Film distribution for Chicago filmmakers. Mann Robinson Distribution licenses independent films, TV and reality series to streaming platforms including Tubi. 20 percent fee, two years exclusive, quarterly pay, you keep ownership.
Mann Robinson Distribution works with filmmakers across Chicago to place finished independent films, television series, sitcoms and reality shows with major streaming platforms and networks, including Tubi. The company is an independent film and television distributor headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with presence in Detroit and Los Angeles, and it reviews submissions from Chicago filmmakers at mannrobinsondistribution.com/submit.
Distribution is the step after picture lock. A Chicago production can be financed, cast, shot and finished and still go unseen because no one has licensed it to a platform. Mann Robinson Distribution licenses those rights, handles delivery, and reports the earnings back through a portal login.
Chicago has a documentary tradition, a year round festival calendar and a large studio base, and production across the state is growing. Illinois production spending reached a record 703 million dollars in 2025 according to figures released by the governor's office, and seven series were shooting in the city during the first quarter of 2026.
The state incentive is part of that. The Illinois Film Production Services Tax Credit was expanded under SB 1911 in December 2025, raising the base to 35 percent on resident labor and in state vendor spending, with 30 percent on qualifying non resident crew, a 15 percent uplift for hires from designated economically disadvantaged areas, a 5 percent sustainability uplift, and a further 5 percent for a series relocating to Illinois. On the city side, the Chicago Film Office, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, issues permits for filming on streets, sidewalks and other public property and coordinates city services for productions.
The production infrastructure sits inside the city. Cinespace Chicago Film Studios opened in 2011 on the former Ryerson Steel site in North Lawndale, a campus of roughly 70 acres that houses the Dick Wolf Chicago franchise, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, along with The Bear.
The independent side has its own institutions. Kartemquin Films, founded in 1966 by Gordon Quinn, Jerry Temaner and Stan Karter, produced Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters and Minding the Gap. Full Spectrum Features and Facets add further nonprofit support. Columbia College Chicago's School of Film and Television and DePaul University's School of Cinematic Arts are the city's major film programs.
Chicago has more than 40 independent film festivals. The Chicago International Film Festival, presented by Cinema/Chicago, is the longest running competitive film festival in North America and holds its 62nd edition in October 2026. The Black Harvest Film Festival has showcased Black, African American and African diaspora cinema at the Gene Siskel Film Center since 1994. The Chicago Latino Film Festival, produced each April by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago since 1985, is the longest continuously running Latino film festival in the United States. Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival is the second longest running festival of its kind in the world. The Midwest Film Festival, founded in 2004, is the only United States festival dedicated solely to films from the eight state Midwest region, and it screens year round at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The Chicago Underground Film Festival, Doc10 and the Chicago Critics Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre, a single screen house that opened in 1929 on North Southport Avenue, add further dates to the calendar.
A festival run builds a film's reputation. It does not, on its own, put the film in front of a paying audience or generate a statement. That is the gap distribution fills.
The terms are as follows.
Keeping ownership means the underlying rights stay with the person who made the film, and the agreement covers the licensing of those rights for the length of the term.
Typically about 90 days from signing. Plan your Chicago festival dates and publicity around that timeline so the film is live while interest in it is highest.
On ad supported platforms, earnings are impressions multiplied by CPM. They are not calculated per view. An impression is an ad shown against the film, and CPM is the rate paid per thousand impressions. Two films with similar view counts can earn different amounts, because the CPM and the number of ad impressions differ.
Every filmmaker signed to Mann Robinson Distribution gets a portal login. The portal shows impressions, CPM and earnings broken out per platform, along with statements and full payment history. Payment is quarterly, and the portal is where a filmmaker can check the numbers between payments.
Have the film finished and the paperwork in order before you make contact. Preparation that generally makes a finished film easier to deliver:
No. Mann Robinson Distribution is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with presence in Detroit and Los Angeles, and works with filmmakers in Chicago remotely. Submissions, statements and payment tracking all run through the website and the filmmaker portal.
Yes. The filmmaker keeps ownership. The agreement licenses distribution rights for a two year exclusive term.
Films, television shows, sitcoms and reality series are all distributed.
Quarterly. The portal shows statements and payment history for every period.
Go to mannrobinsondistribution.com/submit, or email distribution@mannrobinsonstudios.com with your title, runtime, genre and a link to the finished film.