On the bus
10/22/08—Four filmmakers take their work on tour. And tonight's their last stop in San Francisco.When a band completes an album, they take to the road. And when you’re a rockstar filmmaker like Todd Sklar—you do the same.
Bouncing between college towns like Boulder, Colorado, and major metropolises like Los Angeles, Sklar, who produced, directed, wrote, and acted in his 2007 laugh-out-loud portrait of college life, Box Elder, continues his three-month, 22-city tour, at the Clay Theatre. This is his second national tour with the film, but this time he doesn’t come alone.
Three other critically acclaimed films, On the Road with Judas, In Memory of My Father, and Registered Sex Offender also hit the road with Sklar and his newly founded niche-oriented distribution company, Range Life Entertainment.
Range Life’s approach is a clear departure from the standard art-house film-distribution scheme: a filmmaker gets his film featured at a popular film festival like Sundance, has it bought by investors, then gets it distributed by a third-party company that tries to attract a nation-wide audience.
Sklar suggests instead that the film’s creator, who knows the film’s audience best, should maintain an active role in seeking out his film’s niche audience. This philosophy couples with Sklar’s desire to make publicized events of the screenings (whether by organizing a concert or post-film fête to go along with the film) and the downright gumption to get out on the streets to do some real recruiting and grassroots PR. (I witnessed Sklar and his posse walking Mission Street, introducing themselves and inviting passersby to his film on Saturday night.)
In due time, this concept may turn out to be as evolutionary for the film industry as it is revolutionary.
The tour’s final screening in San Francisco and the Grand Jury Prize nominee at Sundance, On the Road with Judas begins tonight at 7 p.m. at the Clay Theatre: 2261 Fillmore St.
Main photo: Producer, director, writer, and actor Todd Sklar. Photo by Dean Peterson.
Bouncing between college towns like Boulder, Colorado, and major metropolises like Los Angeles, Sklar, who produced, directed, wrote, and acted in his 2007 laugh-out-loud portrait of college life, Box Elder, continues his three-month, 22-city tour, at the Clay Theatre. This is his second national tour with the film, but this time he doesn’t come alone.
Three other critically acclaimed films, On the Road with Judas, In Memory of My Father, and Registered Sex Offender also hit the road with Sklar and his newly founded niche-oriented distribution company, Range Life Entertainment.
Range Life’s approach is a clear departure from the standard art-house film-distribution scheme: a filmmaker gets his film featured at a popular film festival like Sundance, has it bought by investors, then gets it distributed by a third-party company that tries to attract a nation-wide audience.
Sklar suggests instead that the film’s creator, who knows the film’s audience best, should maintain an active role in seeking out his film’s niche audience. This philosophy couples with Sklar’s desire to make publicized events of the screenings (whether by organizing a concert or post-film fête to go along with the film) and the downright gumption to get out on the streets to do some real recruiting and grassroots PR. (I witnessed Sklar and his posse walking Mission Street, introducing themselves and inviting passersby to his film on Saturday night.)
In due time, this concept may turn out to be as evolutionary for the film industry as it is revolutionary.
The tour’s final screening in San Francisco and the Grand Jury Prize nominee at Sundance, On the Road with Judas begins tonight at 7 p.m. at the Clay Theatre: 2261 Fillmore St.
Main photo: Producer, director, writer, and actor Todd Sklar. Photo by Dean Peterson.
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