Everything you need to know about being a creator on Xerb.
The goals of Xerb are to help you as a creator do two things:
Make money from your work. You submit your videos to channels, and get a share from each that decides to release them.
Build a relationship with your audience. We encourage you to participate in discussions with the people watching your content to help build a loyal following.
Before you Start
It’s important to know that if you need help or have questions, you’ll be able to get in contact with one of us. We love hearing from creators, even if it’s just to find out a little more about you, so please get in touch with us.
Distributing your Videos
You make money when a channel releases your film. Once you have uploaded a video, you submit it to any channels where it would be a good fit so they can review it.
Channels decide what videos to accept for distribution. If they accept your video, they choose a date when it will become available for people to watch. They will often release your video along with videos from other creators at the same time. These are special packages called “Flows”. We’ll talk about them a little later, but they’re useful tools to promote your work and help you build an audience.
Making Money
Except for promotions like free trials, people pay a monthly fee to join Channels and get access to the Watch Anytime section, or may purchase tickets and passes to Virtual Events (see the “How People Watch your Videos” section below for details on how these work).
For Watch Anytime, Channels receive 82% of the money members pay, after payment processing fees. The Channel Runner, which is the person or organization operating the channel, will keep a percentage of what they receive and pay the rest to Creators. You will see how the Channel splits the money they receive before you submit your work.
We use a standard formula to split money between you and the other Creators each month. Right now, this is based on how much of the content currently released on the channel is yours, based on length. This will probably change to incorporate things like view time.
For Virtual Events, you receive a direct percentage of the amount received from ticket and pass sales, after payment processing fees. However, note that not all Channels share revenue from Virtual Events, so you will want to speak with them directly to find out how and if they share revenue.
Getting Paid
At the end of every month, we calculate how much your videos have earned from each channel, and if your balance is over $50 we send your payment within 30 days. These are the ways we can pay you currently:
PayPal. No fee — though it’s possible PayPal may charge a transaction fee, or a currency conversion fee if you receive payments in a currency other than US Dollars.
Paper check. No fee — available in the United States only.
Wire transfer. For larger amounts and on a case-by-case basis, we can send money via wire transfer. The fee for this varies, but could be $30+ USD.
If you have suggestions for other payment methods we should add in the future, let us know.
Note: for some countries, the United States requires us to hold up to 30% of your money for taxes. The United States has “tax treaties” with many countries that reduce this rate, even to 0%. There is a table which lists the rates for countries that the United States has a tax treaty with. Look for the column that shows “Film & TV Royalties”. Here is a link to the table in PDF format:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/Tax_Treaty_Table_1.pdf
How People Watch your Videos
Channels have two ways they can make your videos available, and they will often use both:
Watch Anytime. This is a collection of videos, usually from multiple Creators, that are available to monthly subscribers on-demand.
Virtual Events. Smaller collections of video content, sold via individual tickets or via passes, that are available only for a specific time window. If you would like to participate in Virtual Events, you should contact the Channel Runner directly to coordinate with them.
Building a Relationship with your Audience
While it’s not required, we highly encourage you to interact with the people watching your content. This creates a better experience for them and makes them more likely to watch what you make, and it gives you an opportunity to get to know people who will support work you do now and in the future.
Every creator that promotes the Channel is not just helping themselves, they’re also helping all the other Creators that are collaborating with the Channel.
One of the best ways to do this is through the discussions. We highly recommend making yourself available for the discussions via Watch Anytime or Virtual Events.