Film distribution for Houston filmmakers. Mann Robinson Distribution licenses independent films, series and reality shows to streaming platforms including Tubi. 20 percent of gross, two year exclusive term, quarterly pay, filmmaker keeps ownership.
Mann Robinson Distribution works with filmmakers in Houston who have a finished film or series and need it placed with streaming platforms. It is an independent film and television distribution company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with presence in Detroit and Los Angeles, and it accepts submissions from filmmakers across Houston. The company licenses films, TV shows, sitcoms and reality series to major streaming platforms and networks, including Tubi, and gives every filmmaker a portal login showing impressions, CPM and earnings per platform.
You do not need to be in Atlanta, Detroit or Los Angeles to work with the company. Houston filmmakers submit at mannrobinsondistribution.com/submit or write to distribution@mannrobinsonstudios.com.
Houston has an established exhibition and nonprofit layer, festivals that go back decades, and film programs at local colleges and universities. Its incentive programs are written around defined spending thresholds, which is worth understanding before you plan a budget or a finishing schedule.
On the festival side, WorldFest Houston International Film Festival traces back to 1961 and presents its Remi Awards, and its 59th edition ran April 24 to May 3, 2026. The Houston Cinema Arts Festival, presented by the Houston Cinema Arts Society, is held every November with a programming focus on films by and about artists, screening at venues including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Rice University, Aurora Picture Show in the Second Ward and the DeLUXE Theater in the Fifth Ward. The Houston Horror Film Festival and the Houston Independent Film Festival both accept submissions, and HAAPIFEST programmed a Houston and Texas Filmmakers Showcase in 2026.
The support layer is long established. Southwest Alternate Media Project, known as SWAMP, has operated in Houston since 1977, runs the annual Business of Film Conference and produces The TERRITORY for PBS. The Black Independent Filmmakers Association is Houston based and runs screenings, mentorship and workshops. Local training includes the Houston Community College filmmaking program, which grants associate degrees and certificates, and film and media studies through the University of Houston Jack J. Valenti School of Communication.
Incentives are where budget size shows up most clearly. The Houston Film Commission, a division of Houston First Corporation, administers the Houston Feature Film Incentive Program, which rebates 10 percent of qualified local spending, capped at $100,000 per project, drawn from roughly $400,000 available per year. To qualify, a project has to shoot 60 percent of principal photography within a 60 mile radius of downtown Houston, spend at least $500,000 locally, keep its principal production office in Houston and staff at least 55 percent of its cast and crew with Texas residents. Reality and unscripted programming is excluded, as are commercials, news, award shows and sporting events. At the state level, the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program scales cash grants by eligible in state spending, and Texas Senate Bill 22, filed by Houston state senator Joan Huffman, established the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Fund at $300 million every two years through 2035.
The practical read for a Houston filmmaker is straightforward. If your feature was financed well below the $500,000 local spend requirement, or if you made a reality or unscripted series, the city program was not written for your project. That film still needs distribution, and distribution is a separate question from how the film was funded.
The distribution fee is 20 percent of gross, and the term is two years, exclusive. The filmmaker keeps ownership of the film throughout, because the agreement licenses distribution rights and does not transfer the underlying property. Payments are made quarterly. A signed title typically goes live about 90 days after signing.
Typically about 90 days from signing to go live. That window covers the work between a signed agreement and a title being available to viewers on a platform. Payment then follows the quarterly schedule.
On ad supported platforms, earnings are impressions multiplied by CPM, not a flat rate per view. An impression is an ad served against your title, and CPM is the rate paid per thousand impressions, so earnings track both the volume of ad supported viewing your title receives and the rate attached to it. That distinction matters when you read a statement.
Mann Robinson Distribution reports this in the filmmaker portal. Each filmmaker logs in and sees impressions, CPM and earnings per platform, alongside statements and payment history. The 20 percent distribution fee comes off gross, and payments are issued quarterly.
No. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with presence in Detroit and Los Angeles. It works with filmmakers in Houston without requiring them to be in any of those cities.
No. The filmmaker keeps ownership. The agreement licenses distribution rights for the two year exclusive term.
Yes. The company distributes TV shows, sitcoms and reality series alongside feature films, which matters in Houston given that unscripted work falls outside the city's feature film incentive program.
Quarterly. Statements and payment history are visible in the filmmaker portal at any time.
Gross. The distribution fee is 20 percent of gross.
Submit your finished film at mannrobinsondistribution.com/submit, or contact distribution@mannrobinsonstudios.com.