The streaming industry is evolving and with it comes a world of new opportunities. While some platforms grapple with subscription fatigue and shifting viewer habits, one film industry veteran sees a brighter way forward. After 14 years in film distribution and sales, Zach Rothwell didn’t just notice the challenges—he embraced them as a chance to innovate. His company, ApeFlix, is redefining the streaming experience in a way that is bold and exciting: by rewarding viewers for their time. It’s not just another streaming service—it’s a win-win revolution in entertainment.
Learning from Film Festivals
Film distribution isn’t exactly the glamorous side of movies. But spending years as head of digital at a major UK distributor taught Zach how the industry really works. “I would attend all the major film festivals, selling content and nurturing a global network of buyers and distributors,” he says. Between meetings and deal-making, he started seeing patterns nobody else was talking about. The contacts he made at those festivals would prove valuable later. More importantly however, were the lessons learned about what makes content move – and what stops it dead in its tracks. Every conversation and deal with buyers that didn’t go as planned added another piece to the puzzle that Zach would eventually solve with ApeFlix.
Spotting the Breaking Point
Nobody likes paying for five different streaming services. Zach saw this problem coming years ago. “There is a seismic shift in the film industry going on right now,” he says. “Consumer habits are changing. Subscription models have hit a ceiling.” People still want good content – they just don’t want the bills that come with it. That’s where things get interesting. “Advertisement video on demand is on the rise,” Zach points out, “and that’s because people want premium content without the price tag.” But while everyone else was jumping on the ad-supported bandwagon, Zach had a different idea. What if watching ads could actually pay off for viewers?
Here’s where ApeFlix comes in. Instead of just showing ads between shows, they’re actually paying people to watch. “What we’re doing is rewarding users for their time and attention,” Zach explains. And that’s not all. “All our users earn loyalty points for watching our content and engaging on our platform.” These points work at real stores – over two and a half thousands of them. “The new frontier is all about engagement in this sector,” Zach says. He is betting that viewers who get something back for their time will stick around longer than those who don’t.
Innovating with Technology
The problem with streaming doesn’t stop at subscription fees. There are a lot of technical requirements which are using up money behind the scenes. Zach’s fixing that too. “For the advertiser, we have a contextual AI advertising application to deliver 30 second sound on and non-skippable ads with full screen share,” he explains. Translation: ads that actually work, tracked by blockchain so nobody’s wasting money.
But the real magic happens in how they deliver content. Most streaming services burn cash on expensive servers. Not ApeFlix. “Gone are the times where we use AWS and have to add 30% on to the distributor in the form of costs to cover those servers,” Zach says. They use peer-to-peer sharing instead, like BitTorrent but legal. And the money they save? “We are passing on our savings to our community members in the form of rewards.”
Needless to say that streaming is not going anywhere. People love their shows but the way we pay for them? That’s up for grabs. While Netflix and other companies rival over who has the best shows, Zach’s betting on something else – that people will stick with a service that actually gives back. Perhaps the future of streaming isn’t about having the biggest library or the most original content after all. Maybe it’s about treating viewers like they matter.
After 14 years in the business, Zach might just be onto something. And this time, everybody gets paid to watch. To learn more about Zach Rothwell and his approach, check out his LinkedIn profile.
