I produced the lowest-earning new release film in the worst box office week in 20 years… A Recap Chase Crawford Follow Mar 29 · 2 min read

Growing up in a town of 10,000 people outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, it was always my dream to see everyone I knew coming to a lavish red carpet event with my film’s name shining on the marquee in bright lights.

But it doesn’t always happen like that.

I woke up at 8:30am on March 16th just like I did every day… I checked the notifications on my phone, played with my 6 month old daughter and got ready to head into the office. But today was different… Today was the day that every studio had turned in their numbers to Box Office Mojo and I got to see if my film, Moondance, was able to stand up against it’s competition.

I looked at the numbers…

KJ Apa’s I Still Believe… $9,103,614… Not bad

Focus Features’ Never Rarely Sometimes Often… $16,285…

And right below Elle Fanning’s $3,310 opening for The Roads Not Taken sat Moondance with $2,371 reported.

My job is all about making numbers make sense… We were set to open in 18 theatres and ended up opening in 9… The 9 that kept us had poor turnout due to COVID-19 and we went from a $50,000-$60,000 projected opening to less than 5% of that in a fast and furious change of events.

But I am thankful in the storm.

I am writing this post to show gratitude and reflect on the incredible things that happened because of this film…

Theatres saw the film and said “Yes!”

Audiences left their houses and spent their hard earned cash to see it.

Moondance was the only independently released film in theatres that weekend.

My film had a true theatrical release. Many filmmakers aren’t able to say that.

Moondance made filmmaking real for me… Seeing the poster hung up in the light boxes of theaters in Los Angeles, New York City and my hometown was incredibly surreal.

When I was 16 years old, I sat in my bedroom in Monroe, Ohio and told myself that I was going to do this…

Then I did it.

And the best part is…

I’m going to do it again.

Do something great today,

-Chase