“We’re doing distribution just like anyone else in the industry, attending the same markets, and signing pretty much the same deal types. We’re just using technology to make it faster, simpler, and easier,” Alan d’Escragnolle says of his tech-forward distribution outfit Filmhub.
Launched in 2020 by d’Escragnolle and Klaus Badelt, the German composer behind the music of studio titles like *Pirates of the Caribbean* and *Gladiator*, Filmhub is described as a “modern relationship-driven distributor” that combines “hands-on pitching and packaging with purpose-built technology.” The company handles more than 30,000 titles and releases between 500 and 1,000 films per month.
On the acquisition side, the company has traditionally picked up around five exclusive titles per month. However, Filmhub has begun a period of expansion with new key hires and a goal of scaling to 20 acquisitions per month. Some of the new hires include former eOne executive Dan Loewy, who has joined Filmhub to help lead the licensing team, and Scott Post, now Head of Product Engineering. Post previously led engineering teams at Snap.
Titles recently acquired by Filmhub include *Dog Patrol: Operation Santa Paws*, starring Cuba Gooding Jr.; *Trap City*, featuring rapper Jeezy in his first feature role; and *SKIT*, a creator-led comedy backed by Evan Shapiro.
Ahead of this year’s American Film Market (AFM), d’Escragnolle spoke with us about Filmhub’s expansion plans, how the company is “bringing the distribution process online,” and why Black cinema and creator-led content are two of the company’s biggest priorities.
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### DEADLINE: Alan, what’s your background? How did Filmhub begin?
**Alan d’Escragnolle:** I was born in San Diego, and I’m half Brazilian. I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart and started importing car parts from Brazil back in high school. My interest in the creative space ultimately began at university, where I ran one of Penn’s largest theater organizations.
After school, I didn’t want to go to the mailrooms of LA, so I moved to San Francisco, where I started building technology companies. I worked on everything from Google and Intuit to Cash App, and had a couple of startups acquired.
I was then introduced to my co-founder, Klaus Badelt, the world-renowned composer of *Pirates of the Caribbean*, *Gladiator*, *The Thin Red Line*, and *Mission: Impossible 2*. Klaus had the original idea based on his illustrious career as a film composer. He would say, “Why is the system I am in so painful to work in? Why is it so hard to get distribution or find the right sales agent or distributor? And why can’t we use technology to make this simpler?” That’s how we all came together.
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### DEADLINE: Where is the company based?
**D’Escragnolle:** We have offices in New York and LA, but the company is technically fully remote.
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### DEADLINE: And what’s your headcount?
**D’Escragnolle:** We’re about 50 full-time people across the world.
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### DEADLINE: Your current acquisition rhythm is five exclusive titles per month. And you’re aiming to scale that up to 20?
**D’Escragnolle:** Yes, we’re generally acquiring about five exclusive titles per month and scaling that up to 20. But we’re also releasing, non-exclusively, another 500 to 1,000 titles per month.
We’re a full distribution company, so while we’re acquiring directly from producers themselves, we are also acquiring from other sales agents, distributors, and studios.
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### DEADLINE: That’s a lot of titles. Can you talk me through how your tech systems help you work at this scale and pace?
**D’Escragnolle:** We work with over 300 sales agents, distributors, large catalog owners, and studios. We still need to talk with our partners and sign deals. But at the same time, once we have deals, we can utilize technology to move much faster.
For instance, when we do a deal with a distributor or sales agent, we ingest all their assets into our system. Our system then creates caption files and key art. We handle all transcodes and assets, and we do our own quality control rather than outsourcing to a post house. That’s how technology makes us faster.
On the other side, for our sales team licensing to major SVODs and broadcasters, as soon as a title comes into our catalog, they get automatic notifications. The technology makes things super simple, and we’re set up to move at pace. Once a deal is done, all assets are automatically delivered.
Conversely, we also handle royalty collections and payouts to all of our rights holders. That’s where we utilize fintech solutions, making that process super fast so we can pay those people promptly. That’s how we make our team faster.
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### DEADLINE: Speaking about acquisitions, talk to me about a title like *Trap City*. Why was that an opportune title for Filmhub?
**D’Escragnolle:** Black cinema has been a huge area of focus for Filmhub from our inception. We recently hired Gregory Maurice, who is a former eOne executive. He led their Black cinema vertical.
We are constantly looking for premium acquisitions in that space. *Trap City* was one Greg found. He leveraged his relationships and secured an excellent buy at Starz. It was a win for the filmmaking team, and it was number one on Starz when it released.
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### DEADLINE: Why has Black cinema been such a priority for the Filmhub team?
**D’Escragnolle:** We have acquired thousands of titles in that space, especially since the rise of AVOD and FAST services, which have become a home for a lot of Black cinema. That’s why we’ve doubled down and created a specific vertical and team focused on Black filmmaking here at Filmhub.
There’s a massive opportunity in this space. We constantly look at the areas of the market where buyers are searching for content, and we make sure we have the team to support that.
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### DEADLINE: You’ll be at AFM? What will be your priorities at the market?
**D’Escragnolle:** Yes, we will be focusing on a couple of things.
Firstly, we will meet with sales agents who have new titles coming in for distribution. Secondly, we’ll be looking at new releases, primarily pay-one type titles. Finally, we’ll also be talking to those same sales agents and distributors about their back catalogs and helping them figure out how to further release those titles.
Our acquisitions team is actually split into two groups: one focused on individual producers and production companies, and another focused on sales agents, distributors, and agencies.
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### DEADLINE: What is working in the market right now? What are you seeing as the new trends?
*Interview concludes here.*
https://deadline.com/2025/11/filmhub-alan-descragnolle-tech-distribution-afm-1236612700/