Investor & Industry Overview
STARFISH
A dual-track distribution strategy with secured theatrical release through Atlas Distribution.
Plan B is greenlit — Starfish has acquired theatrical distribution
01 — Dual-Track Distribution
Plan A
Studio Sale
If a studio deal materializes and is ideal for our investors — meaning it pays everyone back with interest — then we go with Plan A.
Plan B
Atlas Distribution
The vast majority of indie films hope for Plan A with no actionable plan for distribution. Starfish already has distribution secured through Atlas.
Plan B is greenlit — Starfish has acquired theatrical distribution.
Timeline
Sept–Dec 2025
Pre-Production
Jan–Mar 2026
Production
April–May 2026
Post Production
June–Sept 2026
Festival Premiere
Jan 2027
Starfish in Theaters
Full investment details available at wefunder.com/starfishfilm (Reg CF offering).
02 — Data-Driven Rollout
Powered by iScreeningRoom
iScreeningRoom provides a powerful Real Time Sentiment tracker which allows us to see how individual demographics respond to each scene of the film, enhancing our marketing efforts. CinemaCloudWorks data shows what markets our film will best perform in, comparing existing release data with our own metrics for targeted DMAs.
All sentiment data and general audience demographics are owned by our entity after test screenings conclude.
Better Audience Data
Unlike one-night theater previews with skewed recruitment samples, iScreeningRoom reaches broader audiences online. Feedback aligns more closely with real-world audience scores, offering a truer measure of response.
Granular Insights
Real-time sentiment tracking (viewers click when they like/dislike moments with explanations) produces nuanced data. Sample sizes start at ~300 people, yielding statistically meaningful insights on pacing, character arcs, and emotional beats.
Marketing Validation
Test posters, trailers, and key art in advance. Engagement metrics (click-through on materials) show what actually drives interest — de-risking marketing spend.
Guided Rollouts
Results highlight who the core audience is and where they are. This allows us to target the right geographic markets, book theaters with confidence, and frame the campaign narrative around what resonates most.
Our Partner
Harmon Kaslow
President, Atlas Distribution Company
Harmon Kaslow is President of Atlas Distribution Company, an independent U.S. theatrical distributor with over 50 releases including Let There Be Light, The Firing Squad, Witchboard, and No Safe Spaces. With 30+ years in entertainment, he has worked on more than 50 titles alongside industry icons such as Al Ruddy, Werner Herzog, Mike Medavoy, Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Kevin Sorbo, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, and Jeremy Renner.
His distribution expertise led to the creation of iScreeningRoom, a secure online test-screening platform, and CinemaCloudWorks, a data-driven theatrical distribution tool. Previously an executive at A-Mark Entertainment and Kismet Entertainment Group and an associate at Shea & Gould, Harmon has provided legal counsel in production, distribution, and finance.
He has served as producer or executive producer on more than 15 films including the Atlas Shrugged trilogy and cult-classic Dog Soldiers, and is a member of the Producers Guild of America.
03 — Theatrical Rollout
Exponential Waves
Data Selection
Use data from iScreeningRoom and CinemaCloudWorks to gauge which theaters are best for our initial 20 theater rollout. We choose bookings, Atlas facilitates.
Wave 1 — 20 Theaters
Start with 20 theaters (2 in home market). Receipts from Wave 1 fund Wave 2.
Rolling Expansion
Receipts from each wave fund the next. Only advance when at least two or more KPI signals are met and the wave shows positive net contribution after exhibitor settlement and variable costs.
Scale to 2,500 Theaters
Continue rollout until KPIs no longer demonstrate return, up to 2,500 screens.
KPIs That Gate Expansion
Only advance when at least two or more KPI signals are met and the wave shows positive net contribution after exhibitor settlement and variable costs.
