COW IN SUNGLASSES SEEN GOING TO SWSW
Internet’s Most Popular Cartoon Cow Showcased at Austin Film Festival
[Austin, TX] – The internet’s most popular animated advocacy film, The Meatrix (www.TheMeatrix.com), has been nominated for Best Animated Short and a People’s Choice Award at the popular Austin-based interactive film and music festival South by Southwest (SXSW). The humorous flash animation spoof featuring a trench coat-clad cow named Moopheus has been wowing viewers for over a year with its unique pop culture approach to educating the public about factory farming. Since its debut in late 2003, well over 6 million people have viewed The Meatrix and discovered the ugly truth about how livestock are raised on factory farms.
The twelfth annual SXSW film and interactive media festivals showcase the most innovative and creative approaches to film and web media. At the 2005 festival, The Meatrix will be screened twice at the Alamo Downtown (409 Colorado Street) on Sunday March 13th at 12 noon and Wednesday March 16th at 11am. The film will also be shown during the SXSW music festival at the Indie 911 Showcase at Momo’s on 6th Street (Friday March 18th at 12 noon).
"The Meatrix has touched a chord with audiences worldwide," noted GRACE Marketing Director Diane Hatz, executive producer of the animated short. "Many people tell us they changed their eating habits after seeing this film. This is partly because we offer people healthier options through the Eat Well Guide (www.EatWellGuide.org), an online directory of sustainable meat poultry, dairy and eggs."
Over the past year, The Meatrix has enjoyed tremendous success on the independent film festival circuit, picking up numerous awards and many accolades. In November 2004, the film won Best Documentary Short at the Fourteenth Annual Environmental Media Association Awards (EMAs) in Los Angeles. It also has received awards from the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, The Glynwood Foundation, and Media Rights’ Media That Matters Film Festival.
The Meatrix is also poised to take the international scene by storm. Scripts have already been translated into more than a dozen languages, and French, German and Portuguese versions will be available in Spring 2005 to coincide with the official European release of the film.
"A year and a half later and we are still getting over 100,000 new viewers every month," said Hatz. "The humor of The Meatrix crosses age, gender and class boundaries. I mean, who can resist a cow in sunglasses?"
GRACE is a nonprofit organization that works with research, policy and grassroots communities to raise awareness and promote solutions to preserve the planet for future generations. Visit us at www.gracelinks.org
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