The Rise of Traveling Road Tours: Indie Filmmakers Find New Audiences with a Time-Tested Exhibition Model
The hot new path to indie film distribution may not run through New York or Los Angeles.
Indie filmmakers are taking their films on the road. Often, they target specific regions like the American Midwest or South. These traveling tours may feature live components — a Q&A, a concert, or a performance. Controlling your content sounds very 21st-century, but it’s literally one of the oldest tricks in the book.
More from IndieWire
Vaudeville-like tours have been a part of the film industry since the 1920s, when a project’s physical filmstock would travel from city to city in order to screen for a limited number of weeks. Movies were paired with overtures and intermissions rather than short subjects or promotional trailers. Some of these elements persisted through the 1960s, but the road shows of today are not an exercise in nostalgia or in corporate strategy; they’re a roadmap to success.
“For the premiere of my last movie, ‘Craving,’ we did a theatrical screening in a sold-out room with over 200 seats,” director and popular YouTube personality J. Horton told IndieWire. “Honestly, I used to shy away from screening my films with audiences. It was partly a social anxiety thing, and maybe it felt a little too self-congratulatory. But when ‘Craving’ started to play, everything shifted.”
On YouTube, Horton develops his audience by divulging trade secrets on film financing and marketing. Like many filmmakers, he appreciates the revenue from streaming. But while his DIY experience reinforced the power of in-person screenings, he knew his latest project — genre-bending creature feature “A Hard Place” — demanded a more creative distribution approach.
Major Theaters Want Indie Filmmakers
Horton enlisted the help of indie filmmaker Peter Hyoguchi, who had recently completed his own tour of his latest film, “The Occult.” Hyoguchi learned so much on his road show that he wanted to share his knowledge with other indie filmmakers interested in DIY distribution. With his editor, Robert Dias, Hyoguchi developed CineRoad, a masterclass that encourages directors to embrace grassroots film exhibition.
“When I approached theaters directly, I was surprised to be greeted with open arms,” said Hyoguchi. “Mainstream theaters are increasingly open to making deals with indie filmmakers. This past summer, I spent four months touring Texas, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, screening my film ‘The Occult’ to packed houses. I built valuable relationships with theater owners and managers and learned the business of theatrical exhibition.”
Friends and collaborators like Horton also found a warm response.
“Accessibility doesn’t always mean connection,” said Horton. “There’s a growing hunger among audiences to experience these stories the way they’re meant to be seen — in a theater, with a crowd…That’s where the road show model comes in. It’s not just about showing a film; it’s about creating an event.”
Horton kicked off his “A Hard Place” road show January 12 at Englewood Cinema, just outside Dayton, Ohio. Owner Cory Floyd has collaborated with Horton, Hyoguchi, and B-movie legend J.R. Bookwalter, who made a stop in Englewood on his road show of his latest film “Side Effects May Vary.” Owning a movie theater was a lifelong dream for Floyd, who notes that a commitment to supporting independent film is not always compatible with the need to turn a profit.
“The road show model really does a great job of fusing these things together,” said Floyd. “The cinema for us is not just a financial avenue. The road show is at the heart of supporting future creativity not only with [the filmmakers] but also within your community.”
More Access for Less “Jaded” Cities
Many road shows travel through Midwest communities, Horton said, because they’re more appreciative.
“Audiences there aren’t as jaded as they are in bigger coastal cities like New York or Los Angeles,” he said. “In the Midwest, they’re actually excited about these opportunities. They show up, they engage, and they’re genuinely curious.”
Road shows also exploit a market gap. As major theater chains consolidate and focus their efforts on blockbusters and perhaps the occasional indie darling, regions across the United States lose access. A successful road show can not only increase its accessibility, it also can elevate a film’s profile.
That was the case for last year’s surprise hit, Mike Cheslik’s “Hundreds of Beavers.” By the end of the “Beavers” multi-state traveling releases, news spread of the film’s slapstick sensibilities and generated interest from arthouse theaters across the country. The film’s producers hired independent booker Jessica Rosner — a former Kino Lorber executive — to expand its theatrical presence. It netted box office over five times its $150,000 budget.
