Wholphin (DVD magazine)

Wholphin was a quarterly DVD magazine running at least 14 issues containing a selection of short films which had little or no exposure elsewhere. 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.

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. 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.

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)
Issue 5 (2008)
Issue 6 (2008)
Issue 7 (2008)
Issue 8 (2009)
Issue 9 (2009)
Issue 10 (2009)
Issue 11 (2010)
Issue 12 (2010)
Issue 13 (2011)
Issue 14 (2011)

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

References

External links
Official Wholphin website
April 2008 Interview in L.A. Record

Film magazines published in the United States
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
DVD magazines
Magazines established in 2005
Magazines disestablished in 2012
McSweeney's periodicals
Magazines published in San Francisco
Defunct magazines published in the United States
Advertising-free magazines