Winnebago Man
Encyclopedia
Winnebago Man is a 2009 American documentary feature film directed by Ben Steinbauer
that follows the Internet phenomenon created by a series of twenty-year-old outtake
s from a Winnebago
sales video featuring profane outbursts from the salesperson, Jack Rebney. Originally intended as an inside joke, the video spread across the globe first on VHS tape then via YouTube and other online video sites, earning the salesman the title of "The Angriest Man in the World". The documentary explores the story of the clip’s origin and how, two decades later, it affects the man who never even knew it existed.
The film premiered at The South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 14, 2009, and opened theatrically on July 9, 2010 at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York, before expanding nationally.
A sixty minute version of Winnebago Man was aired in the UK on BBC Four
on August 30, 2010 as part of the Storyville series of documentaries.
On August 12, 2011, Winnebago Man premiered on the Internet for free viewing in the United States for two weeks at Hulu
and SnagFilms
.
featuring outtake
s from an RV
commercial shoot, centered around a cantankerous pitchman who regularly becomes outraged and flustered, cursing
in colorful mannerisms. Steinbauer researches the video, and discovers that it had been circulating on VHS
long before it appeared on the Internet.
With the help of a private detective, Steinbauer ultimately tracks down the infamous "Winnebago
Man": Jack Rebney. Steinbauer visits Rebney at his home in a remote mountain area in California
. Steinbauer is surprised to find Rebney to be calm, congenial, and articulate — in contrast to the angry, profane man on the famous video. Rebney claims to be indifferent about the video and its popularity on the Internet. Steinbauer returns home disappointed.
But soon, Rebney begins contacting Steinbauer, and admits that he had not been candid in their first encounter. He reveals that he has long been angry about the video and its notoriety because he does not want to be remembered that way. Steinbauer learns that Rebney was once a news broadcaster, and that he has strong political opinions that he wants to share. Rebney invites Steinbauer for a second visit, but before this takes place, local papers report that Rebney had gone missing for a time while taking a walk. When Steinbauer makes his second visit to Rebney's home, a now openly cantankerous Rebney explains that he is now blind
.
Rebney gives a series of often profane, but articulate, interviews to Steinbauer. He refuses to discuss personal matters, but instead wants to make political speeches about subjects that make him angry, such as Dick Cheney
and Walmart. Eventually, Steinbauer convinces Rebney to attend the Found Footage Festival in San Francisco. There, fans have lined up for a sold-out screening of the original video featuring Rebney. The fans describe Rebney's positive impact on them. During the screening, the Festival organizers invite Rebney onstage as a special guest, where he wittily engages the audience. After the screening, Rebney meets several fans who request autographs and express to him how viewing the old footage cheers them up after a hard day.
Later that night, Rebney muses to an old friend that his fans are more intelligent than he anticipated. The next day, the filmmakers and Rebney's friend drive him back home. There, Rebney's friend tells him, "You made a lot of people happy this weekend." Rebney replies by acknowledging that he takes some small degree of pride in how, for many people, he represents the human condition
in the face of adversity.
KinoSmith acquired Canadian US theatrical, television and home video rights in May 2010 and released the film nationally in Canadian theaters on September 10, 2010, and on DVD on November 9, 2010.
Winnebago Man was also in the official selection for IDFA and Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The Austin Film Critics Association
named Winnebago Man the Best Austin Film for 2010.
the film holds a 91% "certified fresh" rating with an average 7.1/10 score, based on 58 reviews.
Ben Steinbauer
Ben Steinbauer is an American documentary film director, based in Austin, Texas. Steinbauer’s films have premiered at South by Southwest and the Austin Film Festival, played on PBS, won awards including top prize at the 2006 Cinematexas Film Festival and screened at the Directors Guild Theatre in...
that follows the Internet phenomenon created by a series of twenty-year-old outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
s from a Winnebago
Winnebago Industries
Winnebago Industries Inc., , is a manufacturer of motor homes, a type of recreational vehicle or RV, in the United States. It is based in Forest City, Iowa.-Corporate history:...
sales video featuring profane outbursts from the salesperson, Jack Rebney. Originally intended as an inside joke, the video spread across the globe first on VHS tape then via YouTube and other online video sites, earning the salesman the title of "The Angriest Man in the World". The documentary explores the story of the clip’s origin and how, two decades later, it affects the man who never even knew it existed.
The film premiered at The South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 14, 2009, and opened theatrically on July 9, 2010 at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York, before expanding nationally.
A sixty minute version of Winnebago Man was aired in the UK on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on August 30, 2010 as part of the Storyville series of documentaries.
On August 12, 2011, Winnebago Man premiered on the Internet for free viewing in the United States for two weeks at Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and SnagFilms
SnagFilms
SnagFilms is a website that offers advertising-supported documentary films. Films are streamed on the website, which contains a library of around 2,000 films. Filmmakers can submit documentaries for consideration as well...
.