“Beavers” producer Kurt Ravenwood always believed the film offered that kind of upside. That confidence crystallized throughout the film’s regional festival run in 2023, when Cheslik and his co-writer/leading man Ryland Brickson Cole Tews began bringing props to screenings. That converted shows into one-of-a-kind experiences, with Tews wrestling beaver mascots live onstage. It was a natural fit for the old-school vaudeville houses Ravenwood identified as stops along the tour.
“As we toured, we refined these moments into a more polished experience, eventually codifying the best bits into the Great Lakes Roadshow,” said Ravenwood. “Theater owners often seek unique draws for under-advertised indie films, and the road show format delivered exactly that — a fun, interactive way to engage audiences.”
More Opportunities for Genre Movies
Smaller theaters that might have hesitated to screen independent genre fare changed their minds with the introduction of live performances and behind-the-scenes tidbits. Ravenwood and his team also attached live Q&As to each screening, and targeted cities with historic theaters or personal attachments to the film’s cast and crew. They developed a model that simultaneously offered filmgoers the singular cinematic experiences they crave, and filmmakers what they covet most: rooms full of people watching their work.
Among the independent filmmakers paying attention were directorial duo Nick Psinakis and Kevin Ignatius, who embarked on their first road show with “Cheat” late last year. Psinakis and Ignatius, who own Four Eighteen Films, found success the old-fashioned way with their previous film, “The Long Dark Trail”: They secured a deal with a sales agent who landed them a minimum guarantee with Cleopatra Entertainment. That opportunity didn’t present itself with their latest project.
“We faced a year of uninspiring and disappointing offers,” the duo said. “It became clear we had to take control of the distribution ourselves.”
Inspired by “Hundreds of Beavers,” the filmmakers developed a unique itinerary for “Cheat.” They kicked off in Ignatius’ hometown of Warren, PA, where they’ve also filmed three of their projects. Other stops included the Water’s Edge Cinema in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. For each stop, they designed and distributed personalized “film bills” with background on the film and the filmmakers.
“Our film’s modest production budget of just $65,000 allows for flexibility and experimentation,” Psinakis said. “We prioritize marketing over immediate box-office success.”
Cheaper Than You’d Think
Road shows are still a gamble, since most filmmakers must cover their own costs. However, these films also avoid the $3,000 fee required by the Motion Picture Association to rate your film, as well as the standard $10,000 booking fee charged by most theaters. Road shows also build for the future, creating relationships as filmmakers work directly with theaters.
There is reason to believe that the road show momentum will have ripple effects across American moviemaking. Ravenwood will participate in a SXSW panel on the advent of film production and exhibition outside of New York and Los Angeles, while Psinakis and Ignatius celebrated their small-town success with a Los Angeles screening this year.
“The flexibility of this road show model also means we can continue touring post-release, bypassing traditional distribution channels and responding directly to audience demand,” Ignatius said. By retaining their distribution rights, filmmakers like Psinakis and Ignatius have a chance to extend the film’s life cycle.
“Streaming revenue has started to slow down, which has forced a reevaluation of how we approach distribution,” said Horton. “At the same time, new opportunities are emerging in the theatrical space. It’s starting to feel more accessible for indie films to secure some kind of theatrical release, even if it’s a smaller, grassroots effort.”
Maybe road shows will create more large-scale distribution opportunities; maybe the road show will be known as the most viable way to grow an audience. For now, it makes Horton optimistic about his chosen craft — despite all the challenges indie filmmakers face.
“Filmmakers who are willing to think outside the box—like embracing the road show model—can tap into a demand that’s very much alive,” said Horton. “It’s an encouraging time for anyone who’s passionate about getting their stories in front of audiences, and it proves that no matter how much the market changes, there’s always a way forward.”
Best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
