Almost everyone’s seen a cat video on the Internet. Whether it’s a slapstick routine set to an impressive soundtrack or just a cute, furry face, the clips can be hard to resist.
Recently, the Humane Society of Chittenden County held a cat film festival — and fundraiser — for Vermonters to showcase their pets.
On a recent Sunday morning, almost 300 cat lovers gathered at the Majestic 10 theater in Williston to do something that most people do when nobody’s looking: watch funny cat videos.
"They don’t want to admit it, but everyone loves cat videos. And it’s hilarious," said KerrinJeromin, who emceed what the Human Society called the A-CAT-emy awards. Jeromin, who is better known as the meteorologist for Fox 44, said she was impressed with the clips.
"The fact that people went all out and did editing and added music, just added a whole show element ... I didn't realize people would be editing, but that made it so much better.” - Kerrin Jeromin, A-CAT-emy Awards emcee
“Anyone who is a cat person is going to laugh at pretty much anything," Jeromin said. "But the fact that people went all out and did editing and added music, just added a whole show element ... I didn’t realize people would be editing, but that made it so much better.”
Matthew Thorsen produced the clip that got top honors. It’s called “Esteban’s Nap," and features a sleeping cat who barely stirs when his tongue is pulled from his mouth several times in a row.
“Esteban, he’s the cat. He was sleeping, and his tongue was out," Thorsen explained. "I thought it would be fun to touch it. And then I thought it would be fun to pull it out."
The audience found Esteben’s lack of reaction hilarious.
"He was not tranquilized. No catnip was used," Thorsen said, adding that he learned a lot about filmmaking during the production:
"I've never pulled a cat's tongue before. It was my first time. The filming itself took probably 30 to 32 seconds, but the production took probably a half a day." - Matthew Thorsen, A-CAT-emy Award winner
“I’ve never pulled a cat’s tongue before. It was my first time. The filming itself took probably 30 to 32 seconds, but the production took probably a half a day.”
“Esteban’s Nap” saw victory in the feature-length category — that’s 30 seconds to two minutes.
For the short form prize, it was all about the music. In “Shake It All The Time,” a cat named Sulley pulled a move that many pet owners will recognize: furiously pawing at a surface, seemingly for no reason. The film clocked in at a brief 24 seconds, but the laughs kept rolling long after.
Of course the clips were fun, but the event was also a fundraiser for the humane society.
Board member Victoria Jarvis said the film fest was an attempt to include more cat lovers in community events.
“A lot of our events are dog-centric," Jarvis said. "And I’m that friend on Facebook--all I ever do is post cat pictures. I’m the friend that drives everybody crazy with that. So it’s really fun to be with people that I love the cat pictures with, and we all laugh.”
Cat owners who may have missed out on submitting this year can start filming for next year’s festival.
A few A-CAT-emy Awards runners-up:
