Chicago gets an early look at The Travel Companion when the Chicago made indie comedy screens May 17 at The Davis Theater. Writer and producer Weston Auburn, a Chicago native, will be part of the homecoming screening.
The screening comes as Oscilloscope Laboratories prepares a U.S. theatrical rollout for the film across April and May, including Illinois, following its premiere at the Tribeca Festival.
Directed by debut feature filmmakers Alex Mallis and Travis Wood, The Travel Companion follows Simon, a struggling documentary filmmaker who enjoys free flights through his best friend and roommate Bruce, an airline employee. When Bruce begins dating Beatrice, a more established filmmaker, Simon’s access to that perk is put at risk.
In a joint statement, Mallis and Wood said the film draws from personal experience, exploring friendship, creative insecurity, and the realities of working as artists.
“If you could ask anyone throughout history what they most desire, the answer is nearly unanimous: free flights. And co-director Travis Wood has just that – or he had it until his longtime best friend (and airline employee) broke the news: his new girlfriend would be getting the perk. What better way to cope than to make a film about it?
Our film is about losing free flights—but it’s also about the fragility of friendship and the struggle to find confidence as an artist working in an increasingly precarious world. We drew deeply from our own experience as collaborators and confidants, crafting a story that blends the absurdity of indie filmmaking with the quieter dramas of male intimacy.”
Wood’s short films have screened at festivals including SXSW and True/False and have been featured as Vimeo Staff Picks. He was also selected for Lena Waithe Rising Voices program, where he directed Black Santa, which premiered at Tribeca in 2022.
Mallis has had work distributed by PBS, Criterion, Roku, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Pitchfork, The Huffington Post and Vimeo Staff Picks. His short documentary Shut Up and Paint (2022) won the Grand Jury Prize at IFF Boston and the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and was shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards.
