The easiest way to model and explain film financing.
Built for indie film & TV
What is a film waterfall?

A film waterfall is the agreed order in which revenue gets distributed once a production starts making money — like buckets stacked on top of each other. Each bucket fills before money flows to the next. The people at the top get paid first.

The people at the bottom only get paid if enough remains. Two investors in identical films can walk away with very different returns — simply because of where they sit in the waterfall. hello@filmwaterfall.com  ·  Read the full guide →

1
Pick a template
or start from scratch
2
Adjust your deal
investors, fees, revenue
3
See the waterfall
instantly, visually
1
Start with a template (optional)
Don't know your deal terms yet? Templates use typical industry numbers so you can explore before you negotiate — adjust anything once you have real figures.
2
How is your film financed?
Film title
Currency
Total budget
$
Investors Pari passu recoupment
Total equity
Distributor fee (20–35%)
0%
Sales agent fee (10–20%)
0%
P&A / marketing recoup
$
Prints & Advertising — the cost of marketing and releasing the film (trailers, posters, ads). Paid back before investor recoupment begins.
Delivery expenses
$
Technical costs to get the film onto platforms — encoding, quality control, closed captions, subtitles. Separate from marketing.
Reserve holdback (typ. 10%)
0%
Recoupment multiple (1.0 = 100% back)
1.0×
Only affects results once revenue is high enough to fully recoup the investor.
Producer net— calculated automatically
3
Set your revenue — see the waterfall
How much revenue do you think the film will earn?
$
$0$5,000,000
Net after fees
Investors get
Producer gets
Investor ROI
Investor net gain / loss
Total equity invested
filmwaterfall.com
Revenue scenarios
Enter three gross revenue scenarios to compare how each flows through your deal structure.
Conservative
$
Base case
$
Upside
$
Revenue breakdown comparison
filmwaterfall.com
4
Revenue timeline
Track revenue as it arrives from streaming, AVOD, broadcast, and other sources. P&A and delivery expenses recoup once cumulatively. Deal terms above apply automatically.
Investor equity
$300,000
Recouped to date
$0
Producer to date
$0
Still owed
$300,000
Recoupment progress0% recouped
Revenue events
Add revenue event
Source
Gross amount
$
Period
Cumulative recoupment over time
Cumulative recouped Gross revenue per period
Investor fully recouped
Backend profit participation has begun. Producer and investor are now sharing net profits per the agreed split.
filmwaterfall.com
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