“The Wildebeest Challenge” Party T New York @ 240 W. 52nd St. October 13th, 2006 Written by Bob Bland Photographed by Ian Bone

“Do you have what it takes to be a Wildebeest?”

With a slogan like that, one would assume that only guests invited to the Friday the 13th celebration were those with copious amounts of hair or a primal body odor. Fortunately for us all, the Wildebeest in question doesn’t roam the Serengeti, and the fete was for the film The Survival of the Wildebeest and a promotional contest launching called “The Wildebeest Challenge.”

During the party, five never-before-seen clips from the movie were revealed to partygoers, who sipped on Wasabe vodka drinks from the open bar while listening to the music of DJ Mark King. Raffles were held and t-shirts sold, as publicist Jillian Kelleher explained the aforementioned Wildebeest Challenge. The metaphor of the wildebeest is a person who constantly roams from passion to passion- always keeping that 9-to-5 while trying to strike a balance between making money and doing what they love, whether it be art, music, writing or something equally unprofitable. By logging on to the official website (www.thesurvivalofthewildebeest.com/challenge) and submitting a description of your “inner beast,” New Yorkers can become part of an exclusive club and be entered to win complimentary passes to the movie’s premiere, as well as invites to a private dinner party to celebrate the film’s release.

The film Survival of the Wildebeest is directed by Joe Wolf and chronicles the journey of Stuart Ross from his gig as an NYC schoolteacher though a stressful gallery exhibit as a sculptor and photographer. It is set to open in Chicago and NYC in Spring 2007. Stuart Ross was covered first by New York Cool in December 2004 for his opening at Xandu Gallery. (http://www.newyorkcool.com/archives/December2004/arts_2.html) For more information on the movie and the contest, check out www.survivalofthewildebeest.com.