Public performance distribution?

This method is called "four walling". Most theaters will
rent out one of their screens. You rent the screen for
the night and keep all the admissions. Many colleges
will rent out their theaters for a screening. Here in
Los Angeles there are several coffee houses and night
clubs that have movie nights. Maybe there's something
similar where you are.

Yep, "four walling" the premiere of my new movie October 26th here in Nashville. I did the same thing on my last film. Prices will vary, but the historic "art" theatre here in town will rent you a 200 seat theatre (with a local filmmaker discount) on an "off night" like Tuesday for $400, plus $50 for the projectionist. At $7 a ticket 65 people breaks even. I had about 180 at my last premiere. My film is a short so I solicit shorts from other local filmmakers to fill out my two hour block. They are so happpy to get their film on the big screen they are OK with not getting a cut of the money. This is how I financed the festival submissions for my last film.

cool, thanks for introducing me to the idea of "four wallling"

alternatively, is there any way to freely offer your film up to small independent theaters, and "allow" them to show the film and keep any/most revenue they might generate? it seems like if it's a good movie, then they'd be getting a better deal than with a distributor where the theater barely keeps any ticket revenue...

ooopie said:

cool, thanks for introducing me to the idea of "four wallling"

alternatively, is there any way to freely offer your film up to small independent theaters, and "allow" them to show the film and keep any/most revenue they might generate? it seems like if it's a good movie, then they'd be getting a better deal than with a distributor where the theater barely keeps any ticket revenue...

Click to expand...

This seems like a fair deal. You can ask any of your
local theaters if they will do this.

One thing to think about; how do people find out the
movie is playing? And what makes people go to a theater
to see a movie? "A good movie" is part of that. And
advertising is a huge part. A theater owner who is getting,
say, 40% or even 30% of the ticket price for a movie that
has a big star that people want to see and a studio is
spending millions advertising on TV and in the newspaper
and online, might be getting more money than for a movie
like yours. Even if they are keeping 90% of the ticket price.

So be prepared to answer a theater owners questions, like:
who will pay for the ad's and who is in it? As you know, "a
good movie" isn't always enough to get people to pay to see
a movie in a theater.

ok, and to reverse the question....

What if I run some kind of small indie cinema, how do I find films I can afford to show on my screen every night?


thanks again for all of your help.

That's a tough one.

There are tens of thousands of filmmakers out there
who would LOVE to have their movie screened at your
small indie cinema. Getting filmmaker to PAY you (four
walling) is something else. And getting people to PAY to
see the movies is something else again.

Running a small indie cinema costs money. Advertising
costs money. So getting people in the seats is essential.
You can find enough films to run a double feature shown
with three to five short films each night of the week. Can
you get people to pay to see them?