A year ago, LAist wrote about a group of energetic, young, indie filmmakers who, instead of taking the traditional route of trying to get their movies into film festivals, invented a new model of film promotion by putting together their own little film festival and taking it on the road, touring from city to city in a van, rock band-style. more ›

Last year, Todd Sklar directed Box Elder, a hilarious coming-of-age college comedy, on a shoestring budget of only $70,000. It immediately found a following in the college town of Columbia, Missouri (where the film was shot on location) playing to sold-out audiences for a month straight. Sklar knew his film could find an audience outside Columbia, but instead of following the standard art-house film distribution model (show at festivals, sell to investors, then get a third-party distributor) Sklar took a cue from the music industry and decided to take his film "on tour" to promote the movie, much like a band would try to promote a new album.
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