AMBITIOUS HOSTED TOURING PRODUCTION OF EXCLUSIVE CAT VIDEOS LAUNCHED OCTOBER 2017
A Family Feline Film And Cat Comedy Event For All
Los Angeles, CA (October 11th, 2017) – Concert and live production powerhouse Knitting Factory Presents has announced CAT VIDEOS LIVE!, a comprehensive and ambitious touring production of the world’s best cat-themed video presentations. Deploying as a North American tour in fall 2017, tickets for shows in San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit are on sale now at: www.CatVideosLive.com
The promo clip for Chicago’s Cat Videos Live! Date can be downloaded, here: http://bit.ly/CVLChicago
Cat Videos Live! is a family-friendly, feline film, cat comedy event and social gathering for all ages. Cat Videos Live! provides an authentic, wildly entertaining atmosphere for animal lovers to experience the cat video phenomenon–together–in a live, theatrical setting. Cat Videos Live! and Catvideos.com have partnered to bring this exclusive cat content to the big screen. In addition, Cat Videos Live! is a forum for cat video creators from amateurs to celebrities to showcase their cats.
Produced by Knitting Factory Presents, New York City-based comedienne Carla Rhodes will serve as the show’s host. Mentored by Shari Lewis, creator of children’s icon Lambchop, Rhodes is a multi-faceted entertainer who has performed with a wide array of artists such as Neil Hamburger, The Eels and Tim Heidecker (of Tim & Eric). The tour is co-produced by award-winning video producer, director and editor Eric Dorris, founder of www.catvideos.com, “For the Love of Cats.”
United Talent Agency (UTA), home to talent as diverse as Angelina Jolie, Shailene Woodley, Ice Cube and Judd Apatow, is the project’s agent. Bring Cat Videos Live! to your town. For booking enquiries: Phil.Battiato@unitedtalent.com <mailto:Phil.Battiato@unitedtalent.com> and Joe.Fucigna@unitedtalent.com <mailto:Joe.Fucigna@unitedtalent.com>
Why Cat Videos Live!? Quite simply, cat videos rule the Internet. Back in 2014, Tubular Insights estimated that over 2 million cat videos had been uploaded to YouTube and racked up 25 billion views (source: http://tubularinsights.com/2-million-cat-videos-youtube <http://tubularinsights.com/2-million-cat-videos-youtube>). Celebrity cats and their owners have gone way beyond a cottage industry to bona fide sensations. In fiscal 2015, Americans spent $62 billion dollars were spent by Americans on their pets, pet heath care, grooming and pet related consumer products. Touring productions of cat videos have legs–or tiny cat feet as it were. Previous cat video showcases have played all over the world and Knitting Factory Presents sold-out events from the Showbox in Seattle to the Warsaw in Brooklyn to the Federal in Long Beach to the Echoplex in Los Angeles. The world LOVES cat videos.
“It’s such a huge audience that we really had to put this multi-media event together to meet the pent-up demand to take this social phenomenon to a higher professional level,” explains Kitting Factory Presents president Mark Dinerstein.
Dorris adds, “We’re delighted to make the concept of CatVideos.com into a live touring experience for the family–cat [and dog] lovers alike. Cat Videos Live! is a rollicking roadshow combining community, comedy and technology. It’s a showcase of local, national and international filmmaking talent. It’s an amazing outpouring of both creative output and shared experiences and interests.”
Cat Videos Live! puts its arms around the entire feline phenomenon. While the two-hour program has national common elements, each city’s performance and presentation will be unique, with locally programmed media and celebrity guest hosts and videos. The show has two national and multiple local charitable beneficiaries. National partners include Panthera (www.panthera.org), which works to protect big cats, and Friends for Life (www.friends4life.org <http://www.friends4life.org/>), which leads no-kill shelter and adoption care efforts in the Southwest. “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Friends for Life founder, philanthropist, and investor Don Sanders, whose work saving animals is an inspiration and is a valuable part of the awareness we hope to bring with Cat Videos Live!,” Dorris says. Each tour city will also have its own local rescue and/or adoption partners.
Finally, CatVideos.com is launching an app to tie together the touring experience and web site for cat fans and supporters. iOS and Android mobile device users will be able to upload their own videos, share others, get catmojis, buy tickets, visit partner sites, support sponsors and charities.
About Knitting Factory Entertainment (KFE)
KFE, under CEO and President Morgan Margolis, is a leader in the independent entertainment, restaurant and hospitality industries. KFE provides a vast array of professional services, including on the ground venue and restaurant build outs to in-house talent buying, leading small to large scale clubs and outdoor festivals, with operational oversight across all departments, personnel and platforms.
Knitting Factory Presents, one of the top 50 promoters in the US, produces national and international tours, concerts and events; upcoming large-scale live performance events include Desert Daze, taking place in Joshua Tree, CA October, Travelers Rest Festival in Missoula, MT and Horton’s Hayride, taking place September 16 in San Pedro, CA. Mark Dinerstein serves as President.
KFE owns and operates numerous Knitting Factory live music concert houses, and curates talent for a multitude of non-operated venues and events across the country. Partnerships also include the iconic Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles–a large capacity music, food and bar staple–and Arrive Palm Spring, a 39-room boutique hotel in the heart of Palm Springs. KFE has designed, built, staffed and continues to run several Federal bar and restaurant entertainment complexes over the past five years to continued success.
Knitting Factory Records, along with its partners Partisan Records, manages recorded music and catalogues and current and legacy artists and releases content in all formats as well as music-branded DVDs.
Knitting Factory Management and strategic partner Van Johnson Company handle the careers of emerging and critically acclaimed recording and theatrical artists both in the U.S. and overseas. KFE has numerous alignments and/or ownership stakes in media enterprises to help launch your next great event or brand experience, including: Giant Step Marketing and Media, an award winning experiential organization; Spaceland Presents, one of the premiere independent club promotion and event companies; The Connect Group, an agency focused on food, sports and entertainment; Boomtown Brewery; Selby Artists Management, as well as a web property; The Talkhouse, connecting the conversation between artists.
