Found Footage Festival hits L.A.! September 22, 2005

The Found Footage Festival, the popular touring showcase of odd and hilarious clips from found videotapes, will play three shows in Los Angeles, on Sept. 22nd, 23rd and 24th, as part of its first-ever West Coast Tour. All three shows, presented by L.A.'s own Un-Cabaret, will take place at 8 p.m. at M Bar in West Hollywood. Having played to sold out crowds in New York, Austin, Minneapolis, Boston and Chicago earlier this year, the Found Footage Festival curators are looking forward to bringing their unique blend of video clips and comedy to the City of Angels as the final stop on their 2005 West Coast Tour.

The Found Footage Festival is a one-of-a-kind event that compiles over an hour's worth of footage from videotapes that were found at garage sales and thrift stores, and in warehouses and trash bins throughout the country. Curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher host each screening in-person and provide their unique observations and commentary on these found video obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, the Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in a lively 90-minute celebration of all things found.

For the L.A. engagement, the curators will present two separate shows ? "FBI Warning" and "Bad Tracking" - each featuring different lineups of videos clips and comedy. "FBI Warning" includes an irritatingly hokey McDonald's training video, a collection of self-released music videos by a middle-aged woman from Illinois, and a self-important video diary by one-time teen heartthrob Corey Haim. "Bad Tracking" includes a home movie of a kid drumming to Metallica's "Black Album" in his parents" living room, an unexpectedly erotic exercise video starring Angela Lansbury, and a Wendy's training video featuring a rapping crew trainer. Both shows will feature the following audience favorites: an insurance video with graphic reenactments of on-the-job accidents, a travel video for Brazil featuring a young and frisky Arnold Schwarzenegger, a segment from a home shopping channel featuring two obnoxious hosts, and outtakes from an industrial film about RVs. "FBI Warning" will screen on Thursday and Saturday; "Bad Tracking" will play on Friday.

Additional information and a short preview of the show can be found on the festival's website: www.foundfootagefestival.com.