Vancouver’s 10th annual DOXA Documentary Film Festival is on track to break last year’s $75,000 ticket revenue record.
The documentary film festival’s executive director, Lauren Weisler, told Business in Vancouver May 9 she expects to generate about $80,000 from ticket revenue during the festival’s May 6 to 15 run.
The festival does not generate much revenue from merchandise so ticket sales make up the lion’s share of the 10-day festival’s sales.
Government grants, sponsorships and donations help the festival break even on a budget of more than $600,000.
Doxa is showing 95 films this year, up from 79 last year. Weisler expects 10,000 people to watch films at this year’s festival, up from 8,600 last year.
That’s partly because the festival has expanded to show films on five screens this year, up from last year’s three.
“It’s not a huge percentage jump [for ticket sale revenue] but the reason for that is, first, we haven’t raised our ticket prices this year and, second, our attendance was pretty high last year,” Weisler said.
“Attendance is high again this year. There are a few more screenings. There’s only so much you can make in ticket sales.”
The most popular film at this year’s festival is Werner Herzog’s 3D Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Weisler said the first showing of the film sold out before the festival started, prompting a second showing on closing night, which has also sold out.
Glen Korstrom
Twitter: @GlenKorstrom