Lil Bub & Friendz

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Lil Bub & Friendz
Lilbubandfriendz.jpg
The poster parodies Jaws
Directed by Andy Capper
Juliette Eisner
Produced byJuliette Eisner
CinematographyDanilo Parra
Edited by Devin Yuceil
Production
company
Release date
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Lil Bub & Friendz is a 2013 documentary directed by Andy Capper and Juliette Eisner. [1] It stars Lil Bub and her owner Mike Bridavsky and looks at cats on the Internet, Internet memes and viral videos. [1] Lil Bub & Friendz premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013 and won the Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Synopsis

The film follows Lil Bub and Bridavsky as they visit other "cat-lebrities" and go to the first Internet Cat Video Film Festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [1] [4] The film has appearances of Keyboard Cat, Nyan Cat and Grumpy Cat and an interview with their self-described "meme manager" Ben Lashes. [2] [5] [6] [7]

Cast

Production

Development

Eisner's original pitch was a video short about "crazy cat people" at the first Internet Cat Video Film Festival. [8] Eisner contacted Lil Bub and Bridavsky because Vice worked with them on an earlier video. [8] Capper and Eisner knew that Lil Bub would be the star as soon as they met her. [7] [8] They decided to make a full-length film after seeing the turnout of 10,000 people at the festival in Minneapolis including travelers from New York City, China and Seattle. [5] [9] Filming took five months. [8]

During filming Lil Bub had a serious health episode but recovered. [6] [9] Bridavsky called it "a very scary week" [6] and Capper said "this is going to be the most depressing cat movie ever." [9]

Promotion

Vice created three movie posters including a parody of Jaws with Lil Bub looking up at a swimming woman and a shot from her photoshoot with Bullett Magazine. [10] [11] Complex ran "Lil BUB Week" leading up to the premiere. [12]

Release

Tribeca Film Festival

Lil Bub & Friendz premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013. [1] [2] It was also screened at the Tribeca Drive-In and Tribeca Online Festival. [1] Lil Bub, Bridavsky, Capper and Eisner attended the Tribeca Drive-In outdoor screening at the World Financial Center Plaza on April 20. [1] [9] [13] Lil Bub did a petting and photo session. [9] [13] Festival co-head Robert De Niro met Lil Bub at the Director's Brunch on April 23 after co-head Jane Rosenthal quipped to The Hollywood Reporter "I keep saying Little Bub needs to meet Big Bob." [14] [15] Lil Bub & Friendz won the Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film. [3]

Screenings

Lil Bub & Friendz was screened at the Seattle International Film Festival. [16] It was shown at Metro Chicago on October 10 raising $1,800 for Tree House Humane Society. [17] [18] [19]

Online

The movie was released online on the VICE website on September 6, 2013. [20] [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tribeca Festival</span> Annual film festival held in New York, US

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Rosenthal</span> American film producer

Jane Rosenthal is an American film producer. She is co-founder, CEO, and executive chair of Tribeca Enterprises, a media company that encompasses Tribeca Productions, the Tribeca Film Festival, Tribeca Studios, and non-profit offshoot the Tribeca Film Institute. She and Robert De Niro founded the Tribeca Film Festival in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks to help revitalize downtown Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lolcat</span> Image combining a photograph of a cat with text intended to contribute humour

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Capper</span> British American film director, journalist and editor

Andrew Richard Capper is a British US-based director, journalist and former editor and executive producer at Vice Media. In 2018, he founded Happy Now Film.

<i>Keyboard Cat</i> Internet meme

Keyboard Cat is a video-based internet meme. Its original form was a video made in 1984 by Charlie Schmidt of his cat Fatso seemingly playing a musical keyboard to a cheery tune. While Schmidt had uploaded the video himself to YouTube in 2007, Brad O'Farrell, with Schmidt's permission, appended the video to the end of a blooper video uploaded in 2009 as if to have the cat "play" the person offstage after the gaffe as they had done in Vaudeville. The idea of this quickly expanded on the Internet by numerous other users, typically under the name "Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat", and became a popular meme on YouTube.

