YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip, the 2011 feature by Mark Dixon and Ben Evans, has been acquired by First Run Features.

Even in the Internet era, it's HUGE for an indie feature, especially one shot on a shoestring, to get distribution. For more than a year, Evans and Dixon have been running around the country, showing the film themselves to grassroots groups and at colleges. Now there's a better chance of getting the doc into actual theaters (most likely art houses) with paying audiences. And it'll definitely help with the eventual DVD release.

Here's Dixon's blog post on the news post.

YERT chronicles the year-long road trip to all 50 states taken by Dixon, Evans and Julie Dingman Evans (Ben's spouse) in 2007-08. With good humor accompanying earnest intentions, they went in search of solutions to our various environmental crises, from global warming to unsustainable agriculture.

Here's my first article on the project and the piece I wrote when YERT premiered locally, a year ago.

The trip started in Pittsburgh, where Julie and Ben were based at the time (they're performers who'd worked at City Theatre) and where Dixon still lives and remains active in the environmental community, even as the filmmakers continue promoting YERT. The First Run deal should definitely help.