One of the best of the web’s cat movies are coming to the massive display this weekend. Cat Video Fest is a 73-minute, G-rated collection of all issues feline —foolish, cuddly, sentimental and comedic—that’s enjoying in additional than 500 unbiased theaters within the U.S. and Canada.
A portion of ticket proceeds profit cat-focused charities, shelters and animal welfare group. Since 2019, it’s raised over $1 million.
The movies are curated by Will Braden, the Seattle-based creator of the comedically existential shorts, Henri, le Chat Noir. His enterprise playing cards learn: “I watch cat videos.” And it’s not a joke or an exaggeration. Braden watches 1000’s of hours of web movies to make the annual compilation.
“I want to show how broad the idea of a cat video can be so there’s animated things, music videos, little mini documentaries,” Braden stated. “It isn’t all just, what I call, ‘America’s Funniest Home Cat Videos.’ It’s not all cats falling into a bathtub. That would get exhausting.”
Now in its eighth 12 months, Cat Video Fest is larger than ever, with a worldwide presence that’s already prolonged to the UK and Denmark, and, for the primary time, to France, Spain, Japan and Brazil. Final 12 months, the screenings remodeled $1 million on the field workplace.
Within the early days, it was a little bit of a course of attempting to persuade unbiased film theaters to program Cat Video Fest. However Braden, and indie distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories, have discovered that one 12 months is all it takes to get previous that hurdle.
“Everywhere that does it wants to do it again,” Braden stated.
Present theatrical companions embody Alamo Drafthouse, IFC Middle, Nitehawk, Vidiots, Laemmle and Music Field. The screenings appeal to all number of audiences, from youngsters and cat girls to hipsters and grandparents and everybody in between.
“It’s one of the only things, maybe besides a Pixar movie or Taylor Swift concert, that just appeals to everybody,” Braden stated.
And the plan is to maintain going.
“We’re not going to run out of cat videos and we’re not going to run out of people who want to see it,” Braden stated. “All I have to do is make sure that it’s really funny and entertaining every year.”
