Wholphin (DVD magazine)

Wholphin
EditorBrent Hoff
FrequencyQuarterly
First issueDecember 2005
Final issueFebruary 2012
CompanyMcSweeney's
CountryUS
Based inSan Francisco
WebsiteWholphin

Wholphin was a quarterly DVD magazine running 15 issues containing a selection of short films which had little or no exposure elsewhere.[1] The magazine was created by Dave Eggers and Brent Hoff of McSweeney's publishing house. It was named after the marine animal of the same name, a rare hybrid of a false killer whale and a dolphin, which highlights its unusual nature.[2]

Eggers and Hoff claim they were inspired to create it after the Cannes Film Festival, which is one of very few places at which many of these short films can ever be seen. Short films and documentaries have limited exposure to the general public because, in the words of Hoff, "they're too short to show on TV, and they don't play in theaters because they'd rather show some great trivia about Adam Sandler."

The first issue of Wholphin was released in December 2005, containing among others a documentary by Spike Jonze about Al Gore, by David O. Russell on U.S. soldiers in Iraq, films by Miguel Arteta and Miranda July, David Byrne and Selma Blair, Turkish sitcoms and Iranian animation.[2] Issue 15, the last Wholphin, was published February 2012.

Issues 2, 3, and 4 each came with a bonus DVD of the three parts of the documentary The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis. The magazine did not include any advertisement.[1]

Issues

Issue 1 (2007)
Issue 2 (2007)
Issue 3 (2007)
Issue 4 (2007)
  • Two Cars, One Night by Taika Waititi
  • High Falls by Andrew Zuckerman, screenplay by Alex Vlack
  • Strange Culture by Lynn Hershman Leeson
  • Heavy Metal Jr. by Chris Waitt
  • Schastlivy Vmeste (Happy Together) (re-scripted Russian sitcom)
  • Heavy Metal Drummer by Toby MacDonald and Luke Morris
  • La Chatte Andalouse by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu
  • Tom's War on Terror by Cameron Fay
  • Cheeta (Original Wholphin short)
  • Site Specific_Las Vegas 05 by Olivo Barbieri
  • Bonus Disc: The Power of Nightmares Part III: The Shadows in the Cave by Adam Curtis
Issue 5 (2008)
  • Death to the Tinman by Ray Tintori
  • Drunk Bees by Wholphin
  • House Hunting by Amy Lippman
  • American Outrage by George Gage
  • Madame Tutli-Putli by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
  • Piece by Piece by West Side Filmworks
  • Chonto by Carson Mell
  • Echos Der Buchrücken (Parts I & III) by Cesar Velasco Broca
  • One Day with the SLA by David Martinez and Shane Bauer
  • Monument Valley Flight Attempt by Will Lamson
  • John "Kung Fu" Wang by Dan Vest
  • Shot Through by Tom Dale
Issue 6 (2008)
Issue 7 (2008)
Issue 8 (2009)
Issue 9 (2009)
  • Sparks by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
  • La Corona produced and directed by Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
  • The Creature Within & Melbourne Years by Spike Jonze
  • Maurice at the World's Fair by Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs
  • Acting for the Camera directed by Justin Nowell, written by Thomas Nowell
  • Skhizein by Jérémy Clapin
  • Jerrycan by Julius Avery
  • The Unmaking of 'I Am a Sex Addict' by Caveh Zahedi
  • Sister Wife by Jill Orschel
  • Mompelaar by Wim Reygaert and Marc Roels
  • Sunday, 6th April, 11:42am by Flatform
  • Bearings Glocken by Kawase Kohske
  • Motodrom by Jörg Wagner
Issue 10 (2009)
Issue 11 (2010)
Issue 12 (2010)
  • Static No. 12 by Daniel Crooks
  • Ride No. 2 by Daniel Crooks
  • Pan No. 2 by Daniel Crooks
  • Rob and Valentyna in Scotland by Eric Lynne
  • Mi Amigo Invisible by Pablo Larcuen
  • Woman in Burka by Jonathan Lisecki
  • Miracle Fish by Luke Doolan
  • I Don't Blame the Beautiful Game by Christopher Arcella
  • Drunk History Vol. 3, created by Derek Waters, directed by Jeremy Konner
  • Dynamic Tom: Portrait of a Cocksman by Andrew Cohn
  • Here Comes Greatness by Matthew Lue & Greg Fiering
  • The Armoire by Jamie Travis
Issue 13 (2011)
  • Successful Alcoholics by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
  • 'N Me For Myself by Giorgis Grigorakis
  • Arsy-Versy by Miro Remo
  • Crossbow by David Michôd
  • The History of Aviation by Bálint Kenyeres
  • Mosquito by Jeremy Engle
  • The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. by Dash Shaw
  • Delemeier Builds a Machine by Landon Zakheim
  • We Are the Faithful by Michael Koch
  • How to Explain It to My Parents (Arno Coenen) by Lernert & Sander
Issue 14 (2011)
  • Quadrangle by Amy Grappell
  • Please Say Something by David OReilly
  • Pioneer by David Lowery
  • I Am a Girl! by Susan Koenen
  • Soft by Simon Ellis
  • Feeder by Joseph Ernst
  • Chicken Heads (Roos Djaj) by Bassam Jarbawi
  • The Eagleman Stag by Mikey Please
  • Inside Report from Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Evacuation Zone by Tetsuo Jimbo
  • Styrofoam by Noah Sheldon
  • Sasquatch Birth Journal 2 by David & Nathan Zellner
Issue 15 (2012)

Best-of issues

Volume 1 (2008)
  • Two Cars, One Night directed by Taika Waititi
  • Heavy Metal Jr. directed by Chris Waitt
  • The Pity Card directed by Bob Oedenkirk
  • Chonto directed by Carson Mell
  • American Outrage (excerpt) directed by George and Beth Gage
  • Wallyball: "Yeah, Yeah, We Speak English. Just Serve." by Wholphin
  • The Delicious directed by Scott Prendergast
  • More directed by Mark Osborne
  • A Stranger in Her Own City directed by Khadija Al-Salami
  • Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? directed by Miguel Arteta
  • Untitled Patton/Byrne Piece by Wholphin
  • Baby Squid, Born Like Stars by Wholphin
  • Tactical Advantage directed by Daren Rabinovitch

References

  1. ^ a b Nat Ives (15 February 2006). "Wholphin: A Magazine of Short Films". AdAge. New York. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b Danielle Digiacomo. "Saving the Odd Docs: Hybrid Media Like 'Wholphin' and 'GOOD' Distribute Rare Films". IDA. Retrieved 1 January 2016.