The Logistics and Economics of Touring - Angry Filmmaker Style - Part One
I still think about this when people ask when I’m going to go out on tour again.
Face it, it costs money to tour and if you’re an independent what you’re hoping for is to break even. A profit would be great but to be on the road for 2 months at a time, do gig after gig, drive, eat, and sleep in different places, breaking even should never be assumed.
I toured with my films and books for years and here are a few things I’ve figured out.
In addition to paying for the tour and being on the road you have to cover the bills back home. At home I pay rent, car and health insurance, phone, and electricity as well as any credit card or loan payments. On the road I have gas, food, lodging, miscellaneous car expenses (oil changes, coolant, repairs, and whatever) and heaven forbid if I have a major breakdown, what’s that going to cost?
On my last tour in 2017, I had to fix a few things and put a new transmission in the van ($3500). On the road I had to buy two new tires ($250), and a new starter ($300). I did not break even but on that tour that wasn’t the point. After all of my health problems of the previous years I just wanted to know if I could do it again the way I used to.
I have to pay up front for all of my merchandise, books, DVDs, t-shirts, and stickers.
Even if I can get these costs down it’s still a significant investment and I’m just one person.
Now add in the time it takes to book a tour, emails, phone calls, sending out screeners (now mostly done on-line), coordinating schedules, figuring out a travel plan, and deciding where you can crash with friends, where you have to pay for motels, or sleep in a parking lot.
I start planning and talking to people at least 6 months before I hit the road. Are there film festivals I can be invited to so I can teach a workshop? Where are universities and media art centers located as compared to the film festivals? Film festivals are usually held on weekends, how can I get gigs during the week?
How far do I have to drive to get from one gig to the next? My worst drive was 20 hours as I had made a mistake in figuring out miles and how long it would take for me to go from one city to the next on my schedule.
Is the drive all highway or will I have to get on smaller roads? What’s the traffic going to be like? How much time should I allow. Figuring out time is much harder if you’re in a big city as compared to a small town. I once drove for three days to get to my first gig and because of a traffic jam right at the end I rolled into my first lecture 20 minutes late. Everyone stared at me thinking I was just a disorganized artist and not someone who had just driven 1400 miles.
What time of year am I going out? I used to do two tours a year, spring and fall. If I’m going out in the fall I would start up north and finish up in the south. In the spring I would start in the south and finish up in the north hoping that the weather wouldn’t be a problem. It often was.
What part of the country am I driving through, and what’s the weather going to be like. If the weather is bad how will that impact getting to the next gig? I have driven through snow storms, heavy rain and wind, as well as hail and scorching temperatures.
What if I breakdown? How do I get to the next gig? What is my back up plan? Luckily I never needed one. In 7 years on the road I only remember missing one gig because of snow. I found out later that some filmmakers drove through the snow to see me and I wasn’t there. I felt awful about that for a long time.
I want to do as many appearances as close as I can from one city to the next. Cut down on my driving. Once again, I’m on the road by myself and as smart as both Moses and Mickey were, I was never able to teach them how to drive to take some of the stress off of me. Since dogs don’t have opposable thumbs, something like driving a van is damn near impossible for them.
How do I promote my workshops and screenings? Besides social media do I know anyone physically where I’m headed and can they get out the word? I used to do newspaper interviews, is that even a thing anymore?
In the early days I would be assured by the venue that they would promote me. I have played many places where the organizers would apologize because they didn’t get the word out for whatever reason. If people don’t show up not only do I not make any money, it’s also really depressing to do a workshop or screening with just 2 or 3 people in attendance. Any yes, I did a screening once for a single person. In stead of being upset I did the best screening I could for that one person. I learned that I have to get the word out because if people don’t show up that’s on me.
I always ask myself. Am I charging too much for a workshop or an appearance, or too little?
I’ve had many people say they want to book me, string me a long and then suddenly a week before the gig tell me that they can’t afford me. Or they just ghost me. Which punches a hole in my schedule. Should I agree to take a smaller fee for the gig? Should I do it for free to build my audience and hope I can make it up in merchandise sales?
I found out the hard way that if you do a gig for free, even if you pack the place and everyone is excited when they leave, the organizers want you to come back again, for free. They tell you how badly they want you to come back and how much everyone liked the presentation however, they still can’t/won’t pay you.
I ask myself what else is going on in town when I’m going to be there? Will people opt to go see someone/something else instead of coming to my gig? What kind of venue will I be at and what is the area like? Yes I’ve played in some pretty sketchy areas and that affected my turnout.
And then personally for me, I travel with my dog so I have to think about arrangements for him? I’ve been assured that the hotel/motel/lodging facility is aware I travel with a dog and there will be no problems, only to arrive and find out these places had no idea I was bringing a dog and they don’t allow them. Now what?
There are so many details to think about. On every tour, I was still booking and ironing out things while I was on the road.
To be continued… Part two will be next week.
Thanks for reading.
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