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The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) is a year-round non-profit arts organization founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff, based in New York. Created during the influence of September 11, 2001, TFI's claims their mission is to empower filmmakers through grants and professional development, train the media-makers of the future by bringing film into the classroom, develop young audiences for independent film, and promote career development.

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Nyan Cat is a YouTube video uploaded in April 2011, which became an internet meme. The video merged a Japanese pop song with an animated cartoon cat with a Pop-Tart for a torso flying through space and leaving a rainbow trail behind. The video ranked at number five on the list of most viewed YouTube videos in 2011.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lil Bub</span> Internet celebrity cat (2011–2019)

Lil Bub, officially Lil BUB, was an American celebrity cat known for her unique physical appearance. Her photos were first posted to Tumblr in November 2011, before being taken off after being featured on the social news website Reddit. "Lil Bub" on Facebook has over three million likes. Lil Bub starred in Lil Bub & Friendz, a documentary that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013, and won the Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film.

The Internet Cat Video Festival was a national competition that celebrates cat videos on the internet. Many of these festivals include appearances by special guests and celebricats, live music, costume contests, art projects, and booths hosting local animal resource nonprofits. The 2013 Minneapolis show featured a cat sculpture made out of butter.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cats and the Internet</span> Images and videos of cats on the Internet

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bongo Cat</span> 2018 Internet meme

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<i>Goncharov</i> (meme) Internet meme about a fictitious mafia film

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Lil Bub & Friendz | 2013 Tribeca Film Festival". Tribecafilm.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  2. 1 2 3 Makarechi, Kia (2013-03-18). "'Lil Bub & Friendz' Trailer: From Meme To The Movies (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  3. 1 2 The Editors (2013-04-25). "Here Are Your TFF 2013 Award Winners | Tribeca". Tribecafilm.com. Retrieved 2013-04-29.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ Ryzik, Melena (2012-08-31). "Internet Cat Video Film Festival, at Walker Art Center". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 Angela Lutz (2013-04-11). ""Good Job Bub": Lil Bub and Friendz Turns the Internet Cat Video Into an Adorable Documentary - Page 1 - Film+TV - Los Angeles". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  6. 1 2 3 Rothman, Lily (2013-03-07). "'Lil Bub & Friendz': Internet Cats, Behind the Memes | TIME.com". Entertainment.time.com. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  7. 1 2 Sykes, Tom (2013-04-19). "Lil Bub, The World's Cutest Cat, Stars In Documentary Lil Bub & Friendz at Tribeca". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Interview: Director Juliette Eisner Discusses the Making of "Lil BUB & Friendz"". Complex. 2013-04-19. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Zakarin, Jordan (2013-04-21). "Lil Bub Movie: Tribeca Film Fest Screening Delights Fans". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  10. ↑ VICE Staff (2013-03-06). "Lil Bub & Friendz Premieres at Tribeca! | VICE United States". Vice.com. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  11. ↑ Price, Kathryn. "The Many Faces of Lil Bub, the Most Famous Cat on the Internet". Bullettmedia.com. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  12. ↑ "Presents: Lil BUB Week!". Complex. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  13. 1 2 Wortham, Jenna (25 April 2013). "Lil Bub Hits the Tribeca Film Festival - NYTimes.com". Artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  14. ↑ "Robert De Niro Met Internet Kitty Lil Bub and Took This Amazingly Adorable Photo". E! Online. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  15. ↑ Zakarin, Jordan (2013-04-09). "Tribeca: Robert De Niro, Lil Bub and New York Flavor". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  16. ↑ "SIFF stereotypes challenged with cat-studded 'Lil Bub & Friendz' - Blog". MyNorthwest.com. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  17. ↑ "Tijdlijnfoto's". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  18. ↑ "Metro | Chicago | Concert Calendar". Metrochicago.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  19. ↑ "Tijdlijnfoto's". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  20. ↑ "Tijdlijnfoto's". Facebook. 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  21. ↑ "Lil Bub & Friendz". VICE. 2013-08-27. Archived from the original on 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
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