Film & Animation

Each episode of Every Frame A Painting feels like a perfectly-crafted jewel—every video essay analyzing the film form, while using those same techniques to tell an entertaining and compelling story. In its past two years, it’s built a dedicated fan base of over 3,700 patrons donating nearly $6,700 for each video on subjects as varied as how to do visual comedy to texting and the Internet in film. Creators Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos return to XOXO from Vancouver, BC to debut a brand new episode.

The mysterious Auralnauts are audio engineers gone rogue, remixing the soundtracks and dialogue from blockbuster hits into hilarious new videos, revealing another side to villains like Bane and Kylo Ren, and reinventing the Death Star as a planet-sized laser tag emporium. In the process, they’ve racked up a dedicated fan base and over 37 million views. The pseudonymous Zak Koonce and Craven Moorhaus join us for their first public appearance ever!

The followup to Feminist Frequency’s pioneering video series on the representation of women in videogames, Ordinary Women: Daring to Defy History is a new series about women through history who defied stereotypes to change the world. Raising over $200,000 from 3,774 supporters on Seed & Spark, each episode features original animation with a different visual style inspired by the woman at its center. We’re thrilled that director and host Anita Sarkeesian, producer Elisabeth Aultman, and writer Laura Hudson are premiering the series at XOXO for the first time.

Last year, a last-minute illness prevented animators Lindsay and Alex Small-Butera from flying to XOXO to showcase Baman Piderman, their adorable Kickstarter-funded animated series about two not-quite-right superhero friends and the surreal world they live in. But we managed to conference them in, where they charmed a packed house over Skype. We’re thrilled to bring them back, in the flesh, to premiere new work exclusively at XOXO.

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared’s darkly surreal puppet world is like a children’s television show infused with your deepest fears and insecurities. Produced with the help of over 3,500 Kickstarter backers, its six episodes were viewed over 115 million times, spawning cosplay, live-action recreations, and elaborate conspiracy theories. London-based directors Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling join us at XOXO to screen the complete series and answer your questions.

15 years ago this August, Strong Bad pulled out his Tandy 400 and answered his first email in the world of Homestar Runner, the influential animated series started in 2000 by brothers Matt and Mike Chapman. Five years before YouTube launched, The Brothers Chaps pushed the limits of Flash to bring us Marzipan, Strong Sad, The Cheat, Trogdor the Burninator, the blistering sounds of Limozeen, and so much more. They join us from Atlanta for a very rare appearance to share some of their favorite moments, the history of the series, and what they’re working on now.

Grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show.