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Award-Winning Cat Movies Get 'Side Eye' at Sundance, but Help Local Strays

By David Matthews | February 27, 2015 6:07am
 A quick peek at the Chicago-based "CATastrophes" web series. 
'CATastrophes'
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RIVER NORTH — Meet Guy LaFurr.

He's French, single, ready to mingle and enjoys short walks.

On all fours.

LaFurr is just one of the feline characters created by River North-based filmmakers Alana Grelyak and Michael Gabriele, a married couple who have raised nearly $3,500 since 2013 for local cat rescue shelters through their award-winning "CATastrophes" Web series

By injecting their quirky humor in the mold of "Flight of the Conchords" or "Kids in the Hall" into the cause, Grelyak said they hope to reach people turned off by the often heavy-handed approach of pet adoption agencies.

"We're trying to captivate the audience who would prefer to laugh," Grelyak said. "A lot of people turn away. They won't go to rescues to adopt cats because they think it's too sad, and that's a shame."

Watch The "CATastrophes" trailer

A Chicago native, Grelyak adopted her own cat, Rocky, during college and has picked up other animals since. She and her husband, Gabriele, made films for years before turning their focus toward felines.

"I wanted to do an idea about a cat who came with the bedroom set," she said. Her husband "said 'I don't want to do it.' "

But when Fresh Step litter launched the Catdance Film Festival in 2013, Gabriele ultimately relented. In the "CATastrophe" episode featuring LaFurr — played by Rocky — the furry, French protagonist travels by paw to Chicago in search of a long-lost love, only to find he had been "catfished."

Last month that episode won the Catdance festival, which like the more mainstream Sundance Film Festival is also held annually in Utah. 

"You feel like you're on the inside, but you're on the outside," Grelyak said. Sundance people will "give you the side eye."

Other "CATastrophe" episodes feature "Louie Sorbet" as a litter box maintenance expert, and celebrity cat Lil Bub, who plays a feline time machine named Wellington. Gabriele directs the episodes, while Grelyak writes the scripts, composes the music, and stars in the series. She is joined on camera by fellow Chicago actor Kris Flanagan and many local rescue cats. 

Though its approach is levity, "CATastrophes" is shining light on a serious subject. There are about 250,000 stray cats wandering Chicago, said Jenny Schlueter, director of development at the Chicago-based Tree House Humane Society. For a long time, abandoned cats were adopted far less than dogs, treated by veterinarians less, and euthanized more often.

But that tide is turning. Tree House releases 1,500 cats to new homes a year, up from 350 adoptions 10 years ago, Schlueter said. Likewise, about 25 percent of cats held by Chicago Animal Control are now euthanized, down from a 75 percent rate a decade ago.

"We're making a lot of progress," Schlueter said. "It has a lot to do with raising the profile of cats. For sure, this Web series has helped us do that."

Grelyak said the team funds the series on its own dime, but has partnerships with Discovery Channel and other groups. In addition to money, "CATastrophes" has also donated "hundreds of pounds" of cat food to local shelters, including Tree House. 

Aside from Catdance, the series has garnered other accolades including awards from the Cat Writers' Association and BlogPaws. "CATastrophes" was also a finalist in the 2014 Chicago Comedy Pilot Competition, and Grelyak contributed to a recently published book, "Rescued."

The couple has other projects, of course, and Grelyak admitted she doesn't "know how long the cat thing is going to last."

But with the number of stray cats here who still need homes — and the amount of fun the "CATastrophes" team is having — she hopes the series, like a cat, will stick. 

"I hope, because we put such quality in our work and there’s a good message behind it, it won’t fade away," she said. 

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