FilmBot

What FilmBot does

FilmBot Inc. is a US-based software company (legally incorporated in California, operations centered in Oceanside, CA, despite marketing ties to Brooklyn) that provides a cloud-based point-of-sale and ticketing platform purpose-built for independent cinemas and film festivals. Its core technology stack is a web-based admin console, a customizable cinema-website CMS, an iPad-native box-office application, and iOS/Android ticket-scanner apps, layered with showtime scheduling, membership management, gift cards, donations, and an 'Audience Engine' that runs targeted discount campaigns against per-customer visit history. The platform integrates with Stripe for payments, TMDB for film metadata, Comscore for box-office reporting, Fandango for third-party ticket distribution, Webedia for content, CineSend for geo-blocked VOD rentals, and Mailchimp/HubSpot/Google Analytics for marketing and CRM workflows.

FilmBot's revenue model is a hybrid of one-time setup fees ($1,250 per cinema website, $875 per festival website), recurring SaaS ($250/month first iPad box-office station, $125/month each additional), transaction-based take rates ($1 per online ticket passed to the consumer, 5% on annual membership signups/renewals), and usage-based VOD pricing ($100 per rental setup plus per-minute viewing fees). Go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven: the company runs demo-based selling through its website and serves as Lead Sponsor of Art House Convergence 2025 and Marquee Sponsor of IND/EX 2026, generating leads from the US independent-cinema operator community. Named customers include Davis Theater, The Brattle, Nitehawk Cinema, Frida Cinema, Vidiots, Music Box Theatre, Harris Theater, Gateway Film Center, and the New York Latino Film Festival, with cumulative platform usage cited at 7M+ tickets sold.

The company operates with 1-10 employees, has been bootstrapped apart from a single 2014 capital event involving Digital Entertainment Ventures, and has not disclosed any subsequent funding, M&A, or revenue figures. Strategic activity in 2025 has centered on community-building initiatives—Lost Films of Covid re-release partnerships with A24, NEON, IFC, GKIDS, and Film Movement; the Movies Never Die merchandise line; and ongoing AHC/IND/EX sponsorships—positioning FilmBot as a cultural advocate for independent exhibition rather than a generic ticketing vendor.

Name

FilmBot

Legal name

Filmbot Inc.

Website

https://filmbot.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FilmBot is a cloud-based point-of-sale and ticketing platform built specifically for independent cinemas and film festivals, offering website CMS, iPad box-office, membership management, and targeted promotion tools to SMB operators in the US indie exhibition market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cinema Ticketing Software

NAICS

Motion Picture Theaters (except Drive-Ins) (512131)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture Theaters (7830)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPADAKAM

Ticketing & Admissions Platforms (Cinema/Festival)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Exhibition (Cinemas, Film Festivals, Screenings)

SECONDARYMPADAKAD

Film Festivals & Festival Organizers

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Exhibition (Cinemas, Film Festivals, Screenings)

Keywords

• Cinema ticketing software
• Independent cinema POS
• Film festival platform
• Audience engagement software
• Membership management system

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Website Design and Setup: One-time setup fee for designing and implementing cinema or festival website on the platform.
2. Online Ticketing: Transaction fee of $1 per ticket sold online, passed onto customer at checkout.
3. Box Office Software Subscription: Monthly subscription for iPad box office software: $250/month for first station, $125/month per additional station. No fees for in-person sales of tickets, concessions, or merchandise.
4. Annual Memberships and Ticket Packs: 5% fee on signups and renewals. No fees for imported or comped annual memberships.
5. Monthly Memberships: Available upon request, custom pricing.
6. Festival Website Setup: One-time setup fee of $875 for festival website design and configuration.
7. VOD Rentals: $100 per rental setup, video upload fees ($5 for <30m, $25 for >30m), and $0.01 per minute viewed.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FilmBot is a cloud-based point-of-sale and website platform built specifically for independent cinemas and film festivals, combining customizable cinema websites, online ticketing, an iPad box office application, and a mobile ticket scanner app into a single management suite. The platform extends to festivals via schedule builders, ticket packs, VOD rentals powered by CineSend, and cross-organization linked memberships, with monetization through a mix of subscriptions, transaction fees, and setup fees.

Product overview

FilmBot is a unified cinema management platform combining website and point-of-sale capabilities specifically designed for independent cinemas and film festivals. The core offering consists of the Cinema Website Platform for customizable theater websites and Online Ticketing System for ticket sales, supported by add-on modules including iPad Box Office for in-person sales, Ticket Scanner App for admission validation, Membership Management for subscriber programs, Campaigns and Promotions for marketing, Sales Reports and Charts for analytics, Gift Cards, Donations, and Festival Extension for event-specific needs. Additional festival products include Festival Ticket Packs, Festival VOD Rentals for online screenings, Linked Memberships for cross-venue access, and Fast Import for programming uploads. The Audience Engine combines membership and promotion tools to drive audience retention.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Movies Never Die: A tribute and rallying cry for the future of cinemas, featuring premium hoodies, sweatshirts and long-sleeve tees with glow-in-the-dark designs available at moviesneverdie.com and through independent cinemas.

