For even the most optimistic cinephile, an X-rated horror comedy called “Fuck My Son!” (hereafter, “FMS!”) doesn’t inspire outsized box-office expectations.
And yet, here’s the opening-weekend press release: “Todd Rohal’s ‘FMS!’ opened theatrically in New York City this past weekend, where it exceeded expectations by grossing $9,123 in only four packed shows! This made for the fifth highest per-screen-average in the country, placing it higher than the #1 film at the box office, ‘Black Phone 2.’”
Crowing about a $9,123 weekend can be read as a testament to the declining state of the overall box office. (Comparing the per-screen average to the #1 film is also a bit bold — come on, you were in four theaters!) However, give the “FMS!” team their flowers: In the year 2025, this is how a tiny film finds its audience.
IFC Center is holding the film for another week. After screenings sold out for tonight’s opening at LA’s Alamo Drafthouse, the theater added shows all week. But what’s really impressive is the “FMS!” plan has it opening in a new city every weekend through next February, screening on 35 mm wherever possible.
“FMS!” is self distributed by a collective comprised of Rohal (whose myriad roles on his film included mixing assistant and accountant); Cartuna principals James Beifer and Gavin Briscoe (best known for the Blu-Ray release of “Hundreds of Beavers”); former Vice and Disney exec Thomas Lucente; and filmmaker-turned-publicist Michael Tully.
The plan deploys Q&As to boost some of those opening weekends, hosted by a rotating cast of moderators. In New York, they included “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” director Jeff Krulik and “SNL cast member Sarah Sherman; the LA lineup includes actors Andrew DeYoung and Calvin Lee Reeder.
“The film is kind of taking off in a way we hadn’t expected,” said Tully in an email. “Without running any ads in NYC after this weekend, the film sold DOUBLE the tickets Tuesday night as it did on Monday night, which James from Cartuna said is something he has rarely seen happen. So I think this is a case where good old-fashioned word-of-mouth is actually happening!”
Welcome to ‘Internet Cinema’
It’s a similar path followed by creator collective Creator Camp with its debut feature, “Two Sleepy People.” The rom-com launches a tour October 25 in Seattle, followed by San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York before a nationwide theatrical release November 14 via its production and distribution arm, Camp Studios.
For the uninitiated, Creator Camp is a network of 300 Gen Z creators (with 3 billion annual views) who want to be feature filmmakers. Credits hit differently in this world: Where Rohal has been making features for nearly 20 years (“The Guatemalan Handshake,” 2006), debut writer-director Baron Ryan has 5M followers and 14M monthly views; his co-writer, Caroline Grossman, has 1.3M followers on YT and IG.
Camp Studios wants to convert those millions of online followers into IRL box office and believes that Gen Z reps a unique market opportunity. Very online can mean very lonely and Camp Studios wants to position its movies as a unique opportunity to hang out.
“Community is our #1 priority,” Creator Camp CEO Max Reisinger wrote in an email. “We’re building our entire distribution plan around what our audience wants and where they are. We built an interactive map at twosleepypeople.com where fans can drop pins to effectively “vote” for us to bring the movie to their city. That data directly informs which theaters we target for our national tour. It’s a grassroots approach to theatrical distribution: going direct to audience and meeting them where they’re at, literally.”
Reisinger said he wants to make Camp Studios synonymous with what he calls “Internet Cinema”: Digital-native creators own their films and provide audiences a sense of belonging.
He said the metrics of success aren’t limited to box office but include “audience turnout, community participation, social engagement, and collaboration. We want to prove that when you empower creators to lead and involve their audiences early, you can build theatrical moments that are financially successful and deeply connected.”
For more about internet cinema, the creator economy, and what the hell it means to be a filmmaker today: Subscribe to IndieWire’s weekly newsletter, In Development, written by Editor-in-Chief Dana Harris-Bridson.