Even if you’re not a full-on cat lover, who doesn’t love a funny cat video? With CatVideoFest, you get a full 75 minutes of them.Will Braden puts together the catty compilation. “It’s the best job in the world,” he said. “It’s been my full time job now for a decade to watch 20,000 cat videos every year and find the best ones.”Felines doing things that humans find funny just never seems to get old. In fact, if attendance at CatVideoFest is any indication, the videos are getting more popular than ever.“It has absolutely skyrocketed in attendance and people are rushing to come see it,” said Kristian Perez-Franco, Exhibition Senior Manager of the Media Arts Center San Diego. That’s the organization that runs the Digital Gym Cinema in the Park & Market building.
Digital Gym Cinema Exhibition Manager Kristian Perez-Franco is shown at the Digital Gym Cinema on August 6, 2026.
Perez-Franco said Digital Gym typically screens independent films and documentaries, movies that are often the polar opposite of CatVideoFest.“A lot of the time independent film can be quite heavy, or touch on heavy subjects. So this is sort of a breath of fresh air, and we weren’t sure how it was going to do, but it fit right into our programming quite well because we are one of the few places that you can come see CatVideoFest,” Perez-Franco said.In fact, movie theaters in the U.S. and around the world are the only places you can see CatVideoFest.“We probably will end up in all countries all told, you know, 600 or 700 different cities and theaters, and it’s pretty exciting,” Braden said.Exciting for cats as well; specifically cats who need to be rescued. Ten percent of the proceeds from every one of those theaters goes to a local cat-related charity. The theaters choose the charity. This year, Los Gatos De Barrio Logan gets the cat cash.
Kristian Perez-Franco is shown holding a cat mask/fan up to his face at Digital Gym Cinema on August 6, 2026. The fans will be handed out to audiences as long as supplies last.
CatVideoFest premieres Friday night at 7 at Digital Gym Cinema, but that show is sold out. Showings are scheduled throughout this coming week, but the movie doesn’t show every day, so check out Digital Gym’s website for showtimes and ticket information.Perez-Franco said early sales have been strong, adding that he wouldn’t be surprised if the CatVideoFest isn’t held over.
