Meet CatVideoFest Founder, Director Will Braden!

By Mewla Young with Will Braden

CatVideoFest 2026 is bringing the best, funniest, cutest, and most amazing cat videos to theaters worldwide! I caught up with founder and director Will Braden to learn how he finds thousands of cat videos each year, what makes a clip CatVideoFest-worthy, and his tips to help amateur videographers capture great cat footage.

Will Braden was a student at the Seattle Film Institute when he first created the cat video, “Henri, le Chat Noir”, a satire of French New Wave cinema featuring Henri’s pessimistic musings. The video was a hit, going viral on the internet. Will’s follow-up Henri film won the 2012 Golden Kitty award at the first Internet Cat Video Film Festival and received over a million views online.

What is CatVideoFest?

CatVideoFest is a yearly, family-friendly theatrical compilation of the best and funniest cat videos, and includes animations, music videos, as well as classic internet clips compiled into one cat-tastic theatrical experience! Catch the 75-minute compilation at a local theater near you.

Will went on to produce and direct the globally distributed CatVideoFest, a feature-length video montage of cats knocking things off tables, sneaking up on people, and performing amazing physical feats like scaling the side of a building. The video festival travels to hundreds of theaters each year, providing a group viewing experience for cat lovers. Every showing also raises funds for local animal welfare and cat charities.

Mewla: Welcome, Will Braden! We are so excited for CatVideoFest. Tell u—about how many cat video clips did you review in the past year to come up with this year’s montage?

Will: As a rule, I don’t ever do an official count of how many cat videos I watch, because it might make me feel crazy. But my best estimate is that I watch about 20,000 or so a year now. It’s a lot!

Mewla: Wow! Absolutely! We love all types of cat videos. Roughly what percentage of clips chosen for the festival are “silly cat” videos vs. cute “awww factor” videos vs. “cats are amazing” videos (the latter featuring remarkable physical feats)?

Will: It’s a good question. The classic cat video, where a cat just does something funny or surprising and it’s caught on camera usually by accident, is the meat and potatoes of CatVideoFest every year. But if that was all there was to the reel, I think it would not only feel repetitive but also make people feel too much like it was the same as the algorithm on social media just clicking next. So I have to make sure to include a lot of variety, with animated clips, music videos, mini documentaries, etc. I would say less than half of the videos are the “silly cat” type. I always pepper in a few blatant “aww” videos. People need a short break from laughing to catch their breath!

“The classic cat video, where a cat just does something funny or surprising, and it’s caught on camera usually by accident, is the meat and potatoes of CatVideoFest…”

-Will Braden

Mewla: What strikes you about a particular video clip that makes you more likely to choose it for the CatVideoFest?

Will: The biggest thing people should be aware of is length. The reel is about 75 minutes and I usually get up to 200 separate clips in there. So even if someone makes the best cat video ever, if it’s 7 minutes long, I will have to trim it down a lot. Beyond that, there’s really no way to say what is going to work and what isn’t. If it’s got a cat in it, it might make it in!

I will say, if you want your video to have a better chance of going viral, make sure the big laugh or big aww moment happens right at the end. If the video ends and people are still enjoying it, they’re much more likely to share it. Don’t overstay your welcome!

Mewla: About what percent of videos that appear in CatVideoFest are more like scripted short films versus your everyday spontaneous cat videos?

Will: It depends on what you mean by scripted. In terms of an actual scripted video, I would say it’s fairly low. Maybe 10% of the reel.

But there are a lot of videos that are curated and produced, even if they aren’t scripted beforehand. So if those count, in the sense that someone had an idea beforehand and then edited footage to fit that, I’d say it’s maybe 30%. (For example, if someone films the entire process of rescuing a feral cat and then edits it down to a video, with music, and subtitles, etc.)

Mewla: Most videos these days are recorded via a cell phone. Do you have recommendations for amateur videographers about how to ensure high-quality cat video footage?

Will: I love this question! Lighting is a big one! Even just taking a quick second to turn on a light before you film is really important. iphone and other smartphones are much better in low light than they used to be, but they always aim for maximum visibility over maximum quality.

If it is dark when you film your cat, your phone isn’t thinking, “Well, this might someday be projected on a movie screen, so even if it is a little dark, I better preserve the quality!” No, instead it sacrifices clarity of image to make it as bright as it would be if it were filmed in normal lighting. And you can’t undo that

The other thing I would say is don’t try to zoom in too far. Image quality on newer phones is good enough that you can just capture everything in frame and then crop and zoom a little later if need be. When you zoom in too far, you increase shakiness and increase the chance you will miss some important stuff. Cats don’t often stay still for long, so give them a lot of space in the frame to move!

Mewla: That is fantastic advice--thank you so much! Now one more question that you might never have answered before. You've spent many days viewing, choosing, and assembling cat videos. After a long day, have you ever dreamed about cat videos or had a cat video nightmare?

Will: What a great question! I can honestly say that while I have definitely dreamt about CatVideoFest shows (typical work anxiety dreams) a few times, I have never had a full on cat video dream or cat video nightmare. But hey, I’m only 15 years into this as a full time gig. Ask me again in another 15!

Mewla: LOL! Okay, it's a deal! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us, Will. We can't wait to catch the Fest this year.

Care to submit a video to CatVideoFest?

Cat videographers! To have a video considered for next year’s CatVideoFest, submit the video link to the CatVideoFest website submission page at https://catvideofest.com, or submit videos by Tweeting them at X @CatVideoFest.

What’s your favorite thing (feature, etc.) about cat videos?

Let us know in a comment below.

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MewlaYoung.com August 2026