March 8, 2016

Exciting news to come for ‘Fursonas’ documentary movie.

by Patch O'Furr

A followup to yesterday’s story: ‘Fursonas’ beats Zootopia as most important furry movie, coming on Video On Demand.

“Most important?” What’s with the sensational title?

Not the biggest or most widely appealing. Just one that stands apart.

There’s never been a furry-made feature film that got support from the movie industry, until now. Not just support, but pole position to open Slamdance, one of the most significant film festivals. It got an award for representing the spirit of the festival. Then it sold immediately to a mainstream distributor with Hollywood press, while tons of larger movies sit on the shelf.

That’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened in fandom-made media.

Disney’s non-fanmade “furry” movie is getting all the attention, while a by-and-for-fans movie is getting what any furry moviemaker dreams of. It’s a good reason for an article about what’s going on with the Year of Furry movies.

It was surprising that nobody talked about the Slamdance win when it happened… so here’s a little nudge to notice. The best part of the hype is it’s not just a furry movie, it’s a legit movie.

More news to come! Dogpatch Press will be on the story.

Director Dominic Rodriguez said that five furries attended the two screenings of his movie at Slamdance, with two in suit. Slamdance released a video as part of their Spotlight Series of a short interview with him, the producer, and Boomer The Dog.

Read the rest of this entry »

5 comments

March 7, 2016

‘Fursonas’ beats Zootopia as most important furry movie, coming soon on Video On Demand.

by Patch O'Furr

Co-written by Patch and Pup Matthias. Find ‘Fursonas’ on the web and on Twitter.

Cc4mr5uUEAAgak3

2016 has been labeled The Year Of Furry. Disney’s Zootopia is just the start. There’s a surprising amount of other films to come with anthropomorphic animals. From Kung Fu Panda 3, Ratchet and Clank, The Angry Birds Movie, Secret Life of Pets, Sing, The Boy and The Beast, and TMNT 2 (yes it counts)… there’s a wealth of films for furries to enjoy (or love to hate) this year.

There’s a film apart from those that has surprisingly flown under a lot of people’s radars. It’s not a big-budget blockbuster, and doesn’t have massive marketing. (With vast differences in “furry movies”, that’s what the headline references.) Few have talked about it… but for this tiny fandom, it has special quality above any other.

Fursonas is a documentary directed by Dominic Rodriguez. It looks at the fandom itself, to clear up fuzziness over what it’s about.

Read the rest of this entry »

4 comments

February 16, 2016

2015 Ursa Major Award nominations are open until Feb. 29 – nominate now!

by Patch O'Furr

Ursa art by Foxenawolf.

Last year’s Ursa Major awards had something different than usual. There was a unique spike of mainstream attention (with help from Dogpatch Press). Depending on your point of view, it was either amazing or the worst thing since Sexy Kitty showed up on CSI. It came with the nomination of CollegeHumor’s Furry Force, covered with exclusive news here. It led CollegeHumor to lobby their watchers to vote for recognition from the Furry community. Hasbro wouldn’t have paid attention for their MLP nomination, but CollegeHumor was proud to win the award.

Here’s a suggestion for how to make the awards more interesting still. If furries have a big problem with the media misrepresenting them, they could give awards to the kind of news they want to see.

For that purpose, I suggest nominating the options below. And at the end of 2016, nominate VICE for their recent article about the Midwest Furfest chlorine attack. It’s among the top journalism that’s been done about furries. (Tomorrow’s article discusses this further.)

The 2015 Ursas can accept nominations until Feb 29 – so please go to their website, and…

Nominate “You Can’t Get Inside” by mouse for Best Other Literary Work.
Nominate Culturally F’d for Best Anthropomorphic Website.
Nominate Dogpatch Press for Best Anthropomorphic Magazine.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 comment

February 15, 2016

Furries are renting theaters for Zootopia meets, and they’re getting bigger than cons.

by Patch O'Furr

zootopia

Nordic Fuzzcon has a Zootopia screening at a theater for 250. That’s the size of it’s 2014 attendance. (Art: Silverfox)

The most anticipated “furry” movie in memory is coming. It’s the #1 reason to call 2016 The Year of Furry. Zootopia is Star Wars for anthro animals.

This is different from other such events. It’s a fandom pulling mainstream media to itself, despite reasons for the media to resist open ties. This isn’t Zootopia fandom taking over, it’s furries doing what they already love.

In the San Francisco Bay area, over 200 furries will stuff a theater to it’s limit. The screening is just for them. It includes not just a movie, but a whole night of fursuiting. There’s a changing room in the theater, and the neighborhood will be inundated with fluffy revelers at bars and restaurants.

