FLIXTOUR Winds Down after Wobbly Beginnings

"I think the excursion to Sundance really made them step back and realize how big FLIXTOUR was," Karl Hirsch claims, "and how unprepared FLIXTOUR was in handling itself. All sorts of things went wrong in Park City. It was incredibly frustrating." So instead of a glitzy opening, the four directors got to meet each other in a snowy setting and that was about it. LeGros also notes that not screening at Sundance was like "pouring salt in an open wound," but still he "was just glad to be there to see how things work," concluding, "so I don't think it was a waste of time at all." And although Vincent Pereira experienced a lack of faith at the Park City debut, saying that "things didn't quite come together as they should have," he admits, "since then, I got a nice handful of dates. And ultimately that's what matters, not going to Sundance and meeting the press."

And so they went on the road. With approximately 90 total screenings at 40 campuses, FLIXTOUR became a large film event on colleges and universities across the country. And with gross sales to date having reached $224,650 (including sponsorships, submission fees, school contracts, independent theater and extra bookings), McPhee has broken even, no longer providing capital from his own company (First Light Contemporary Releasing). McPhee already gearing up for a Fall opener at this September's IFFM and readying himself for the onslaught of submissions that begins May 1 (The deadline is July 31). McPhee expects next season's tour to include roughly two and half times the number of bookings as the Spring tour.

But what about success for the Spring filmmakers? Directors received $250 per screening with a maximum of $750 per week (not including independent venues where they receive 25% of the gross; for example, Loch Phillipps was able to book a week at a local arthouse in Charleston because of a successful college screening.) They received free flights, a modest $20 per diem and accommodations were usually provided by the colleges. Essentially a traveling film festival, the directors are not selling their films to FLIXTOUR; they are simply lending them for a few-month, mildly-lucrative period. Mark Edgington, the director of one of the shorts (which receive a flat flee of $15 per month), says, "With FLIXTOUR paying us an honorarium per screening, it's a no-brainer. Even if the honorarium isn't much, it's sort of the thought that counts."

Filmmaker's opinions of the tour screenings have been widely divergent, but early on, many complained of small audiences. Perhaps a result of the same lack of advertising that plagued their Sundance launch or just simply bad scheduling (Phillipps's screening at Wilmington College, North Carolina was held the night of the big Duke/North Carolina rivalry game). At the beginning of the tour, Vincent Pereira complained, "They were pretty sparsely attended," but then later added, "In general, I was pretty happy with my turnouts," citing an average of about 50-70, with a few more widely positive exceptions at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Point Park, Pittsburgh. Phillipps and filmmaking partner, Skaife, also experienced small audiences although one of their last dates at the North Carolina School of the Arts did prove to be "fairly well attended" with "projection that was beautiful," despite the fact that "the advertising was late to go up and not entirely pervasive across the campus." Karl Hirsch's few screenings at San Francisco's The Casting Couch had turnouts that he described as "exceedingly small," (only 5 people showed up the first night) but Hirsch puts the blame not on FLIXTOUR's lack of advertising, but on the "the actual venue [which] is a weird one in a strange part of town, and, quite frankly, no one knew about it."

The support for the FLIXTOUR "idea" is overwhelming as those involved tackle the untapped treasure of the college market while expanding distribution alternatives. Theaters are also taking note -- the Texas-based Cinemark Theaters chain is showing interest in carrying the tour. While none of the films in FLIXTOUR are pretending to be mainstream-independent fare, they are on the fringe and that's what makes FLIXTOUR unique. "If it remains committed to a certain kind of films, edgier films," Phillipps and Skaife maintain, "it will succeed. It has to establish a reputation for itself and that reputation is dependent on every film on the tour -- especially during the first few years," say Phillipps and Skaife. "FLIXTOUR has to establish itself as a brand so that people will go to the films because they're FLIXTOUR films."