Mountainfilm on Tour FAQ

The Mountainfilm on Tour season runs from August 25 to April 30. We do not offer tour shows over the summer months as we prepare for the upcoming tour season.

Things to consider when choosing a show date:

1. Are there other large community events scheduled that day/night?
2. Are there any other festivals or touring events in your town?
3. Are people more likely to attend if the show is on a weeknight or weekend?
4. Is your ideal venue available? Take a look at their calendar of events.
5. Does your community’s population fluctuate with the seasons?
6. Are you likely to have more people in town at a certain time of year?
7. Are there holidays or school breaks that could affect attendance?

Mountainfilm is a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire audiences to create a better world. You have the unique opportunity to share inspiring and impactful films with your community while extending the impact of the festival. Mountainfilm on Tour offers a wide range of films that are handpicked from the annual festival to provide inspirational and impactful programs for your audience.

Mountainfilm on Tour is a standalone event. We do not provide programming for other festivals.

Mountainfilm on Tour offers hosts a one-year limited license to host a tour show in the approved location. Tour hosts have the opportunity to renew their license for the show location annually. If a host decides not book a show within the next season of the tour, the location will become available and another party may book a tour show in the location.

Mountainfilm will limit booking other tours within a twenty-five (25) mile radius of an existing show location for the tour season, unless otherwise agreed upon.

Mountainfilm on Tour shows are typically hosted by nonprofit organizations, schools/universities, or by venue operators. If you are an individual seeking to host a show, we recommend that you link up with a nonprofit or a venue to collaborate on hosting a show. It helps to have a team to support your efforts to promote the event, sell tickets, and broaden outreach.

This depends on the program that you’re choosing and your past experience hosting. If you have successfully sold out shows in the past, then it may be possible to schedule more than one screening per day, with additional fees. 

We encourage you to schedule your show in a way that ensures high attendance while keeping in mind that this can be affected by school and work schedules.

We want your show to be a success! For new tour locations, your focus should be on promoting your event with the goal of selling out your venue. For this reason, first-year shows are limited to one evening program. If there is significant demand demonstrated by a sold-out program, we will consider expanding.

One of the great things about Mountainfilm on Tour is its ability to work in a variety of venues. From breweries to movie theaters — an acceptable venue just needs to have a high-quality projector, screen and audio system.

Things to consider:

1. What type of audience do you expect? Will they prefer a theater atmosphere or something more casual?
2. What is the capacity of the venue? Do you anticipate filling the space? Are there enough tickets available to earn a profit if sold-out?
3. Typically, our program includes an intermission. Does your venue have a bar or concessions? If not, an intermission may not be necessary.

You may reach out to local retailers, outdoor organizations and nonprofits that would be interested in participating. They can help by promoting your event and/or providing financial or in-kind support for your event. 

Please let your sponsors know that Mountainfilm’s national sponsors are displayed on the intro reel before each show and that The North Face logo will appear on Mountainfilm on Tour’s promotional materials. 

Do not seek out any local representatives of Mountainfilm’s national sponsors without express approval from Mountainfilm.

Local branches and/or affiliates of Mountainfilm’s sponsors may be interested in supporting your event, but before proceeding, please let us know. Before proceeding with partnerships or sponsorships with outerwear companies, you must seek approval from Mountainfilm. If you are unsure if one of your event partners conflicts with one of our corporate relationships, please check with us in advance.

Mountainfilm on Tour licenses a collection of short films from our annual festival. If you opt for our Custom playlist, you have the option of selecting from a range of inspiring documentary shorts. Or choose one of our Pre-curated playlists. You can see the full list of current tour films here.

We find that between two and two and a half hours is the sweet spot for most tour shows. This usually includes a 15-minute intermission.

A social media presence can help capture an audience and drive ticket sales. However, we ask that you do not create unique social media accounts for your show. We recommend creating a Facebook event and sharing it on your personal and organization's Facebook page. Please ask @Mountainfilm to co-host.

Mountainfilm also has a social media toolkit with images, text and sample posts for you. As long as you are following our marketing and branding guidelines and tagging @Mountainfilm, we encourage you to use any pre-existing social media platforms with an active following. Please refer to the Marketing Support page on the Mountainfilm website for resources and guidelines.

No. Mountainfilm will create an event page for your show on our website. This is the best place for users to find your show information and purchase tickets easily. You can create an event page on your organization's website. The information posted is subject to Mountainfilm's approval.

Your tour event is titled Mountainfilm on Tour – [Name of Your City]. Refer to us as Mountainfilm on Tour for any tour-related events. Do not call your event Mountainfilm Festival, as that is our annual event in Telluride. Mountainfilm is all one word, with a lowercase “f”: Mountainfilm.

The Mountainfilm on Tour program is delivered digitally as one continuous .mov file for download. 

You are the local host of Mountainfilm on Tour in your town and can introduce yourself as such. We have nearly 200 hosts around the world and you are part of this extended community.

All venues must have a dedicated tech staff member who can assist in operating the audio, lights and projection. This person must be available during setup, tech check (three hours before the event) and for the show's duration. The Mountainfilm on Tour program typically includes emcee breaks and an intermission, which requires someone to pause and play the program.

Yes, you can host a raffle during your event, but it’s important to keep the energy up. Swift and efficient raffles with exciting prizes are better than raffles with many items that can be slow and distracting for attendees. The motto here is “less is more.” You must provide your own staff or team of volunteers to conduct the raffle. 

Mountainfilm has a large extended community. There may be people connected to Mountainfilm or the films in your area, and it’s important to offer them the opportunity to attend. Mountainfilm on Tour will let you know in advance if tickets need to be set aside. Take these numbers into consideration when reviewing your venue capacity.

We recommend you start planning a marketing push. Here are some things you can do:

1. Encourage your co-workers, friends, family, sponsors and/or partners to share your show's event on their social channels.
2. Boost your Facebook event to your area. Just $10 can go a long way.
3. Send out an eblast to your contact list and ask sponsors and/or event partners to do the same.
4. Put up posters around town.
5. Make sure you're on your community calendars.
6. Send a press release to the local paper or do a spot on your local radio station.

Yes. Mountainfilm must review all tour-related items before they go to print or go live on your website. This includes all custom print designs (posters/flyers), press releases, event pages, ticketing pages, etc. Once your items are ready to review, please email to our Tour Director Hope Logan or Tour Manager Bella Hines.

Yes. We have a press release template available for you to use on our Marketing Support page. You may edit the press release to include information about your organization, why you are hosting Mountainfilm on Tour and what attendees can expect. Highlight key films in your playlist that you are excited to share with the audience.

We are here to support you and your event. If you have additional questions, please reach out to our Tour Director Hope Logan and Tour Manager Bella Hines.