The short answer is that few people would get to see the film and we would lose money.

The long answer is that it costs money to distribute a film to theaters: posters, advertisements, etc. Figure $250,000 just to put your hat in the ring. If you don't have that money, the distributor will pay for it, but to make sure they can make money, they have you sign over all the rights associated with the film: DVD, soundtrack... everything. Because $250,000 doesn't buy much advertising, even very good independent films end up not getting as much buzz as the Hollywoood studio releases who are spending millions. So not many people know about the film, not many people go to the film, and the initial theater results tell the distributor not to put anymore money into the project. The film dies in the theater and the distributor just hopes that it sells enough DVDs over the next 20 years to get their money back. Meanwhile, the filmmaker can't touch his film to get his film out of distribution jail.

So instead of selling all our rights to a distributor and watching an underfunded film struggle, we are going straight to the people. We hope that people will hear about us because of this unusual tour we are doing and come to see the film. When they experience the magic of DreamRiders, we're sure they will talk about it and spread the word. And we hope to raise a significant amount of money through sales and sponsorship so we then can start a theatrical tour with a lot of buzz, more money and a better shot of making sure everyone gets to see DreamRiders.

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If your barn is cleared by the fire marshall, has plenty of seats, is somewhere people in your town would go to, and has electrical power: YES!

Room Needs:

• 10' minimum ceiling height to fit our screen, but higher is better
• Portable or permanent seating
• Power for projector and sound equipment

Room Wishes

• Fairly dark or windows can be somehow shaded
• Enough seats to accomodate a large crowd if we get one
• A place for a local group to sell concessions (they keep profit)
• Low cost or sponsored (perhaps a local group could sponsor us?)

Call 646-225-6639 if you have a venue you think might work.

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We are selecting equipment to make the best possible viewing experience... like going to the movies.

We have already purchased the screen and the bike trailer.

Trailer: an extra long, CycleTote Touring Model. Heavy duty enough to pull the estimated 175 pounds of equipment, yet with excellent handling.

Screen: a Da-Lite Fast-Fold Portable Screen - 7'6" x 10' - with Cinema Vision coating. Preferred height of the assembled screen is 11'2". Large and specially coated for brilliant image.

We are planning on purchasing:

Projector: an Epson Powerlite Pro Cinema 7100 . Amazing image brightness, contrast and sharpness. (UPDATE: Epson is sponsoring us and has shipped us one of these units. It's beautiful!)

Sound System: a Fender Passport PD-500 portable setup. Concert quality sound.

We are still seeking sponsorship for a portion or all of these items to defray our costs. In return, sponsors will receive the highest visibility we can offer. See our sponsor page for details.

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Exactly. We want to be a happening. See the last paragraph of Why don't you book theaters? question above.

Besides the advantages of smaller towns for spreading the word about our film and our crazy tour, we just like small towns. The bike tour went through a lot of them and that's where we met the interesting people. Will has lived in several and knows the values found in smaller communities match those of this film. It's a good fit and since we want to start conversations and interact with people, it's our best fit. It's not just a stepping stone to something bigger; it's a chance to do something really important for people that will give a darn about our efforts. Hope to meet you soon. (by the way, Will is a CT resident)

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Both? We don't like calling it a documentary because they are usually about teaching you about an issue. Our film is more of a narrative that lets you vicariously experience both the thrill of this "summer of adventure" and the complex emotions and hopes and dreams of a father and son as they try to find common ground.

The reactions from our viewers show that people are entertained and moved at the same time--moved to go the distance for love. See quotes and reviews.

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Yes. Nothing made up here. It's real life, but it's like real life on steroids. We had a whole summer of the most amazing adventures while at the same time feeling a driving need to reestablish a connection. This led to inevitable conflicts. It also led to serendipities that seem too good to be true, but it is all true.

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Seems like it. In our defense, we're not asking people to pay for us. We'll gladly accept any offers of hospitality (or just sleep outside on the ground and eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches like we did on the trip).

But we know there are people out there that 1) believe in our message and 2) would be willing to help us spread it by contributing financially to our project. So we hope you're not offended by our just trying to be smart and leave the door open for those people. See our Meet Us page for more details.

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Will's riding a bike and pulling all the gear. We wanted it close!

But that's only part of the reason. We chose towns with no cinema, based it on population, and hoped that word of mouth would spread after a screening so people from nearby towns who missed the show would go to the next town for a show the next day. Also it makes it more likely to get people to ride from town to town with Will.

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If a show in a nearby town is cancelled or wants to swap dates, we might be able to make a change. However, we are planning on 31 straight shows, so not every night will be the perfect night. Also, we're pulling all the equipment with a bicycle, so we've chosen towns and dates based on what makes it easiest to get to. If the change in distance is too great, we might not be able to accomodate you.

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