Lost treasures
Touring festival pokes fun at recovered film
Matthew Keil
Issue date: 3/29/06 Section: Showcase
Maybe you've been forced to sit through an ancient training video that had you scratching your head at the idea that anyone would take it seriously. Or maybe you've come across a bizarre clip that showcased a celebrity at a less-than-proud moment. If you have, chances are the three minds behind the Found Footage Festival have already made fun of it.
The Found Footage Festival, a national touring production, will appear at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in Eau Claire tonight at the Cameo Budget Twin, 315 S. Barstow. The show is presented by Volume One Magazine and is co-sponsored by Cameo Budget Twin and Kaleidoscope Entertainment.
The festival showcases a compilation of strange and amusing video clips that the hosts hack at with skits and commentary. In its career, Found Footage Festival has sold out shows from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between. But the Eau Claire performance is more than just another show - it's a homecoming.
Co-curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher are UW-Eau Claire alumni. They accumulated a number of funny and bizarre videos entertaining friends in the living room of their college apartment. When they were working on a documentary in New York and needed money, Prueher said, the idea to take the show to the public seemed like a possibility.
"We decided to just piece a bunch of the footage we had together and try to make a show out of it in Manhattan," Prueher said. "The response was huge, and the theater ended up selling out."
Along with friend Geoff Haas, the group took the show on the road, selling out venues across the country. Between their busy performance schedule and keeping up with press demands (the group is regularly featured on national television programs), Prueher said Found Footage Festival has grown beyond their expectations.
"This is definitely becoming a full-time gig, which we never really expected," he said.
As for the show itself, Prueher said they are never short of material. Footage has surfaced everywhere -much of it from their days at TV10 on campus, and everywhere else from dumpsters to thrift stores.
The Found Footage Festival, a national touring production, will appear at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in Eau Claire tonight at the Cameo Budget Twin, 315 S. Barstow. The show is presented by Volume One Magazine and is co-sponsored by Cameo Budget Twin and Kaleidoscope Entertainment.
The festival showcases a compilation of strange and amusing video clips that the hosts hack at with skits and commentary. In its career, Found Footage Festival has sold out shows from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between. But the Eau Claire performance is more than just another show - it's a homecoming.
Co-curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher are UW-Eau Claire alumni. They accumulated a number of funny and bizarre videos entertaining friends in the living room of their college apartment. When they were working on a documentary in New York and needed money, Prueher said, the idea to take the show to the public seemed like a possibility.
"We decided to just piece a bunch of the footage we had together and try to make a show out of it in Manhattan," Prueher said. "The response was huge, and the theater ended up selling out."
Along with friend Geoff Haas, the group took the show on the road, selling out venues across the country. Between their busy performance schedule and keeping up with press demands (the group is regularly featured on national television programs), Prueher said Found Footage Festival has grown beyond their expectations.
"This is definitely becoming a full-time gig, which we never really expected," he said.
As for the show itself, Prueher said they are never short of material. Footage has surfaced everywhere -much of it from their days at TV10 on campus, and everywhere else from dumpsters to thrift stores.