The aggregator trap: what shorts actually earn on ad-supported shelves

A producer in Kochi sent us the first-year statement for a fifteen-minute drama that played two European festivals and then landed on an ad-supported movie shelf. The festival fees and a classroom license together paid more than the platform did.

Aggregators are useful when delivery is clean and the film needs a public link. They are a poor plan when they are the only plan. The statement showed pennies per view and no say over the artwork, the category, or the territories that were switched off.

Distribution for shorts is a stack: festival premiere, then a sales agent or direct license, then educational and airline windows, and only then a consumer shelf. Reverse that order and the film looks available while earning almost nothing.