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Daily News
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The B-Side of Boffo BO
Although Super High Me’s grassroots exploits are of an entirely different nature than Indiana Jones’ imminent record-busting totals, they deserve to be celebrated just as loudly.
Friday, May 23, 2008 at 12:40 PM
By Richard Horgan
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SuperHighMovie.com
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A unique 4/20-to-5/20 roll
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In spite of the fact that some 35,000 people went to see the marijuana odyssey documentary Super High Me on opening day (Sunday, April 20th, as in 4/20), the box office receipts were nil rather than the $245,000 such a turnout would normally bring in. Why? Because in the name of a grassroots screening series (pun intended) dubbed “Roll Your Own,” no one had to pay to see the film.
“If you look at the list of the top 100 grossing documentaries on BoxOfficeMojo.com, only 14 had a higher opening weekend box office,” says Chris Hyams via e-mail interview with FilmStew. Hyams is the founder and CEO of B-Side Entertainment, the company that independently distributed Super High Me via a host-your-own-screening initiative. “Our opening weekend attendance is greater than six of the top ten grossers of all time (including March of the Penguins, Sicko and Winged Migration), which had more typical platform release patterns.”
“It’s worth noting also that Super High Me’s opening attendance is tallied from one day, and primarily single screenings, compared to three days with 4-5 screenings per day for traditional exhibition,” he continues. “Considering that the vast majority of films spend more on marketing than they earn in gross theatrical revenue, this level of attendance for a documentary is unprecedented. Even before taking into account the marketing budget for Super High Me, which was less than $5,000.”
“Our estimates of total attendance for screening events is 45,000. Assuming a national average ticket price of $7, that would be roughly equivalent to $300,000 in box office receipts, or in line with the multi-million dollar budgeted Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?”
As seen through the bleary eyes of pot-smoking stand-up comic Doug Benson, Super High Me is essentially a stoner’s riff on Laden director Morgan Spurlock’s celebrated debut Super Size Me. From April 20th through this ast Tuesday, May 20th, there were a total of 1,576 grassroots screenings in 975 cities (with 1,076 of those taking place on opening day). Events ranged from private parties for 20 people to public screenings at 2,000-plus seat auditoriums.
| Meanwhile, over on Netflix, whose Red Envelope Entertainment was a producer on the film, Super High Me is, according to Red Envelope exec Liesl Copland, “tracking better than some of the best reviewed films of the year.” Though Netflix subscribers can add the film to their queue today, they must wait until the official DVD release date of June 17th to start inhaling the film’s low-budget charms.
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All in all, the unpaid swath carved by Doug Benson and his comedian friends (the film features cames by everyone from Bob Odenkirk to Patton Oswalt) is nothing short of groundbreaking. Then again, when your screening venues include a Beecher, IL wedding reception, Boulder, CO’s Central Park and an array of two-drink minimum stand-up comedy clubs, that’s almost a given.
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