Products and services

• Cinema Website Platform Cloud-based, customizable cinema website builder for independent cinemas featuring bold immersive layouts, flexible templates and panels for showcasing new releases, repertory titles, film series, retrospectives, and special events, with responsive design and an easy checkout supporting Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• Online Ticketing System Cloud-based point-of-sale ticketing platform for independent cinemas that enables online ticket sales with seamless checkout, showtime scheduling, film series management, and per-transaction ticketing fees.
• iPad Box Office iPad-based box office application sold as a standalone monthly subscription that lets cinema staff sell tickets and concessions, apply member and promotion discounts, process refunds and exchanges, print tickets, and email order confirmations.
• Ticket Scanner App Standalone companion mobile application for iOS and Android that scans QR codes from email confirmations to verify online ticket orders and grant admission at cinema doors.
• Festival Extension Specialized website theme and ticketing system designed for film festivals, offering schedule builders, cart checkout, ticket packs, VOD rentals, sponsor/venue sections, customizable panels, and a one-time setup fee of $875.
• Audience Engine Combined marketing automation suite pairing versatile monthly and annual memberships with smart, visit-history-based promotions and discount codes to drive audience retention and lift ticketing and concession revenue.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7 million+ tickets sold through the platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• A24coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Distributor partner for Lost Films of Covid series re-release. Provided films including 'Red Rocket' (with Sean Baker lending personal 35mm print) and 'First Cow'.
• NEONcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Distributor partner for Lost Films of Covid series providing 'Pig' and 'Painter and the Thief' for theatrical re-release.
• IFC FilmscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Distributor partner for Lost Films of Covid series providing 'Relic' for theatrical re-release.
• GKIDScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Distributor partner for Lost Films of Covid series providing 'Wolfwalkers' for theatrical re-release.
• Film MovementcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Distributor partner for Lost Films of Covid series providing 'The Wild Goose Lake' for theatrical re-release.
• Art House ConvergencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2025Lead Sponsor of AHC 2025 Annual Convening. Long-term partnership supporting independent cinema community gatherings, panels, and industry collaboration.
• The Movie DatabasecoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnership providing rich film metadata, posters, and programming information directly within the Filmbot platform for cinema websites and showtime listings.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processing integration for all online ticket sales, box office transactions, concessions, merchandise, memberships, and donations.
• CineSendcoreTechnology or IntegrationVOD integration for film festivals enabling geo-blocking, DRM security, and configurable watch windows for online rentals.
• Film Festival AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey sponsor partnership with Film Festival Alliance, co-organizing IND/EX 2026 conference alongside Art House Convergence.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• FilmFreeway: FilmFreeway is the dominant film festival submission and management platform and increasingly offers ticketing tools. While it focuses upstream on submissions, it shares FilmBot's festival customer base and adjacent functionality.

Direct peers

• Arts Management Systems: Arts Management Systems provides ticketing, membership, and box-office software for cinemas, theaters, and cultural venues. It competes head-to-head with FilmBot for independent cinema and repertory programming customers.
• CenterEDGE Software: CenterEDGE provides point-of-sale, ticketing, and online sales software to entertainment venues including cinemas and family entertainment centers, competing for the same independent and SMB cinema accounts as FilmBot.
• Veezi (Vista Group): Veezi is a cloud-based cinema management and POS platform from Vista Group, widely used by independent and mid-size cinemas for ticketing, concessions, and membership — a direct overlap with FilmBot's core offering for the indie exhibition segment.
• BOCS (Box Office Cinema Software): BOCS provides cloud-based cinema ticketing, POS, and reporting software targeting independent and arthouse cinemas in the UK and beyond — competing for the same SMB cinema operators FilmBot serves.
• Eventive: Eventive is a ticketing and virtual cinema platform purpose-built for film festivals and independent cinemas, including VOD, schedule builders, and pass management — a direct rival to FilmBot's Festival Extension offering.
• Theatre Manager: Theatre Manager is a long-standing cinema and performing arts ticketing / POS system used by independent theaters for box-office, membership, and online sales. It directly overlaps with FilmBot's feature set and target buyer.

Broad incumbents

• Fandango: Fandango is the largest consumer-facing movie ticketing platform in the US and is integrated with FilmBot for third-party distribution. It represents both a partner and a broader incumbent with substantially greater scale.
• Square (Block): Square provides general-purpose POS and online checkout used by many small and independent businesses including cinemas. While not cinema-specific, it competes for the same SMB operator wallet on basic ticketing and concession checkout.
• Vista Cinema: Vista Cinema is the enterprise cinema management software arm of Vista Group, serving large cinema chains globally. It competes in the same category as FilmBot but targets the chain/multiplex end of the market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FilmBot