Viral Video Meets Good Journalism
Earlier this month I went to a screening of Winnebago Man at the Sarasota Film Festival. Three weeks later, I still can’t get enough.
The documentary is investigative journalism at its best, coupled with the most delightful subject matter imaginable—viral video stardom. The film’s director, Ben Steinbauer, seeks out viral video legend Jack Rebney, a man who rose his way through miles of cutting room floor tape, swinging his arms and swearing his way into outtake glory. The hilarious Rebney outtakes are from a 1989 Winnebago shoot gone awry: throughout the 1990s videotapes were copied again and again until the pictures blurred and YouTube came along.
YouTube clip that started it all here. Mind yourself, he doesn’t mind his ps and qs.
Jack Rebney in the documentary is as whacky and zany as the outtakes of himself from 20 years earlier. But, all the while, Steinbauer explores the delicate subject of life post-internet video stardom, especially to someone who didn’t want it for himself (remember- when’s the last time a flattering video made it big on YouTube?)
We like documentaries that carefully examine media phenomena. For a list of screenings, check out winnebagoman.com.
I mention the site address not to plug, but to address the only setback of this media-upon-media extravaganza—our dear friend Google. Typing “Winnebago Man” into the Google toolbar takes you directly to the YouTube video of Jack Rebney. Googling “Winnebago Man” the old fashioned way produces the same result. If a Winnebago Man trailer exists, it is lost in the YouTube search result pages. Adding “Ben Steinbauer” or “documentary” narrows the results, but not really. If the Winnebago Man team is listening, get on that!
Everyone else—Winnebago Man or no Winnebago Man—how do we tackle this problem of content on top of content?
-Wendy Joan
April 17th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Sweet! A buddy of mine produced this film. Haven’t seen it yet, but certainly intend to, especially after this glowing review.