Wholphin (DVD magazine) explained

Wholphin
Editor:	Brent Hoff
Frequency:	Quarterly
Company:	McSweeney's
Firstdate:	December 2005
Finaldate:	February 2012
Country:	US
Based:	San Francisco
Website:	Wholphin

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):

Al Gore Documentary by Spike Jonze
Soldier's Pay (documentary) by David O. Russell
Death of a Hen (animated) by Brian Dewan
Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? by Miranda July
The Writer (animated) by Carson Mell
The Writer by J. Lisa Chang & Newton Thomas Seigel
The House in the Middle by National Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up Bureau
The Delicious by Scott Pendergast
Malek Khorshid by Ali Akbar Sadeghi
Tatli Hayat ("The Sweet Life" aka "The Turkish Jeffersons"), sitcom, English subtitles provided by Jack Pendarvis, Rodney Rothman, Brian Reich, and A.G. Pasquella
Stairway at St. Paul by Jeroen Offerman
The Great Escape by Jeroen Offerman

Issue 2 (2007):

The Movie Movie (An Excerpt) (Documentary, featuring Donald Trump) by Errol Morris
Building No. 7 by Steven Soderbergh
The Pity Card (unaired TV pilot featuring Zach Galifinakis) by Bob Odenkirk
American Storage (Comedic Short with Martin Starr) by Andrew Jay Cohen
Home, James, and Don't Spare the Horses by John Dolan
More (Animated short) by Mark Osborne
Sour Death Balls by Jessica Yu
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello (Animated short) by Anthony Lucas
The Mesmerist (recovered film featuring Boris Karloff) by Bill Morrison
Oksuma Wa Majo (Bewitched), Japanese sitcom, resubtitled by Daniel Handler, Dan Kennedy, Rich Blomquist, Scott Jacobson, and Jason Reich
How to Poke Pole a Monkey-Faced Eel (Instructional Video)

Issue 3 (2007):

The Russian Suicide Chair (Explosive Performance Art) by Dennis Hopper
The Passion of Martin by Alexander Payne
A Stranger in Her Own City (Documentary) by Khadija Al-Salami
A Bee and a Cigarette by Bob Odenkirk
Never Like the First Time by Jonas Odell
Kitchen by Alice Winocour
Ballistic Jaw Propulsion of Trap-Jaw Ants (Scientific discovery)
"Yeah Yeah, We Speak English. Just Serve." by Wholphin
Flotsam/Jetsam by David Zellner & Nathan Zellner
Tactical Advantage by Daren Rabinovitch
Bobby Bird by Carson Mell

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):

Please Vote for Me by Weijun Chen
Force 1 TD by Randy Krallman
Silence is Golden by Chris Shepherd
Safari & Safari Menus by Catherine Chalmers
New Boy by Steph Green
Darling Darling by Matthew Lessner
Bigfoot: A Beast on the Run by David Thayer
On the Assassination of the President by Adam Keker
The Man in the Grey Suit by Roger Teich
Lucky by Nash Edgerton

Issue 7 (2008):

Refugee All Stars by Banker White and Zach Niles
Cold & Dry by Kristoffer Joner
The Discipline of DE by Gus Van Sant
Nutkin's Last Stand by Nicholas Berger
Field Notes from Dimension X by Carson Mell
Choque by Nacho Vigalondo
David Huggins: Experienced by Jeremy Vaeni
The Even More Fun Trip by Bob Sabiston
Glory at Sea by Benjamin Zeitlin
Look at the Sun by Wholphin
William Tell by William Lamson
Fantaisie in Bubblewrap by Arthur Metcalf
Bonus Disc: Select Your Intention by Aaron Michels

Issue 8 (2009):

Short Term 12 by Destin Daniel Cretton
Kids + Money by Lauren Greenfield
My Friends Told Me About You by Carlos Dengler in collaboration with Daniel Ryan
From Burger It Came by Dominic Bisignano
Love You More by Sam Taylor-Wood, written by Patrick Marber
Hidden by Hanna Heilborn, David Aronowitsch and Mats Johansson
Great Man and Cinema by Jim Finn
The Room Before and After (Original Wholphin short)
- Part 1: by James Franco
- Part 2: by Creed Bratton
- Part 3: by Maria Bamford

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):

Audience of One by Michael Jacobs
I Love Sarah Jane by Spencer Susser
He Was Once by Mary Hestand
Teleglobal Dreamin' by Eric Flanagan
The Astronomer's Dream by Malcolm Sutherland
Eve by Natalie Portman
Joe and Linda Flooded Out of Holy Cross by Jonathan Demme
Ptchogastria. Spatulate by Brent Hoff
Automatic Kite Drawings by William Lamson
Alive Right Now, Somewhere (Original Wholphin short)
Hunt and Gather by William Lamson

Issue 11 (2010):

The Six Dollar Fifty Man by Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland
Bitch Academy by Alina Rudnitskaya
Plastic Bag by Ramin Bahrani
Can We Talk? by Jim Owen
Wagah by Supriyo Sen
Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden
Wolf Ticket by Dugan Beach
Out of Our Minds by Tony Stone
Young Love by Ariel Kleiman
Southern Exposure by Christopher Sheehy
TJ Miller Auditions for Yogi Bear by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

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):

Gayby by Jonathan Lisecki
Tord and Tord by Niki Lindroth von Bahr
Buy It Now by Antonio Campos
Mary Last Seen by Sean Durkin
Animal Love by Mollie Jones
How to Rid Your Lover of a Negative Emotion Caused by You! by Nadia Litz
Kevin by Jay Duplass
The Love Competition by Brent Hoff
Heliotropes (Adaptation of poem by Brian Christian) by Michael Langan
Shrine of Santa Muerte by Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell
B-Flat by Adam Frelin

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

External links

Notes and References

News: Nat Ives. Wholphin: A Magazine of Short Films. 1 January 2016. AdAge. 15 February 2006. New York.
News: Danielle Digiacomo. Saving the Odd Docs: Hybrid Media Like 'Wholphin' and 'GOOD' Distribute Rare Films. 1 January 2016. IDA.