` NEWS Press Contact: Online Press Room: Twitter: Rachel Joyce 612.375.7635 rachel.joyce@walkerart.org press.walkerart.org WalkerArtMedia WALKER ART CENTER S INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL FEATURES HOST JULIE KLAUSNER AND CELEBRICATS GRUMPY CAT, KEYBOARD CAT, NYAN CAT, LIL BUB AND HENRI AND THEIR CREATORS GOLDEN KITTY VOTING NOW OPEN Minneapolis, July 15, 2013 The Walker Art Center presents its second Internet Cat Video Festival on Wednesday, August 28, 7 pm, at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand. Last year the Festival (#catvidfest), the first of its kind in the nation/world, drew a crowd of over 10,000 to the Walker. Originally conceived as a modest celebration to bring online communities together in the real world, #catvidfest has now become its own viral sensation. Over the last year the Festival has spawned an international tour including events in Boston, San Diego, Austin, Memphis and Portland with upcoming festivals in Vienna, Austria and Jerusalem, and numerous lecture and conference presentations including SXSW and TEDx. The Internet Cat Video festival returns with the same spirit of community and collaboration, but packed with even more special guests, music, interactive artist projects, awards, celebrity cats, fireworks and other feline inspired fun. The second Internet Cat Video Festival is comprised of over 80 new videos selected by a team of jurors. As with last year s festival the clips are organized into various cat -egories including Comedy, Drama, Documentary, Foreign, Musical, and Lifetime Achievement. New for this year is a local Cat on-a-stick category awarding the best Minnesota produced piece. Tickets $10 (all reserved seating) Note: Admission to the State Fairgrounds must be purchased in addition to the Internet Cat Video Festival ticket. Tickets available: online at mnstatefair.org WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL NO. 47 1
By phone at (800) 514-3849 In person at the State Fairgrounds Box Office Special Guests and Video Debuts Julie Klausner In addition to the new 70-minute reel of Internet Cat Videos, this year s festival will feature the first time the leading celebri-cats and creators present together for the same event. Scheduled guests include Grumpy Cat, Lil Bub, Keyboard Cat Creator Charlie Schmidt, Nyan Cat creator Chris Torres, Kittens Inspired by Kittens star Maddie Kelly, Paul Klusman and TJ Wingard (An Engineer s Guide to Cats). Will Braden debust a new video from last year s Golden Kitty winner, Henri Le Chat Noir, made exclusively for the festival. Also debuting is a new video produced by the comedy website Funny or Die, featuring #catvidfest host Julie Klasuner. Hosted by Julie Klausner This year s festival is hosted by Julie Klausner, a New York based comedy writer/performer, podcaster, and author. Her podcast, How Was Your Week, was recently called one of the few essential podcasts by the New York Times and was named one of the best 10 comedy podcasts of the moment by Rolling Stone and in GQ s Comedy Issue. Currently, she works as Media Ambassador for Vulture.com, for which she writes frequently, makes weekly videos for the site, and goes on TV on behalf of Vulture to discuss pop culture topics. She wrote a memoir called I Don t Care About Your Band and a novel called Art Girls are Easy. She also writes for television, including Billy on the Street. She currently lives with a cat named Jimmy Jazz in lower Manhattan. Walker Art Center Internet Cat Video Festival Awards Mike Bridavsy with Lil Bub (left) and Will Braden Which video will walk away with the #catvidfest hardware? Last year, Will Braden s now iconic Henri Le Chat Noir #2, described by the late film critic Roger Ebert as the best internet cat video ever made took home the coveted Golden Kitty Award as the People s Choice Best of Festival. The Golden Kitty helped to boost Henri s popularity and resulted in endorsements, dozens of interviews and even a book released this past spring. This year, the Golden Kitty returns, along with new awards for each of the categories. The Golden Kitty will be decided via online vote at walkerart.org/catvidfest beginning Monday July 15 and closing on July 31. The Golden Kitty Voting for the Golden Kitty will open Monday, July 15 and close at midnight on Wednesday, July 31. Visit www.walkerart.org/catvidfest to vote. Lifetime Achievement The Lifetime Achievement awards are the Hall of Fame for internet cat videos. Last year three videos were inducted, including Kittens Inspired by Kittens and Keyboard Cat. Who will make the cut this year? This year s lifetime achievement honorees will be selected by a distinguished panel of curators, journalists, and cat culture bloggers and revealed at the Internet Cat Video Festival. Internet Cat Video Festival State Fair Program Information Brian Laidlow Photo: Courtesy the Artist It s not just about Internet cat videos, it s about watching Internet cat videos together. WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL NO. 47 2
The Internet Cat Video Festival tests the boundaries of online communities and crowd-sourced public content to create a fun, playful event for all ages. Prior to the screening of the festival at dusk, the evening the event will feature several special musical performances, artist projects and surprise guests. Will Braden (Henri) will return to present the Golden Kitty to this year s winner and to debut a new Henri video exclusively for the Internet Cat Video Festival. Minnesota s own Maddie Kelly (Kittens Inspired by Kittens), Paul Klusman and TJ Wingard (An Engineer s Guide to Cats) and several other cat video creators will also be on hand. Fans surround Lil Bub at the Internet Cat Video Festival Photo: Walker Art Center Cat-inspired music by Brian Laidlaw and the Family Trade and Koo Koo Kanga Roo will proceed the screening. Koo Koo Kangaroo will perform songs from their forthcoming EP inspired by celebrity cats and their creators titled VIRAL: Songs about cats and other stuff. The EP will be available as a free download in late July via the Walker website. Koo Koo Kangaroo will also debut a new crowd-sourced music video featuring local cats and their owners at the conclusion of their set. Dress Up As Your Favorite Cat! Dress up as your favorite real world or Internet cat and win prizes and featured on Animal Planet s website. Animal Planet will have photographers on hand roving the audience to find the best cat costumes to feature during the event. Collaborate and Interact with Artist Projects In the spirit of Open Field, the Walker Art Center project which spawned the festival, there will be several interactive artists projects throughout the event including live painting by local artist Rudy Fig, #catvidfest bingo, and much more. Cover of the Forthcoming Koo Koo Kanga Roo EP Cat Party Learn More about Animal Resources and Welfare The festival will include representatives from the local Animal Humane Society and other animal resource non-profits to help educate attendees to cat related issues. Internet Cat Video Festival Tour T-Shirts on Sale Now Internet Cat Video Festival Tour t-shirts will be available at the event and online via the Walker s Shop Purchase/View Animal Planet Animal Planet returns in 2013 as the official media sponsor for the festival. While cat-lovers and video creators feast their eyes on the big screen, the network will be working the crowd and offering all attendees a chance to capture the moment and profess their love of All Things Cat with a fun and interactive photo opportunity. Walker Art Center Internet Cat Video Festival Public Information: walkerart.org/catvidfest @catvidfest #catvidfest Internet Cat Video Festival, 2012 Photo: Walker Art Center Media Contact: Rachel Joyce rachel.joyce@walkerart.org B Roll of last year s Festival and images available upon request. WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL NO. 47 3
Related Event Going Viral: The Life of a Cat Video Creator Walker Art Center on Thursday, August 29 at 7pm, Free Walker Art Center Internet Cat Video Festival: Photo Gene Pittman Since the debut of the Internet Cat Video Festival at the Walker last summer, interest in the phenomena continues to grow. On the day after the second festival at the MN State Fair, join video creators Will Braden (Henri, le Chat Noir), Mike Bridavsky (Lil BUB), Maddie Kelly (Kittens Inspired by Kittens), Paul Klusman and TJ Wingard (An Engineer s Guide to Cats), and Internet Cat Video Festival producer Scott Stulen for a discussion about their experiences and the universal appeal of felines. And fear not: the program includes videos. The Going Viral talk at the Walker is free as part of Target Free Thursday Nights. Tickets are available at the box office beginning at 6pm the night of the event. Target Free Thursday Nights sponsored by Internet Cat Video Festival T-shirts on sale now Internet Cat Video Festival Tour logo t-shirts are available for $20 via the Walker s Shop: Purchase/View Walker Art Center Internet Cat Video Festival: Photo Gene Pittman The Minnesota State Fair The Minnesota State Fair is one of the largest and best-attended expositions in the world, attracting nearly 1.8 million visitors annually. Showcasing Minnesota's finest agriculture, art and industry, the Great Minnesota Get- Together is always 12 Days of Fun Ending Labor Day. Visit www.mnstatefair.org for more information. The 2013 Minnesota State Fair runs Aug. 22 Labor Day, Sept. 2. Walker Art Center One of the most celebrated art museums in the country, the Walker Art Center is known for presenting today's most compelling artists, as well as modern masters, including Andy Warhol, Matthew Barney, Jasper Johns, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and Kara Walker. In addition to traveling exhibitions and its world-renowned collection, the Walker presents a broad array of contemporary music, dance, and theater, and the best in film from around the world and down the block. The Walker's 11-acre Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is one of the country's largest urban sculpture parks. At its center is the beloved Twin Cities landmark the playful fountainsculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry. The Garden features more than 40 works of art and the Cowles Conservatory. Walker Art Center Cat Video Festival Photo: Gene Pittman Internet Cat Video Festival Sponsor WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL NO. 47 4
The Walker Art Center is supported in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the State s general fund and its arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. The Walker Art Center is located at 1750 Hennepin Avenue where Hennepin meets Lyndale one block off Highways I-94 and I-394, in Minneapolis. For public information, call 612.375.7600 or visit walkerart.org. Stay connected via your mobile device and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL NO. 47 5