Plot
The documentary starts with Steinbauer's obsession with a widely circulated viral videoViral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
featuring outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
s from an RV
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
commercial shoot, centered around a cantankerous pitchman who regularly becomes outraged and flustered, cursing
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
in colorful mannerisms. Steinbauer researches the video, and discovers that it had been circulating on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
long before it appeared on the Internet.
With the help of a private detective, Steinbauer ultimately tracks down the infamous "Winnebago
Winnebago Industries
Winnebago Industries Inc., , is a manufacturer of motor homes, a type of recreational vehicle or RV, in the United States. It is based in Forest City, Iowa.-Corporate history:...
Man": Jack Rebney. Steinbauer visits Rebney at his home in a remote mountain area in California
Shasta County, California
Shasta County is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The county occupies the northern reaches of the Sacramento Valley, with portions extending into the southern reaches of the Cascade Range. As of the 2010 census, the population was 177,223, up from 163,256...
. Steinbauer is surprised to find Rebney to be calm, congenial, and articulate — in contrast to the angry, profane man on the famous video. Rebney claims to be indifferent about the video and its popularity on the Internet. Steinbauer returns home disappointed.
But soon, Rebney begins contacting Steinbauer, and admits that he had not been candid in their first encounter. He reveals that he has long been angry about the video and its notoriety because he does not want to be remembered that way. Steinbauer learns that Rebney was once a news broadcaster, and that he has strong political opinions that he wants to share. Rebney invites Steinbauer for a second visit, but before this takes place, local papers report that Rebney had gone missing for a time while taking a walk. When Steinbauer makes his second visit to Rebney's home, a now openly cantankerous Rebney explains that he is now blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
.
Rebney gives a series of often profane, but articulate, interviews to Steinbauer. He refuses to discuss personal matters, but instead wants to make political speeches about subjects that make him angry, such as Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
and Walmart. Eventually, Steinbauer convinces Rebney to attend the Found Footage Festival in San Francisco. There, fans have lined up for a sold-out screening of the original video featuring Rebney. The fans describe Rebney's positive impact on them. During the screening, the Festival organizers invite Rebney onstage as a special guest, where he wittily engages the audience. After the screening, Rebney meets several fans who request autographs and express to him how viewing the old footage cheers them up after a hard day.
Later that night, Rebney muses to an old friend that his fans are more intelligent than he anticipated. The next day, the filmmakers and Rebney's friend drive him back home. There, Rebney's friend tells him, "You made a lot of people happy this weekend." Rebney replies by acknowledging that he takes some small degree of pride in how, for many people, he represents the human condition
Human condition
The human condition encompasses the experiences of being human in a social, cultural, and personal context. It can be described as the irreducible part of humanity that is inherent and not connected to gender, race, class, etc. — a search for purpose, sense of curiosity, the inevitability of...
in the face of adversity.
Distribution
Kino International (Kino Lorber) acquired US theatrical and home video rights in March 2010, and released the film nationally in US theaters on July 9, 2010, and on DVD on November 2, 2010.KinoSmith acquired Canadian US theatrical, television and home video rights in May 2010 and released the film nationally in Canadian theaters on September 10, 2010, and on DVD on November 9, 2010.
Awards
- Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, Sarasota Film FestivalSarasota Film FestivalThe Sarasota Film Festival has been held annually since 1999 in Sarasota, Florida. The festival is held in April and has become one of the top ten independent festivals in North America...
- Audience Award for Best Documentary, CineVegas Film Festival
- Top Ten Audience Favorite, Hot DocsHot DocsHot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is North America's largest documentary film festival, conference, and market, held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
Film Festival - Founders Prize, Best Comedy Documentary, Traverse City Film FestivalTraverse City Film FestivalThe Traverse City Film Festival is an annual film festival held every late July through early August in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival was created as an annual event in 2005 to help “save one of America's few indigenous art forms—the cinema." The event was co-founded by Michael Moore, the...
- Grand Jury Prize, Best Documentary at the Edmonton International Film FestivalEdmonton International Film FestivalThe Edmonton International Film Festival is a nine-day film festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, hosted at Empire Theatres at Edmonton City Centre....
Winnebago Man was also in the official selection for IDFA and Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The Austin Film Critics Association
Austin Film Critics Association
The Austin Film Critics Association is an organization of film critics from Austin, Texas.Each year, the AFCA votes on their end of year awards for films released in the same calendar year...
named Winnebago Man the Best Austin Film for 2010.
Reviews
Winnebago Man was released to critical acclaim. On review aggregate Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
the film holds a 91% "certified fresh" rating with an average 7.1/10 score, based on 58 reviews.
See also
- Winnebago IndustriesWinnebago IndustriesWinnebago Industries Inc., , is a manufacturer of motor homes, a type of recreational vehicle or RV, in the United States. It is based in Forest City, Iowa.-Corporate history:...
- Found Footage Festival
- The Show with No NameThe Show with No NameThe Show With No Name was a long-running and highly popular Public-access television cable TV show in Austin, Texas, hosted by Charlie Sotelo and the mysterious "Cinco." Each show featured clips of TV, film and music ephemera along with commentary by the hosts and calls from a predictably unruly...
- Ephemera
- Internet memeInternet memeThe term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...