Opening the Gate: API and BackHome LLC Partner With Cross Market Films to Connect African Filmmakers With Tubi

A new acquisition call creates a structured, transparent pathway for African filmmakers to reach one of the world's largest free streaming platforms. Here's why it matters — and what it signals about where African cinema is headed.

The problem has always been access.

African filmmakers have long produced work that rivals global standards in storytelling, performance, and cultural depth. What has consistently lagged behind is not the work — it is the infrastructure around the work. The distribution pipelines. The platform relationships. The knowledge of how to get from a finished film to a global audience without being exploited, undervalued, or simply overlooked.

That is the gap African Pictures International was built to close.

In December 2025, African Pictures International (API) and BackHome LLC jointly issued an acquisition call on behalf of Cross Market Films — inviting African filmmakers to submit their work for placement on Tubi, the ad-supported video-on-demand platform owned by FOX Corporation, with over 80 million monthly active users globally.

Cross Market Films holds the direct aggregator relationship with Tubi. API and BackHome LLC bring the filmmaker network, strategic communications, and industry relationships that make the pathway real and accessible. Together, the three partners have created something the African film industry has needed for a long time — a structured, filmmaker-friendly route to one of the world's fastest-growing streaming platforms.

It was not simply an acquisition call. It was a signal.

What Tubi Represents

Tubi is not a niche platform. It is one of the fastest-growing free streaming services in the world, consistently ranking among the top AVOD destinations in the United States and expanding aggressively into international markets. FOX Corporation has invested heavily in its growth, and the data consistently shows what African film industry insiders have long suspected — there is substantial, demonstrable appetite for African and African diaspora content on global platforms.

The proof is already visible. Films like Angela White and Chris Attoh's NINE, alongside a growing catalogue of Nigerian and Ghanaian features, have shown remarkable viewer retention among US audiences and the global African diaspora on Tubi. The demand exists. The audience is there. The platform is willing. What has been missing is a structured, filmmaker-friendly pathway to access it.

That is precisely what this three-party collaboration was designed to create.

A Decade in the Making

The collaboration between Sahndra Fon Dufe and Adewole Lipede is not new. Their partnership stretches back a decade — to the early development of Yefon: The Red Necklace and its accompanying children's book campaign. It is a relationship built on shared values — a belief that African cinema is commercially ready for global positioning, and a commitment to building the systems that make that positioning possible.

"African filmmakers deserve consistent, structured access to global distribution," said Lipede. "Our decade-long relationship with API is rooted in a shared belief that African cinema is ready for broader commercial positioning. Tubi offers that scale. Our goal is to ensure filmmakers not only reach global audiences but also participate meaningfully in revenue opportunities."

The language is deliberate. Not charity. Not exposure. Revenue opportunities. Participation. That framing matters enormously in an industry where African creatives have too often been promised visibility and delivered very little in return.

The Acquisition Call — What It Is

The call, issued through Cross Market Films with API and BackHome LLC as strategic partners, invites African filmmakers to submit completed films for Tubi placement consideration across the following categories:

Christmas and holiday films · Nollywood and African feature films in English or French · Drama, comedy, romance, inspirational, family, and thriller features.

Technical requirements are clear and professional — minimum 1080p resolution, clean audio, SRT subtitle files for non-English dialogue, and clear documentation of global distribution rights. These are not arbitrary barriers. They are the standards that ensure African films enter global platforms at the level they deserve — not as afterthoughts, but as professional, commercial releases.

Submissions are directed to info@africanpicturesinternational.com with the subject line: TUBI Placement – Film Submission.

What This Signals

The Tubi distribution partnership is not a standalone initiative. It is one component of a larger distribution infrastructure that API is building — a system designed to ensure that African stories do not just get made, but get seen, monetized, and positioned for long-term commercial relevance.

"The African film market has evolved, and international demand has never been higher," said Sahndra Fon Dufe. "We have seen diaspora-driven content perform exceptionally well on Tubi. This call is part of our long-term commitment to bridging African creators with platforms that value their work. Quality storytelling, strong production values, and global accessibility remain our core priorities."

That word — accessibility — is doing significant work. It acknowledges something the African film industry has known for years: the barrier between a great African film and a global audience is not quality. It is access. It is infrastructure. It is the systematic absence of the kind of relationships, knowledge, and pipelines that American and European filmmakers take for granted.

API is building those pipelines. The Tubi distribution partnership is one of them. The seven-nation theatrical deal for Lights Out is another. Black Film Wire's 102-country editorial reach is another. The SaaS platforms — CastAfrika, CallSheet Africa, TaleSafe Africa, ScreenRights Africa — are the operational layer beneath it all.

The Bigger Picture

What does it look like when African cinema finally has infrastructure that matches its ambition?

It looks like a filmmaker in Yaoundé submitting their completed feature to a pathway that leads directly to 80 million global viewers — with transparent terms, professional technical support, and revenue participation.

It looks like diaspora audiences in Atlanta, London, Toronto, and Lagos finding the stories they have always wanted on the platforms they already use.

It looks like African IP — the stories, the characters, the cultural worlds — accumulating long-term commercial value rather than being extracted once and forgotten.

That is the work. The Tubi partnership is one step in a much longer journey. But it is a real step — documented, structured, and open to every African filmmaker ready to take it.

African filmmakers interested in Tubi placement are invited to submit via: info@africanpicturesinternational.com Subject: TUBI Placement – Film Submission

Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis. Quality storytelling, strong production values, and clear global distribution rights are the primary evaluation criteria. Cross Market Films holds the Tubi aggregator relationship. API and BackHome LLC serve as strategic partners on the acquisition call.

African Pictures International is a global creative infrastructure company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with operations in Lagos and Yaoundé. API operates across film and TV production, media, distribution, SaaS platforms, and strategic consultancy — building the infrastructure that makes African storytelling inevitable.