≥ 90% of target per-theater gross
≥ 1.5× ROAS on paid campaigns
≥ 20% advance ticket share by Thursday
Strong fan density metrics in next DMA
PnA Envelope — Per Theater Cost: $3,297
Total PnA spend by wave 10: $5.7 Million
04 — Theatrical Projections
This model is self-sustaining by wave 2. Each PnA cost per wave is funded by receipts after exhibitor split (60% in this model, can be as low as 35% with a film that performs well).
| Wave | Theaters | New | PnA Cost | Box Office | Cumulative | Receipts (40%) | Bank End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | +20 | $65,940 | $240,000 | $240,000 | $96,000 | $96,000 |
| 2 | 49 | +29 | $95,613 | $348,000 | $588,000 | $139,200 | $139,587 |
| 3 | 91 | +42 | $138,474 | $504,000 | $1,092,000 | $201,600 | $202,713 |
| 4 | 152 | +61 | $201,117 | $732,000 | $1,824,000 | $292,800 | $294,396 |
| 5 | 239 | +87 | $291,839 | $1,044,000 | $2,868,000 | $417,600 | $420,157 |
| 6 | 364 | +125 | $417,125 | $1,500,000 | $4,368,000 | $600,000 | $603,032 |
| 7 | 545 | +181 | $601,757 | $2,172,000 | $6,540,000 | $868,800 | $870,075 |
| 8 | 807 | +262 | $868,814 | $3,144,000 | $9,684,000 | $1,257,600 | $1,258,861 |
| 9 | 1,187 | +380 | $1,257,860 | $4,560,000 | $14,244,000 | $1,824,000 | $1,825,001 |
| 10 | 1,739 | +552 | $1,824,944 | $6,624,000 | $20,868,000 | $2,649,600 | $2,649,657 |
Disclaimer: Future projections are not guaranteed.
05 — Theatrical Gating KPIs
KPI
Target Metric
Monitoring Method
Action if KPI Not Met
Per-Theater Gross (2 Week Run)
≥ $10,800 (90% of $12,000 target)
Daily grosses via CinemaCloudWorks
Pause expansion; shift spend to top DMAs; don't open next tranche until ≥ $10.8k is trending.
ROAS (Paid Media)
≥ 1.5×
Platform dashboards + ticket attribution
Refine creative/targeting; re-test scenes/art via iScreeningRoom; relaunch only after ROAS ≥ 1.5×.
Advance Ticket Share
≥ 20% by Thursday night
Pre-sales feeds (theater/aggregator)
Delay next wave; push influencers/earned media; add localized offers to lift pre-sales.
Fan Density / Geo-Interest
Above threshold for next DMA
Smart Site email + geo signals
Hold bookings for that DMA; concentrate ads/PR to raise local awareness first.
Ticket CAC
≤ $12 blended (Wave 1)
Ad spend ÷ tickets (attributed)
Kill underperforming ad sets; tighten geo/interest targeting; reallocate to winners.
CTR / Video VTR
CTR ≥ 1.5%; 5-sec VTR ≥ 25%
Platform analytics
Re-edit spots using best-performing scene cuts; new copy/artwork before more spend.
Smart Site Conversion
≥ 6% click→showtime
Smart Movie Site analytics
Optimize funnels (A/B headlines, showtime buttons, page speed) prior to next tranche.
06 — Theatrical Waterfall
Disclaimer: Future projections are not guaranteed. Because our offering is on WeFunder under a Reg CF raise, the SEC requires us to omit offering details outside of our campaign. To understand this chart fully, please see investment terms at wefunder.com/starfishfilm
07 — Home Entertainment
PVOD · TVOD · SVOD · AVOD
| Case | P/TVOD Net | SVOD Net | AVOD Net | Total | Ad Spend | Net After Ad Spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | $153,431 | $37,500 | $21,600 | $212,531 | $198,000 | $14,531 |
| Base | $318,938 | $112,500 | $67,200 | $498,638 | $360,000 | $138,638 |
| High | $637,875 | $187,500 | $192,000 | $1,017,375 | $540,000 | $477,375 |
Assumptions
Disclaimer: Future projections are not guaranteed.
