(A waiting room of ventriloquist dummies, in Dumbstruck, above.)
by Terry Keefe
For any of our Hollywood readers who are struggling to succeed as a writer, actor, director, or musician, you already know that it's hard. If you've been at it for a while, you also probably love your chosen art form enough to continue to pursue it against some pretty long odds, because otherwise, it would be easier to just hang it up.
Now just imagine how long the odds of success would feel if the art form you loved so deeply, and were willing to give up everything else for... happened to be ventriloquism.
The world of ventriloquists, or "vents" in their own parlance, is the focus of director Mark Goffman's funny, and extremely poignant, new documentary, Dumbstruck, which is being released tomorrow (4/22) in New York and Washington, D.C., followed by a Los Angeles roll-out the following weekend (4/29).
Goffman,...
by Terry Keefe
For any of our Hollywood readers who are struggling to succeed as a writer, actor, director, or musician, you already know that it's hard. If you've been at it for a while, you also probably love your chosen art form enough to continue to pursue it against some pretty long odds, because otherwise, it would be easier to just hang it up.
Now just imagine how long the odds of success would feel if the art form you loved so deeply, and were willing to give up everything else for... happened to be ventriloquism.
The world of ventriloquists, or "vents" in their own parlance, is the focus of director Mark Goffman's funny, and extremely poignant, new documentary, Dumbstruck, which is being released tomorrow (4/22) in New York and Washington, D.C., followed by a Los Angeles roll-out the following weekend (4/29).
Goffman,...
- 4/22/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from its world premiere at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival)
Director/Writer: Mark Goffman
Starring: Terry Fator, Dylan Burdette, Dan Horn, Wilma Swartz, Kim Yeager
Better known for his penmanship of episodic television (“The West Wing,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”), Mark Goffman makes his feature documentary directorial debut following five ventriloquists in a one-year period between annual Vent Haven conventions in Fort Mitchell, Ky., the “Ventriloquism Capital of the World.”
United by their dreams of making a living from their unique branch of entertainment, the five subjects of the film – whose website notes “were quirky enough to star in Christopher Guest’s â.Best in Show’” – are Kim Yeager, a 31-year-old former Miss Ohio who used ventriloquism as her pageant talent; Dan Horn, a cruise ship entertainer and noted puppet manipulator; Dylan Burdette, a 13-year-old Kentucky kid...
(from its world premiere at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival)
Director/Writer: Mark Goffman
Starring: Terry Fator, Dylan Burdette, Dan Horn, Wilma Swartz, Kim Yeager
Better known for his penmanship of episodic television (“The West Wing,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”), Mark Goffman makes his feature documentary directorial debut following five ventriloquists in a one-year period between annual Vent Haven conventions in Fort Mitchell, Ky., the “Ventriloquism Capital of the World.”
United by their dreams of making a living from their unique branch of entertainment, the five subjects of the film – whose website notes “were quirky enough to star in Christopher Guest’s â.Best in Show’” – are Kim Yeager, a 31-year-old former Miss Ohio who used ventriloquism as her pageant talent; Dan Horn, a cruise ship entertainer and noted puppet manipulator; Dylan Burdette, a 13-year-old Kentucky kid...
- 4/18/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from its world premiere at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival)
Director/Writer: Mark Goffman
Starring: Terry Fator, Dylan Burdette, Dan Horn, Wilma Swartz, Kim Yeager
Better known for his penmanship of episodic television (“The West Wing,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”), Mark Goffman makes his feature documentary directorial debut following five ventriloquists in a one-year period between annual Vent Haven conventions in Fort Mitchell, Ky., the “Ventriloquism Capital of the World.”
United by their dreams of making a living from their unique branch of entertainment, the five subjects of the film – whose website notes “were quirky enough to star in Christopher Guest’s â.Best in Show’” – are Kim Yeager, a 31-year-old former Miss Ohio who used ventriloquism as her pageant talent; Dan Horn, a cruise ship entertainer and noted puppet manipulator; Dylan Burdette, a 13-year-old Kentucky kid...
(from its world premiere at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival)
Director/Writer: Mark Goffman
Starring: Terry Fator, Dylan Burdette, Dan Horn, Wilma Swartz, Kim Yeager
Better known for his penmanship of episodic television (“The West Wing,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”), Mark Goffman makes his feature documentary directorial debut following five ventriloquists in a one-year period between annual Vent Haven conventions in Fort Mitchell, Ky., the “Ventriloquism Capital of the World.”
United by their dreams of making a living from their unique branch of entertainment, the five subjects of the film – whose website notes “were quirky enough to star in Christopher Guest’s â.Best in Show’” – are Kim Yeager, a 31-year-old former Miss Ohio who used ventriloquism as her pageant talent; Dan Horn, a cruise ship entertainer and noted puppet manipulator; Dylan Burdette, a 13-year-old Kentucky kid...
- 4/18/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Dumbstruck
Directed By: Mark Goffman
Starring: Terry Fator, Dan Horn, Kim Yeager, Wilma Swartz, Dylan Burdette
Truly*Indie
Official Website
Release Date: April 15, 2011 (limited)
Every once in a while you see a movie that makes your day. One that inspires you, makes you laugh, and leaves you with a smile on your face. Dumbstruck is that kind of movie.
The documentary opens up in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky at the Vent Haven ventriloquism convention where swarms of ventriloquists gather together, take part in various events, network, and sometimes perform in front of their peers. It is here where we meet most of the primary focuses of the movie -- Dan Horn, Kim Yeager, Dylan Burdette, and Wilma Swartz -- who we're about to follow for the next year of their lives, watching to see what paths they travel and where their passion for ventriloquism takes them next.
Horn is the most...
Directed By: Mark Goffman
Starring: Terry Fator, Dan Horn, Kim Yeager, Wilma Swartz, Dylan Burdette
Truly*Indie
Official Website
Release Date: April 15, 2011 (limited)
Every once in a while you see a movie that makes your day. One that inspires you, makes you laugh, and leaves you with a smile on your face. Dumbstruck is that kind of movie.
The documentary opens up in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky at the Vent Haven ventriloquism convention where swarms of ventriloquists gather together, take part in various events, network, and sometimes perform in front of their peers. It is here where we meet most of the primary focuses of the movie -- Dan Horn, Kim Yeager, Dylan Burdette, and Wilma Swartz -- who we're about to follow for the next year of their lives, watching to see what paths they travel and where their passion for ventriloquism takes them next.
Horn is the most...
- 4/1/2011
- by The Movie God
- Geeks of Doom
Title: Dumbstruck Director: Mark Goffman Starring: Terry Fator (’America’s Got Talent’), Dan Horn, Kim Yeager, Dylan Burdette, Wilma Schwartz Telling jokes at the expense of the audience with outrageous props is a popular way for comedians to get a laugh from their audiences. But if one of those props is a puppet, adults tend to steer clear of the show. In his new documentary ‘Dumbstruck,’ first-time movie director Mark Goffman creates a relatability to the ventriloquists he features, showing how they overcome the stigma placed on their profession. ‘Dumbstruck’ tells the struggles of five ventriloquists, including ‘America’s Got Talent’ season two winner Terry Fator; one of the world’s few cruise line ventriloquists, Dan Horn; [...]...
- 3/20/2011
- by karen
- ShockYa
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