Mark Goffman

At the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, ventriloquism capital of the world, director Mark Goffman discovers five extraordinary characters straight out of a Christopher Guest mockumentary.

Feature trailer for Dumbstruck. At the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, ventriloquism capital of the world, director Mark Goffman discovers five extraordinary characters straight out of a Christopher Guest movie. But in this case the characters are real and their stories are deeply human and touching: Kim, a former Miss Ohio beauty queen yearning for her big break; Dan, a thriving cruise ship performer whose wife may divorce him when he comes ashore; Dylan, an introverted 13-year-old with dreams of hitting the professional circuit; Wilma all six-foot-five of her a former security guard who brings her dummies to senior homes and Wal-Marts; and Terry, who struggled for decades as a small-time performer before winning America's Got Talent on his way to a $100 million contract to headline the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas. Dumbstruck is the humorous and heartfelt story of these performers as they pursue their dreams of a career in puppetry. The film follows them as they take their acts across the United States, the Mexican Riviera, the Bahamas and Japan. It is filled with music, laughter, hopes and heartbreak. With its heart firmly planted on its polyester sleeve, Dumbstruck takes the American dream sideways and never loses its way.