It’s the size of a small con. The event was arranged by convincing a theater that it would be well handled and attended. The response exploded beyond expectations. A theater with 145 seats was maxed out within days, and had to be switched for one with 225 spots. That isn’t even enough – the wait list is double digits and rising. It went out through members-only channels and word of mouth, to serve the most dedicated fans and manage demand beyond the limits.

Read the rest of this entry »

56 comments

February 10, 2016

New episodes from Culturally F’d: Twisted Tempting Furry Demons!

by Patch O'Furr

If you’re not reading Dogpatch Press, you should be watching Culturally F’d! It’s the Furry youtube series that asks:

Where does the love of anthropomorphics come from? How far back can we dig in history and mass media to really get to the bottom of it? Why does every culture across the face of the earth have a fascination with animal-people?

Here’s what’s been going on with Culturally F’d in the past month:

Episode 20: Tempting St. Anthony

Read the rest of this entry »

January 27, 2016

Drag Queens vs. Furries at a legendary San Francisco Party – January 30, 2016.

by Patch O'Furr

San Francisco Bay Area Furries are fluffing up for this weekend’s party. It’s the kind of subcultural crossover that makes this place Furry Mecca. (Except when Pittsburgh takes the title once a year.) Organizer Neonbunny says:

We did this a couple of years ago, and it was a ton of fun. We’ll have a space for fursuiters only, so we won’t have to worry about drag queens wondering what happens when glitter is combined with industrial fans. I do hope you’ll join us!

Frolic @ Bootie Saturday, January 30th, 9pm – 3:30am (room runs until 2am). DNA Lounge, 375 11th St, San Francisco. 21+.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 comment

January 13, 2016

‘Cats and More Cats’ anthology to launch at Further Confusion 2016.

by Patch O'Furr

Cats and More Cats Cover

Cats and More Cats; Feline Fantasy Fiction, edited by Fred Patten, is launching at Further Confusion 2016 in San Jose, California over the January 14-18 five-day weekend. The book can be pre-ordered online from FurPlanet Productions. It will be for sale on the FurPlanet online catalogue afterwards.

Cats and More Cats is a reprint anthology of 14 short stories and novelettes of feline fantasy fiction (“the best of the best”) from 1989 to the present, most of them out-of-print today, plus a new essay and an extensive bibliography of cat fantasy books. This is designed to appeal to both s-f & fantasy fans, and all cat-lovers.

Read the rest of this entry »

January 11, 2016

CALL FOR INFORMATION: Furry Convention History, by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

IF YOU HAVE HELPED TO ORGANIZE A FURRY CONVENTION, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW.

Fred Patten wants to put your con in a fandom history book from an academic publisher. (See previous articles from “Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer“.) There are pieces of info lacking from many cons – Fred can make it clear what’s needed from which ones. He’ll report it like this example, the history of RAINFURREST. – Patch

Fred’s message:

For the last two years, I have been compiling a history of all furry conventions throughout the world from 1989 through the end of 2015. It has been accepted by a publisher, McFarland. It covers 112 furry conventions in North and South America, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. The manuscript is 277 pages. My deadline for finishing is March 1, 2016.

Many convention committees have given full information; others have not answered at all. Also, I am trying to get at least one illustration for each convention — art such as website logos, conbook covers, posters, illustrated membership badges, illustrated hotel room keys; whatever a committee wants to submit. McFarland says that none of the illustrations on the Internet are of high enough resolution for book publication, so I cannot just framegrab an illustration from the Internet. They need an electronic file of 300 DPI or better.

I suspect that some lack of replies are due to a committee member who is not answering or passing them on. So a public announcement might reach a committee member who wants their convention represented in my book with all questions answered.

Here is what I have on one convention.

Read the rest of this entry »

9 comments

January 7, 2016

FurNightATX is coming to Austin! Organizer Haven gives a Q&A for the Furclub Survey.

by Patch O'Furr

Furclubbing: “A repeat/regular nightclub event by furries for furries.” It’s a New Thing that’s been spreading since the late 2000’s. This kind of dance party is independent from cons. This builds on the growth of cons, and takes things farther.

It’s more ambitious than events that happen once, house parties, or informal meets. Those can stay inner-focused for friends who already know each other. This brings partnership with venues that aren’t hotels, and new supportive interest in the kind of events they host. It crosses a line to public space. A stranger may walk in off the street to discover their new favorite thing. It encourages new blood, and crossover to other scenes. It makes subculture thrive. It’s a movement!

See the list of parties at The Furclub survey. Any party that gives a Q&A will get a featured article.

Featured here is FurNightATX, a new event focused towards the Furry Fandom in Austin Texas. It was shared by MC/organizer Haven, with extra-professional outreach (I love publicizing tips that come that way). I asked if FurNightATX was affiliated with the irregular Austin Furry Dance series organized by Whines – they’re friendly but the events aren’t connected. That’s an interesting sign of independent activity. Haven shares more: