Toronto distributor ThinkFilm may have finally figured out how to get English-Canadians into theaters to watch domestic films; you have to pay them.

For its March 5 release of Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, ThinkFilm tried directing promotional dollars to the consumer, rather than buying traditional marketing space and services. Coupons distributed through newspapers, flyers, e-mails and the film’s website encouraged Canadians to check out the comedy feature by offering a $6 cash rebate at theater box offices. Although the film is still in limited release at eight Toronto theaters, its opening weekend box-office take suggests the new strategy might be working.

‘We’re redirecting our marketing dollars from the intermediary directly into the hands of the consumer,’ says ThinkFilm president Jeff Sackman. ‘We’re so happy with how it has worked and the publicity that we’re getting, that we’re going to do it again and again and again. Why would we spend insane amounts on television advertising when we’ve seen what it has done for other films?’

The Sudz Sutherland film brought in $32,648 during its opening weekend. The $6 promotion will continue into wider releases planned for March 19 and 26.

Its per theater average of $4,081, the highest among English-Canadian films, brings Eating the Bones in ahead of Charles Martin Smith’s The Snow Walker, which averaged $3,154 after its March 5 release through Lions Gate.

Snow Walker hit a total of 13 screens in Vancouver and Toronto. Based on a short story by Canadian author Farley Mowat, the film brought in $41,000 over its opening weekend. Lions Gate expanded its release to Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton on March 13, with the film hitting screens in Montreal and Winnipeg March 19.

-www.thinkfilmcompany.com