The annual cat video is back for 2025, and this time the cats will be even crazier. Indiewire can reveal the trailer for this year’s festival, which will debut in theaters throughout the United States with the permission of distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Catvideofest 2025 is a compilation of the latest and best cat videos cured by founder Will Braden. Local theaters showing the festival will donate revenue to cat -focused charities, animal welfare associations and shelters, with part of the ticket from every show that goes directly to cats in need. The 2024 edition made history since Braden’s iteration of the festival began in 2016: Last year, the Million-Dollar brand at the checkout crossed for the first time ever. (The annual video event was formally launched in 2019 with Oscilloscope distributes and has collected more than $ 170,000 for charities since then.)
Will Braden, founder and curator for the annual compilation, told IndieWire that the 2025 roll has more than 200 clips in it, with a roundime of about 75 minutes. This year includes animated clips, music videos, Montages and mini -documentaries, with 25 to 30 percent of clips from fans submission. Braden received and cured the majority of the clips.
“I look at over 12,000 cat videos per year! It’s a fun job but it’s a big one,” Braden said. The original goal of CVF was simple but kind of radical: to unite people in a shared space to collectively enjoy something that most people usually consume alone: cat videos. It quickly became clear that this was not just a news, that there was something gratifying and municipal about laughing together on cats like cats.
Catvideofest works closely with selected indie beaters to support local animal welfare and rescue groups, with some theaters even hosted adoption events. “It is decentralized by design,” said Braden about the charity component. “Although it would be easier to just write a large check to a national organization at the end of the year, the best way to help cats and keeping the shows are special.”
Braden continued that independent theaters are a “natural fit” for the festival. “They enjoy social engagement and unique programming, and they are always looking for events that take people in for something happy and unexpected,” he said. “We started with a handful of theaters that were curious, and it only grew from there. The word was quickly spread in the art house community and that led to a partnership with an oscilloscope for distribution. There are not many events that are family-friendly, appeals to every demographic and are charity at once. have a great time! ‘
When it comes to the market for curated viral videos in Hollywood, Braden has great ideas about both cat video and other viral film movements.
“Even when the flow grows every year, there is still a huge appetite for the theater experience,” Braden said. “Although it is full of cat videos from the internet, the experience of watching cat video in theaters may not be replicated anywhere else. We do not reproduce the videos online, we do not sell DVDs. It is a must-see theater experience, and it will never go out from style.
And the now-iconic marketing movement for the 2024 festival, tied to the trial Diss on “Cat Ladies” by Vice President JD Vance, only helped to strengthen the effect of CVF. “Anytime someone tries to mock or marginalize people (especially women) for loving cats, it recurs immediately,” Braden said. “Cat lovers are passionate, and they have helped turn the stereotype of” Crazy Cat Lady “into a honor. Although we have not had any major celebrities who know publicly in response to the kinds of comments, we have seen a lot of support from influencers, comedians and even filmmakers who recognize the joy and legitimate in what we do.
Catvideofest will be in theaters August 2 from Oscilloscope Laboratories. Tickets will be sold in selected theaters on www.catvideofest.com. Check out the trailer below.
