Learn how The Librarians team turned a theatrical release into a nationwide series of town halls about censorship to become one of the highest grossing documentaries of 2025.
An audience exists for politically minded films! Join Jon Reiss and 8 Above for a live case study on the wildly successful theatrical release of The Librarians, featuring director Kim A. Snyder and producer Janique Robillard.
Date: Wednesday, February 11 | 12:00 PM ET
Cost: The event is free to attend – Sign below.
Sign Up for The Librarians Case Study
In this session, we will examine the theatrical strategy behind The Librarians and the decisions that contributed to its success in cinemas. The conversation will focus on booking, release planning, and audience engagement, offering a clear look at what worked, what was challenging, and what filmmakers can apply to their own releases.
We’ll discuss:
- The strategy behind The Librarians’ theatrical rollout
- The eventized nature of the release – How the film screenings are being used as town halls and the impact of the film is huge.
- The impact the film has had in local communities throughout the country, flipping school boards/inspiring unionization.
- Tips and tricks for eventizing releases.
- Understanding the team and planning needed for an eventized release.
- How the film expanded from a four week run at the Film Forum to more than 150 theaters in the U.S. and Canada and is at $250,000 at the box office and counting.
- The fallacy that there is no audience for political films in the United States.
- And more!
This webinar is part of 8 Above’s ongoing case study series, designed to share practical, real-world insight into distribution in today’s independent film landscape.
Sign Up for The Librarians Case Study
About The Librarians
Librarians emerged as first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment Rights. As they well know, controlling the flow of ideas means control over communities. In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQIA+ stories – triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of a large-scale coordinated extremist movement fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work – the librarians’ rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale.
To date:
- 100+ U.S. and International Film Festivals
- 22 Festival Jury and Audience Awards
- 150+ theaters North America (Theatrical Release)
- Released in 12+ countries outside of North America including Norway, Italy, U.K., Switzerland, Brazil, Czech Republic and more
- ~10,000 librarians reached for in-person screenings at conferences, festivals, and theaters
- 2.65 million impressions on The Librarians Trailer across social media platforms
KIM A. SNYDER is an Academy Award® nominee and Peabody Award-winning Director / Producer whose latest feature, THE LIBRARIANS, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and is now released globally in 200+ cities. Her Oscar-nominated short DEATH BY NUMBERS, co-created with gun-violence survivor Sam Fuentes, has won multiple awards. Snyder’s acclaimed films include Us Kids (Sundance 2020), LESSONS FROM A SCHOOL SHOOTING (Netflix Original), and NEWTOWN (Sundance 2016, Peabody Award, PBS). Her earlier work includes WELCOME TO SHELBYVILLE (PBS) and I REMEMBER ME (Zeitgeist Films). She also Associate Produced the Oscar-winning short TREVOR, which spawned The Trevor Project. Snyder holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins SAIS and lives in New York City.
JANIQUE L ROBILLARD is an Oscar-nominated documentary producer and independent filmmaker. Recent credits include producing two films with Peabody Award-winning Director Kim A. Snyder – DEATH BY NUMBERS, nominated for the 2025 Academy® Awards: Best Documentary Short Film, and THE LIBRARIANS (PBS/Independent Lens). THE LIBRARIANS has garnered numerous Jury and Audience Awards at festivals after its 2025 Sundance world premiere. It releases theatrically in Fall 2025. Previous credits include Impact Producer on Us Kids (dir. Snyder), Associate & Field Producer THE FIX docu-series (dir. Jeremiah Zagar), and Development Producer on numerous series and feature films, including PERIODICAL (dir. Lina Plioplyte) and for clients including Netflix. She’s committed to storytelling that elevates.https://jonreiss.substack.com/p/case-study-webinar-the-librarians
