Cat videos are the currency of the realm here on the Internet. At their best, they’re funny, cute, and endlessly shareable. But what happens when you take them into the real world? One man, Scott Stulen, wanted to find out and the Internet Cat Video Film Festival was born as a result! We reached out to Scott about the project’s runaway success and this is what he had to say.

From Hop To Pop: Would you please introduce yourself and talk a little bit about your role with the Internet Cat Video Film Festival.

Scott Stulen: My name is Scott Stulen. I am an artist, dj, curator, writer and programmer. I am the Director of mnartists.org, an online art hub serving over 20,000 Midwest artists, and co-curator of Open Field at the Walker Art Center. I am the co-creator of the Internet Cat Video Film Festival (along with Katie Hill) and the sole producer/curator of the program (currently). Basically I do everything with the festival production and tour.

From Hop To Pop: The initial program last year triggered quite the response, both locally in Minneapolis and then nationally and on the Internet. Talk about the decision to take the program on the road.

Scott Stulen: At first I only expected a few dozen people to hang out and watch a few YouTube cat videos. After the press release went out, it went viral in hours and I anticipated a much bigger crowd. Optimistically we were thinking around 4-5 thousand and ended up with over 10,000 people attending and probably would have had more if we would have had a bigger site. The festival became one of the most heavily attended and by far the most media covered event in history of the Walker Art Center.

Source: Walker Art Center

Shortly after the conclusion of the first festival I was flooded with requests to re-stage the festival at other sites (nearly 250 requests to date). Taking advantage of this sustained interest I choose to take it on tour. I have been careful in selecting the tour sites to find communities where the festival can be presented in the proper context and also places where the festival can partner with local cultural non-profits and animal welfare groups to raise money and awareness.

In each community I work with the host venue to shape the presentation and related events. I travel to most of the screenings and give the introduction and place the festival into the context of its origination. To date the festival has been presented in Boston, San Diego, Memphis, South Bend (IN), Oakland, Austin (as part of SXSW), Vienna Austria and now Portland (editor’s note: tonight and tomorrow, June 21st and 22nd at the Hollywood Theater!). Currently, I am working on the second festival of all new videos set to debut in August at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand. I have booked the festival at venues in San Francisco, Chicago, Honolulu, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles, Toronto, Brooklyn, Little Rock and Derry (Northern Ireland) in 2013-2014. The festival has been presented in a wide range of venues from outdoor festivals to art house theaters. In each venue it has been met with an ethusiatic response by the community. The interest just keeps building.

In the end the success really lies in the social factor of the event. I like to say it’s not about watching cat videos, it’s about watching cat video together. This is why it works, we are creating a moment to share a passion for this content with other people in a “real world” context.

Source: Walker Art Center

From Hop To Pop: I’m curious about the submission process. Where are these videos coming from and what are the curators generally looking for?
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