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History

The original concept for the party was devised by Chris Ereneta and Mike D'Angelo, based on a party Chris had attended (at which movie clips were shown, and guests had to identify both the film and the guest who brought it). Chris hijacked the idea and turned it into his annual birthday party, which has worked out since Mike typically flies in from New York for the holidays.

The basic concept, a collaborative "That’s Entertainment" of movie clips, is extremely flexible. Adaptation is encouraged, and many guests (or siblings of guests) have gone on to create their own variations.

Original formats were VHS and laserdisc. DVDs were introduced in 2001, which slowed down the gaps between clips (and which benefit from the use of a preview monitor for cueing) due to excessive studio logos and menus.

Clips could be five minutes long at parties #1-3. A three-minute limit was imposed to keep the evening moving more quickly, and appears to work well.

An earlier attempt at the clip party (version "0") was cancelled when Chris fell ill, but was still attended by Warren Trezevant, who was in the process of moving and didn't get the message. He brought clips from THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER (recycled by Chris at party #3) and TANK GIRL.

The following guests share the record for unbroken attendance:

Mike D'Angelo
Christa Dahlstrom
Anne McSilver
Warren Trezevant*

*(Although he missed v2 of the party, I'll count his appearance at v0 towards his overall record.)

Thanks go to all those who've brought clips, and to Christa Dahlstrom, my charming co-host and life partner, who picks great clips.

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