipeline. If another facility handles marketing, supply the same LUTs, transforms, and graded elements. Confirm whether the distributor wants a rating card supplied or omitted. Also expect a vertical 9:16 cutdown, platform-specific key art, and an H.264 review screener.

A trailer is not one deliverable

Plan for repeated trailer versions: announcement, dated, in-theaters, TVOD/SVOD, broadcast, social, and an evergreen version with no date.

Preserve the source package:

Deliver the trailer textless, the same way you deliver the feature textless. Every one of those reissues is a new end card over the same picture, and re-cutting from a texted master is avoidable work.
Make sure the graphics package survives the campaign. Layered project files, fonts and key art need to be available and licensed for continued use. Artwork commissioned for a theatrical campaign is not automatically cleared for a home-video card two years later, and discovering that when you need a new title treatment is expensive.

Trailer shots are VFX work nobody scheduled

Trailers often contain earlier shot versions and a deliberately stronger grade. Track these as marketing versions rather than treating them as feature-final shots.

Budget trailer-specific VFX versions for:

different frame ranges than the feature version needs
censored or softened variants for a green-band cut
alternate or replaced dialogue
spoiler-free versions that conceal a reveal the feature depends on

Charge this work to the marketing budget and schedule it as overage work.

Trailer requests interrupt feature work. Decide in advance which artists and shots can absorb the schedule impact.

ATSC A/85:2026-07, Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television, approved 8 July 2026. It is the first comprehensive revision since 2013, adding Annex L (streaming) and Annex M (a one-page quick reference). §6 carries the −24 LKFS / ±2 dB / −2 dBTP figures. §5.2 the anchor-element rule. §5.1.1 the meter guidance. Note that A/85 is a Recommended Practice: everything in it is a "should". What is legally binding is the FCC rule, and 47 CFR §73.8000(a)(4) still incorporates A/85:2013, not the 2026 edition. ATSC also revised A/85 in 2021 without the FCC updating its reference. The Commission has an open proceeding (MB Docket 25-72) that asks, among other things, about streaming loudness. So the current document and the enforceable rule are different editions. ↩