Portland-Based Filmmaker’s “Walking The Camino: Six Ways To Santiago” Reaches Top Ten Grossing Docs of 2014

To celebrate the film’s success, its Portland homecoming, and the DVD release, there will be a special DVD Pre-Release party this Sunday November 9th from 2-5pm at Velo Cult Bike Shop in the Hollywood District.

Watch video clips from the Bonus Materials DVD, purchase your discounted DVD or BluRay, meet the filmmakers, taste our specialty Camino Kolsch beer brewed by local Coalition Brewing Co., sample Spanish cheeses, and celebrate the unique and wonderful community that has made this film possible. Filmmakers present will be Director/Producer Lydia B. Smith and Editor Beth Segal, along with other crew and staff.

For tickets and more information, please visit http://caminodocumentary.org/pdx-dvd-release/

If you’re not able to make it out on Sunday, you can order your copy of the DVD, BluRay or Video on Demand thru the website*:
bit.ly/BuyCaminoDoc

*There is a special $5.00 discount on all feature-film & bonus materials products when you order before November 11.

 $500,000 was raised through private donations for this documentary, and with no distributor, filmmaker Lydia B. Smith  took it upon herself  to bring the film to it’s audience.  She toured the US and Canada taking in 110 cities on the cross-country tour.  As of September 9th, 2014, the film grossed theatrically $467,000. Portland-based Smith reports all the pre and post production took place in Portland.

“Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago trailblazes the way for Independent Documentaries to gross $545,000+ against the odds.

At IFP week in New York, WALKING THE CAMINO was the project described as the biggest success story you’ve never heard of, and the most inspiring panel of the Sundance #ArtistServices day.  With only $30,000 dollars initially budgeted for the theatrical release and essentially no budget for advertising, WALKING THE CAMINO has played one-by-one in over 60 theaters in the U.S. and Canada on an independent cross-country theatrical tour and over 130 theaters to date and counting.

Through grassroots outreach efforts, the film has now grossed over $545,000 dollars, is #205 of all-time top grossing documentaries on Box Office Mojo, and is on the list of top 10 grossing documentaries of 2014.
The outstanding success of WALKING THE CAMINO demonstrates that contrary to the current model, a non-profit independent film can make it big without a distributor. This film has broken the mold and trailblazed the way for a new era of documentary production and distribution to grow and thrive.

The success of the documentary has been so groundbreaking that Lydia has started to book speaking engagements to share her distribution strategy at events such as the Sundance #ArtistServices Workshop at the 2014 IFP Independent Film Week and the Portland Film Marketing and Distribution MeetUp.

Finally and ultimately, it is the universal themes that run through the documentary – compassion, connection, story – that highlight our shared human experience and bring people to theaters.”

Walking The Camino: Six Ways to Santiago” has played at Portland theaters alone for over 20 weeks.

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