08 — It All Comes Down to Marketing
Scene-Based Engagement
Platforms are beginning to showcase scenes to encourage natural discovery. We naturally want to know what happens next, and it spurs greater engagement with content.
Better Audience Data
Because we will have scene-by-scene breakdowns from iScreeningRoom, we will know exactly which scenes play best to a given demographic, allowing us to hyper-target our social media campaign and boost ticket sales.
Key Art Testing and Placement
iScreeningRoom allows us to re-test key art for $1.8k, allowing us to spec our PnA to audience engagement.
Case Study
Norseman
Norseman creator Anders Tangen spent $33k in targeted Facebook ads and managed to bring the show to Netflix's top 10. In the first $18k spend he brought the Facebook page to 5.5 million followers in 28 days.
Similar scene-based social strategies have been employed on The Dark Knight, District 9, Longlegs, and The Blair Witch Project — all leading to higher audience engagement and greater ticket sales.
09 — Immersive Marketing
In addition to our scene-level marketing outreach, we intend to use immersive transmedia storytelling to seed online discussion about the film via social media influencers, Reddit, blogs, and more. This strategy has been effectively executed for films like The Dark Knight, District 9, Longlegs, and The Blair Witch Project — all leading to higher audience engagement and greater ticket sales.
Week 1
The Incident
Launch the article ("Scientist Clones Wife After Tragic Accident") on Reddit and other niche forums.
Organic social media shares begin, fostering speculation.
Week 2
The Debate
Introduce follow-up articles ("Experts Question Cloning Breakthrough").
Seed conversations on Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook with thought-provoking questions.
Week 3
The Discovery
Release cryptic clues linking the story to Starfish (e.g., symbols, quotes, or visuals).
Collaborate with influencers to "investigate" the story.
Week 4
The Reveal
Drop a teaser trailer or major reveal connecting the buzz to Starfish, release theatrical schedule.
Encourage audience engagement with hashtags or calls to action.
10 — Final Splits
Recoupment of financier investment takes place after our theatrical rollout, in addition to the first disbursement of the financier pool of net receipts. These numbers are post-recoupment.
All numbers in this presentation are based on conservative estimates. Only 750 tickets sold per theater. All numbers exclude organic traffic to theatrical sales, PVOD/TVOD/SVOD purchases and rentals, etc.
| Case | Theatrical Net | VOD Net (After Ad) | Combined Net | Final to Company | Final to Financiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | $1,877,351 | $14,531 | $1,891,882 | $1,135,129 | $756,753 |
| Base | $1,877,351 | $138,638 | $2,015,989 | $1,209,593 | $806,395 |
| High | $1,877,351 | $477,375 | $2,354,726 | $1,412,836 | $941,890 |
*Actual ROI depends on final round total, amount contributed and early bird terms. Disclaimer: Future projections are not guaranteed. Because our offering is on WeFunder under a Reg CF raise, the SEC requires us to omit offering details outside of our campaign. See investment terms at wefunder.com/starfishfilm
11 — Additional Revenue
Social Audience Capitalization
We anticipate a following of beyond 6 million people when ad spend is concluded for our national marketing campaign. We will use this audience to sell:
- Vinyl releases of the soundtrack
- Blu-ray
- Shirts, hoodies, and hats
- Look books and other media
International Distribution
Our assumptions in this presentation are for US markets only. We are working on a solid plan for international release. Atlas can secure theatrical releases in Canada, but we are exploring further options for release in France, Germany, Italy, England, and more.
International Distribution Plan Pending
Considerations
- Additional test screenings, ad spend, and booking fees will apply
- Costs for international will be taken from the company bank after revenue splits for our primary theatrical release
- Continued, disciplined rollout waves abroad means more revenue split to financiers over time