Dane 101 interview on Mad City Chickens

Erin Rasmussen, a writer for the online publication Dane 101, sat down with us the other day (over a cup of chai) and asked a whole lotta questions about Mad City Chickens. Here’s what she wrote.

Wisconsin State Journal puts MCC in top 5 films to see at WFF

Wisconsin State Journal writers Tom Alesia and Gayle Worland gave their recommendations on the films to see this year at the Wisconsin Film Festival, and Mad City Chickens was among the top five! Here's their comments:

Filmmakers Tashai Lovington and Robert Lughai use just about every film-student technique in the book for this film - including the theme song from "2001: A Space Odyssey." But the result, nonetheless, is a charming, lovable (and exhaustive) look at Madison's urban chicken subculture. A must for local yolk-els.

MCC attracting Press as WFF Premiere draws near

With just one week until the world premiere of Mad City Chickens at the Wisconsin Film Festival, the documentary is getting some attention from the press...

Isthmus newspaper writer Kristian Knutsen got an inside take on the film when he interviewed us for his Daily Page write up.

And earlier in the week, Tashai was interviewed by Gary Schuetz, the editor of the Mount Horeb Mail newspaper.



The Urban Chickens site continues to follow the film’s progress as well.

Bloggers take notice of Mad City Chickens

The word is starting to get out. We’ve been contacted recently by two West Coast bloggers and a sustainable living magazine all inquiring about the release of Mad City Chickens.




Check out the posts from City Farmer out of Vancouver, British Columbia and Urban Chickens from San Francisco. Our film also got a mention on the website for Touch the Soil Magazine in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

NEW MCC Trailer posted on Youtube

With the two earlier clips, our aim was to let it be known that this documentary on city chickens was going to be anything but ordinary. Posted nearly nine months ago, trailer #1 was short and served to introduce our heavy-hitter and keep people wanting more.

Then six months ago, trailer #2 emphasized the involvement of Mother Earth News in our project as well as unveiling a blitzkrieg of compositing effects designed to entertain and hold viewers’ interest.

Todays trailer is slightly different. Our goal was to keep it simple and show the depth and diversity that is this film, Mad City Chickens. We hope you enjoy and decide to come out to see the film when it’s released.

Mad City Chickens: Festival Buttons!

The Mad City Chickens buttons are here! We’ll be handing these out at film festivals to help promote the movie.

Come to a screening, get a button! (real size, 1 1/4 inch

Mad City Chickens SOLD OUT 2 weeks before Film Festival

With 2 weeks to go before the world premiere of Mad City Chickens, tickets have now sold out for this April 3rd screening at the Wisconsin Film Festival.

Yet, movie-goers still have an opportunity to see Chickens if they join the rush-line before the start of the film. Once all ticket holders have been seated, the remaining empty theater seats go to those waiting in the rush-ticket line. Show starts at 9:00 pm at the Monona Terrace in Madison. Get there early!

The Onion takes a peek (or poke?) at MCC

We had the pleasure yesterday of being interviewed by Katjusa Cisar, a freelance writer with the Onion’s A.V. Madison section.

She is writing a short food feature on Mad City Chickens, and wanted us to talk about the film and our food-related experiences with chickens. As the world’s finest news source, we can only wait and wonder what the Onion will have to say…tongue-in-cheek…about a documentary on backyard chickens.

The Music of Mad City Chickens

A film without music is like a cake without frosting. There have been successful movies released without a soundtrack…the 1931 Dracula starring Bela Lugosi in his most famous role is one memorable example.



But overall, film needs music. Music deepens the emotion and experience of the moviegoer, even for a documentary on backyard chickens.

We are fortunate to be friends with David Haugh (Hawk), an extremely talented musician and songwriter. Dave wrote and performed several of the tunes that help carry the emotional track of Mad City Chickens.

From his lighthearted Itty Bitty Rooster and Chicken Man to the evocative Yahara Hills and Kendall Avenue, his versatile guitar-playing brings a dimension to the movie that otherwise would not exist.

Check out Dave’s broadjam profile and listen to some of his original music.

Accompanying Dave’s work are a few other musical pieces, some you may even recognize…considering they were composed by the likes of Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss, and Scott Joplin.

Mad City Chickens Movie Poster

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Schedule Set for 2008 WFF

Mad City Chickens will help kick off the opening night of the10th annual Wisconsin Film Festival on April 3rd, 2008. The 81 minute documentary will premiere on the big screen at Monona Terrace.

Tickets go on sale March 8th at noon at the Festival Box Office in the UW Memorial Union, Madison (or online), but don’t delay in getting your tickets as the WFF films tend to sell out.

Mad City Chickens is DONE!

After literally months of intense editing, a severe lack of sleep, and zero social life, we finally have a completed version of the Mad City Chickens documentary. With more than 40 hours of footage to work from, it proved a real challenge to hone down into a final film with a running time of 81 minutes.

So is it done? Yes…and no. We’re very pleased with how it turned out, but at some point, we’ll be replacing some of the soundtrack with different versions of a couple songs.