The Short Answer
There is no single deliverables list for an independent film. The list that counts is the delivery schedule attached to your sales, distribution or festival agreement, and it can run to dozens of items. What does repeat from buyer to buyer is the shape: picture masters, audio masters and stems, a music and effects track, captions and subtitles, trailers and key art, legal and music paperwork, and a technical report showing the files passed quality control. This checklist helps you plan for all of it early and avoid buying the same mix twice.
Throughout this post, "buyer" means whoever receives the film: a distributor, a sales agent, a streamer or a festival. Always follow their current specification sheet. Specs change, and a sheet from last year may not match this year's.
Start With the Delivery Schedule
Ask for it before you lock picture, not after. Read it with your editor, your sound mixer and your colorist in the room, and highlight each line that costs money or needs another person. Then work backward from the delivery date. Note anything that depends on other people: music licences, composer stems, dubbing, audio description.
Legal and insurance items on a schedule, such as chain of title, errors and omissions insurance and clearance documents, belong with an entertainment lawyer or your insurance broker. This post does not cover them.
Picture Deliverables
| Item | What it usually means | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Textless master | The finished picture with no titles, subtitles or text on screen | Required for localization |
| Textless elements | Textless version of any text shots, plus the main and end titles on their own | Often a separate file |
| Mastering format | A high quality file or package, for example ProRes, an IMF package or an uncompressed image sequence | Named by the buyer |
| HDR or SDR | Rec.709 SDR, an HDR master or both | See color pipeline basics |
| Frame rate and resolution | Normally the native project frame rate and a named resolution | Do not convert unless told |
| Aspect ratio | The delivered frame, and any letterbox or pillarbox rules | Follow the sheet |
| Slate and bars | Some buyers want color bars, tone and a slate before the first frame | Follow the sheet |
On packaging, Netflix is a useful public example because it publishes its delivery documents. Its IMF delivery instructions describe an IMF package built to SMPTE ST 2067-21 Application 2E, and say that secondary assets such as extra audio and timed text are not carried inside the IMF but delivered through separate requests. We checked that on 2026-10-17, and we are using it only to show how a buyer can specify things, not as a requirement for your film.
Audio Deliverables
Mix formats and loudness rules differ by buyer, so ask early what you need to mix to.
- Final mix in the formats named by the buyer, commonly 5.1 and stereo. Netflix's published sound mix specification, for example, calls for 5.1 on all titles with 2.0 optional, and a dialogue-gated loudness target of about minus 27 LKFS within a tolerance. Other buyers set other numbers.
- Stems. Separate dialogue, music and effects stems. Netflix's guidance asks for that separation on series, documentary, unscripted and comedy content, and says to keep it for film content whenever possible.
- M&E (music and effects). A mix without dialogue, used to make dubbed or localized versions. Netflix defines it as an audio mix excluding program dialogue, containing only music and effects, and its guidelines say it must sync to the final picture. A usable M&E needs the sound effects that sat under the dialogue (foley, walla and room tone) to be fully built, not just what was in the final mix.
- Print master or deliverable sync checks: confirm that mixes line up with the final picture and with each other.
- Audio description and dubbing, if the schedule requires them, because each one is a separate production job.
Tell the sound team about the M&E requirement before the mix begins. It is cheaper to build it while the sessions are open than to fix it later.
Captions, Subtitles and Text
Deliver them as timed text files unless a buyer asks for burned-in text.
- English captions or SDH, and any foreign-language subtitles in the buyer's file format.
- Forced narrative subtitles for foreign dialogue in an English film, if asked.
- A dialogue list or script, often required with the subtitle files.
- Our post on captions and subtitles covers formats and common mistakes.
Marketing and Press Assets
- Trailer or trailers, with textless versions and the social cuts described in trailer social cutdown specs
- Key art, poster and credited stills
- EPK materials, as covered in the EPK production guide
- Cast and crew biographies, synopses and credits
QC and the Technical Report
Most buyers require a quality control pass, either from an approved lab or their own team. QC looks at things you can miss on a good monitor, such as:
- Picture: dropped frames, flashes, dead pixels, illegal video levels, text outside the safe area
- Audio: sync, phase, clipping, loudness and peaks, missing channels
- Text: spelling, timing, overlaps
- Metadata: file names, timecode start, frame rate, color tags
Run your own checklist first. Fixing a problem after the buyer's QC fails costs you time and sometimes a second fee. Keep the QC report with the delivery.
Paperwork You Will Be Asked For
Plan to collect: final cast and crew credits, music cue sheet with licences, clearance logs and release forms, a script as shot, and the technical information about your files. Talk to your lawyer about which legal documents are required and who prepares them.
Common Mistakes
- Locking picture before reading the schedule
- Mixing without an M&E plan
- Using temp music in the final mix with no licence
- Converting frame rate after the master is made
- Delivering a file with a different cut from the one the buyer approved
- Naming files in a way no one else understands
Want a person to help?
We help independent filmmakers plan and finish their post deliverables, from masters to captions to QC prep. See our post-production services, or contact us with your delivery schedule and we will walk through the list with you.
Plan post-production deliverables for an independent film
Get the delivery schedule early
Ask the buyer for the current specification sheet before picture lock.
Mark every costly line
Highlight items that need extra people, licences or outside vendors, and set a date for each.
Brief picture, sound and color
Share the relevant lines with your editor, mixer and colorist before work begins.
Build masters and stems
Create the picture master, textless elements, final mixes, stems and M&E.
Prepare text and marketing assets
Deliver captions, subtitles, trailers, key art and stills in the named formats.
Run your own QC, then formal QC
Check picture, audio, text and metadata, fix errors, then submit for the buyer's QC.
Questions people ask
What deliverables does an independent film need?
It depends on the buyer. Common items are a picture master, a textless master, final audio mixes, stems, an M&E track, captions and subtitles, trailers, key art, a technical QC report and paperwork. Use the delivery schedule in your agreement as the list.
What is an M&E track?
An M&E is a mix of music and effects with no dialogue, used to make dubbed and localized versions. It needs the effects that sat under the dialogue to be fully built so there are no gaps when the dialogue is removed.
What are stems?
Stems are separate sub-mixes of the final mix, normally dialogue, music and effects, so the buyer can remix, localize or repurpose the film later.
Do I need a QC report?
Many buyers require a technical quality control pass and report before accepting delivery. Check your schedule, and run your own checks first so the formal QC does not find problems you could have fixed.
Written by the team at Clouds Agency, a Los Angeles creative and production consulting agency.