Transmission Agency / Fun Fun Fun Fest

Graham Williams spent a decade working at Emos, a club in Austin, where he booked and managed music events. In 2006, he co-founded Fun Fun Fun Fest with Tim Leigh, the owner of Alamo Drafthouse, as a small single-day music festival. That first year was scrappy—they invested roughly $100,000 and attracted 3,000 attendees using street teams, flyering outside clubs, and a handful of newspaper and radio ads. MySpace was their primary digital tool. Despite the lean resources, they managed to make a small profit, giving Graham confidence in the model.

Shortly after that inaugural festival, Tim shifted focus to Fantastic Fest, his film festival project. Graham seized the opportunity and left Emos to launch Transmission Events with partners in 2006—a booking and promotions company focused on live music and events. This move allowed him to scale beyond the single festival and book shows ranging from intimate 50-person venues to major 20,000-person festivals year-round across Texas.

By 2015, Fun Fun Fun Fest had exploded. The three-day festival attracted approximately 20,000 attendees (or roughly 60,000+ attendance across the weekend), a 7x growth from the original 3,000. Production costs ballooned to $4-5M, with the bulk going to talent, followed by production and marketing. Graham's strategy proved effective: respect your niche audience and market to them in the way they want to be reached. Rather than blanket advertising, he leaned into social media and non-traditional marketing. The festival became known for its genre-based stages—electronic/hip-hop, indie, and metal/punk—each attracting their specific community. Sponsorship also evolved; brands shifted from wanting "the biggest thing to be part of" to wanting "the coolest thing," making boutique festivals like his increasingly attractive.

The festival generates revenue from three main sources: ticket sales (averaging around $1-2M, with week passes at $200 and single-day passes at $80-90), sponsorships at various tiers, and bar/alcohol sales (approximately $10 per head per day). While exact profit margins aren't disclosed (due to partnerships), Graham notes they "usually do pretty good," though it's not the 7-figure profit margins of mega-festivals like Coachella (150,000+ attendees). At 38, with a wife and one child, Graham continues to operate both the festival and Transmission Agency, positioning himself among the top-tier boutique festival operators alongside Pitchfork. He reflects that he should have started the agency five years earlier in his career, advising young entrepreneurs to gain experience but strike out when ready: "What's the worst that can happen?"