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Internet Video Cat Festival makes State Theatre debut [The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.](Record-Eagle, The (Traverse City, MI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 30--TRAVERSE CITY -- America can't get enough of bizarre cat antics -- and neither can Louis Dickinson. The State Theatre general manager teamed up with Traverse City Film Festival production director Meg Weichman to help bring the Internet Cat Video Festival to Traverse City. The 80-minute reel features some of the best cat videos the Internet has to offer, from the intriguingly-named "Willie Helps With Toilet Paper" and "Gizmo and the Hazelnut," to "Cat vs. the Mailman" and "Cat Rides Sheep." "It's the piece de resistance for the fall cultural season here in TC," joked State Theatre director Michael Moore, in an email to members about the museum-curated event culled from more than 10,000 submissions. Feline antics -- and attitude -- are captured in video eight categories, including comedy, drama and "action-adventure" (think bowling, playing guitar and walking down refrigerators). Then there are the Golden Kitty nominees, including award-winner Rob Moore and his black cat, Shorty, whose banana-shaped catnip toy features heavily in "8 Signs of Addiction." The festival debuted in 2012 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, a modern art museum known for its presentation of 21st-century cinema and its vast collection of global films, documentaries and video works. Officials expected an audience of about 50 but got 10,000 instead. Subsequent versions attracted even bigger crowds. Now the annual festival -- sponsored by Animal Planet -- is something of a cult event that attracts throngs of fans wherever it plays, many in costume and with live cats in tow. "Anyone who loves pets and underdog stories of pets, pet rescues, will love the festival," said Dickinson, who will run the 2014 festival just a week after it appears at Boston's Berklee Performance Center and Victoria and Albert Museum in London. "I'm expecting a sell-out show, only because cat videos are such a hit." The State's presentation at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 also will feature a live appearance by Internet "celebricat" Lil Bub. "Everyone knows Grumpy Cat but Grumpy Cat is curmudgeonly and all about negativity," said Dickinson, who will "interview" Lil Bub on stage before the screening, with caretaker Mike Bridavsky of Bloomington, Ind. "But Lil Bub is the opposite, and her dealings with the public reflects that." The polydactyl cat known as a "perma-kitten" for her kitten-like appearance -- the result of dwarfism -- also will star in a separate meet-and-greet event with fans in the theater green room starting at 3:30 p.m. Tickets include film admission, a photo with Lil Bub and recognition on the theater screen. Proceeds will benefit the Cherryland Humane Society and the ASPCA. Dickinson said the State still is seeking sponsors for the cat's appearance, one of many that raise thousands of dollars for animal shelters across the country while spreading awareness of the importance of adoption and spaying and neutering pets. Lil Bub was the runt of her litter born to a feral mother. "I wrote her 'dude' and he wrote back and said, 'This is kind of short notice for us but we happen to have two days available in our schedule,'" Dickinson said. "We thought this was like kismet." The theater manager is a fan of cats in general and of Lil Bub in particular, whose likeness he sometimes wears on a T-Shirt. Besides her own charity and a Facebook page with more than a million "Likes," the cat has a merchandise line and starred in her own documentary. "I have one cat, Henry, short for Henrietta, but she's not nearly as charismatic as Bub," Dickinson said. "I'm going to wear a suit and tie for the festival. I think it's more respectful to dress up for a cat of her caliber." Tickets for the Internet Cat Video Festival are $10; tIckets for the benefit event are $50. Both are on sale online and at the State Theatre Box Office at 947-3446. ___ (c)2014 The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.) Visit The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.) at record-eagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |