December 5, 2025 • 41 mins
In this episode, Brian sits down with filmmaker Eric Fulford—director of Bigfoot Enterprises: The True-ish Adventures of Patterson and Gimlin—joins the show to pull back the curtain on his upcoming film and the real-world story that inspired it.Eric shares how a lifelong fascination with Bigfoot, sparked by the legendary Patterson-Gimlin film, shaped both his creativity and his curiosity.
But instead of rehashing the usual debate over what was—or wasn’t—captured on camera in 1967, Eric takes us somewhere deeper: into the human drama behind Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. Their ambitions, risks, personalities, and the cultural moment they stepped into become the heart of his film.
We talk about why this project is less about the creature and more about the characters, and how Eric plans to deliver a respectful, adventurous, and creatively reimagined retelling that still honors the legacy of the original story. He also breaks down the independent, community-powered approach to funding the film, inviting the Bigfoot world to help bring it to life.
If you’ve ever been fascinated by the Patterson-Gimlin footage—or wondered about the people who filmed it—this conversation offers a fresh, compelling look at one of cryptozoology’s most iconic chapters.Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at the legend, the filmmakers, and the untold story that made Bigfoot history.
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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.
But instead of rehashing the usual debate over what was—or wasn’t—captured on camera in 1967, Eric takes us somewhere deeper: into the human drama behind Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. Their ambitions, risks, personalities, and the cultural moment they stepped into become the heart of his film.
We talk about why this project is less about the creature and more about the characters, and how Eric plans to deliver a respectful, adventurous, and creatively reimagined retelling that still honors the legacy of the original story. He also breaks down the independent, community-powered approach to funding the film, inviting the Bigfoot world to help bring it to life.
If you’ve ever been fascinated by the Patterson-Gimlin footage—or wondered about the people who filmed it—this conversation offers a fresh, compelling look at one of cryptozoology’s most iconic chapters.Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at the legend, the filmmakers, and the untold story that made Bigfoot history.
Support Bigfoot Enterprises
Get Our FREE Newsletter
Get Brian's Books
Leave Us A Voicemail
Visit Our Website
Support Our Sponsors
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now one of your pudding. I got a string going
on here, something just because my dog. Something killed your dog.
My dog. We're flying through the air over the tree.
I don't know how it did it, Okay, Damn, I'm
really confused. All I saw was my dog coming over
the fence and he was dead. And once you hit
the ground, like, I didn't see any cars. All I
saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what
(00:38):
are you putting? We got some wonder or something crawling
around out here? Did you see what it was?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Or was it was?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Standing enough? I'm out here looking through the window now
and I don't see anything. I don't want to go outside.
Jesus quice you better, Hellohet thebody out here when I'm
out there, it's thought of a bench about tech forty nine.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Easy ann out there? Yeah, I'm walking right.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Hey.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Before we get into today's interview, I want to give
you all a little bit of context, and I want
to be real with you about where my head was
at before this conversation happened. When I first heard that
a film was being made about Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin.
I'll be honest with you. I had some concerns, and
I think a lot of you may have the same.
Hollywood doesn't exactly have the best track record when it
(01:34):
comes to telling stories about people in our community. We've
seen it time and time again. Filmmakers come in from
the outside, they don't understand the subject matter, they don't
respect the people involved, and they end up creating something
that either makes fun of the whole thing or twists
the story into something unrecognizable. And Roger and Bob well,
(01:54):
their legacy means a lot to a lot of people,
including me. The Patterson giml In film is one of
the most important pieces of evidence in the history of
Sasquatch research, and the men behind that footage deserved to
have their story told the right way, not as a punchline,
not as some kind of cautionary tale about delusional people
chasing monsters in the woods, but as a real story
(02:17):
about real people who went out there and captured something extraordinary.
So when I got the chance to sit down with
Eric Fulford, the director behind this project, I wanted to
make sure I knew what we were dealing with first.
I wasn't about to go into this interview blind and
then find out later that I had helped promote something
that disrespected the memory of Roger Patterson or misrepresented Bob Gimlin.
(02:40):
That wasn't going to happen. And to his credit, Eric
didn't just give me talking points or a press release.
He didn't try to smooth talk me or give me
some Hollywood run around. He sent me the entire screenplay,
the whole thing, every single page, and I read it
cover to cover. Now, I'm not going to spoil anything
for you here. You're going to want to experience this
(03:01):
story for yourself when the film comes out. But I
will tell you what put my mind at ease and
why I felt comfortable having this conversation and sharing it
with all of you. First off, this film treats Roger
and Bob as the protagonists. They're the heroes of this story,
not the villains, not the fools, the heroes. Roger's portrayed
(03:23):
as a dreamer, a guy with big ideas who was
trying to leave something behind for his family. Is he
shown as a perfect person. No, But he's shown as
a real person, a human being with strengths and weaknesses,
someone you actually root for, someone you want to see succeed.
And Bob well, Bob comes across as the heart and
(03:43):
soul of this whole thing. He's portrayed as a man
of integrity, a skilled horseman and tracker, a guy who
got pulled into something bigger than he expected, but never
lost himself in the process. He stays true to who
he is throughout the entire story. Folks who admire Bob
gets and I know there are a lot of you
out there, I think you'll be pleased with how he's represented.
(04:05):
But here's what really stood out to me about this project,
and this is something that makes it different from pretty
much any other Sasquatch related film we've seen in recent years.
This film is focused on the human story. Think about it,
When was the last time we got a Sasquatch film
that was really about the people. Most of the time,
filmmakers are so obsessed with the creature itself that they
(04:27):
forget about the human element entirely. They want to show
you the monster, they want to show you the scares.
They want to show you people running through the woods
getting picked off one by one. And look, there's a
place for that kind of entertainment. I get it, but
that's not what this story is. We saw Sasquatch Sunset
come out not too long ago, and that film went
(04:48):
in the complete opposite direction. It was all creature, no
human characters at all, just sasquatch living their lives in
the forest, and I thought that was an interesting artistic choice.
Was it's definitely something different. But at the end of
the day, it didn't tell us anything about the human
experience of searching for these creatures. It didn't explore what
(05:08):
drives people to go out into the wilderness looking for
something that the rest of the world tells them doesn't exist.
This film, Bigfoot Enterprises, it's not about the creature. I mean,
the creature is in it, obviously, that's kind of the
whole point. But the story is about Roger and Bob.
It's about their friendship, it's about their families, It's about
(05:29):
the sacrifices they made and the challenges they faced. It's
about what happens when two regular guys from a small
town in Washington capture something on film that changes their
lives forever. And then it's about what happens when the
world doesn't know what to do with what they brought back.
That's the story, the human story, and I think that's
(05:50):
what makes this project special. The filmmakers understood that the
most compelling thing about the Patterson Gimlin film isn't just
the footage itself. It's the men who captured it. It's
their journey, it's their struggle, and it's their legacy. The
other thing I'll say is this, the film doesn't shy
away from showing the people who doubted them. The skeptics
(06:12):
are in there, the critics are in there, but the
story doesn't take their side. Roger and Bob are presented
as men who believed in what they were doing and
stood by what they captured, and the film respects that.
So after reading the script, I'm confident that this isn't
some kind of hit piece or smear campaign against Roger
Patterson and Bob Gimlin. This is a story being told
(06:34):
by people who are taking it seriously, people who understand
the significance of what happened back in nineteen sixty seven,
and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the
final product up on the screen. Now, make sure you
stick around after the interview because I'm going to be
dropping some audio from the film's teaser at the end.
Trust me, you're going to want to hear it. All right,
(06:56):
let's get into my conversation with Eric Fulford. All Right,
folks on, welcome, I gut to the show. It is
Eric Fulford, filmmaker and director of Bigfoot Enterprises The True
Ish Adventures of Patterson and Gimlin.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Welcome to the show, sir, Hey Brian, thank you pleasure
to be here.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I am so glad to have you. I've been looking
forward to this conversation. Before we get into this amazing film,
let's talk about what in the world got you interested
in the subject of bigfoot sasquatch to begin with.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
So, as a kid growing up in the seventies in
northern California especially, it's always just been there for me.
The Patterson Gimlin film is a couple years older than
I am, so when I came into the world, the
headlines were already there, the shows like In Search of
and Wild Kingdom, Jane goodall, all of these points of
(07:47):
reference were there, and it wasn't really something that you questioned.
You just took it as fact. So I've always lived
with that clip.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
So how in the world did that turn into the
direction and tone of this film.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
As a filmmaker, I'm always on the hunt for new
ideas or the next idea. I don't know. One day
that clip, that sixty second strip of film just popped
into my head and I was just I was sitting
with it. I was thinking about it, and no longer
the ten year old kid that just took it as fact,
that took it at face value. I just I started
(08:27):
to wonder, what is this thing and who's behind it?
And if on that day in nineteen sixty seven, and
on that moment you were to flip the camera around
one hundred and eighty degrees, who are these people? Who
are these guys? What does that world look like? And
so that was the question that I asked myself that
sort of took me down this path, and that was
(08:49):
about ten years ago. From there, I connected with a
long time elaborator and mentor, Mark Schwartz, whose writer and
producer on the phone, and Mark Yellen, also writer and
producer on the film. I felt like I had the story,
and I felt like that story had never been told before.
(09:10):
It's always about Patty or about Bigfoo or Sasquatch, a
creature film, but it's never really like the human drama
behind it all. I was really interested in that and
wanted to explore that.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I'm interested in the title itself. I think there's a
lot to be said in just the title, the True
Ish Adventures. What exactly does the ish part of the
title mean to you? Are we looking at myth fact
or something in between.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
The first part of the title, Bigfoot Enterprises is for
riff on Roger Patterson and his kind of entrepreneur approach
to things. And so from that clip back in the day,
he spun up a whole four walling tour with the
film to make money. They set up a fan club
(10:01):
around it or an explorers club to be part of it.
He was so far ahead of his time in that way,
and we can talk more about that later. But the
tagline the True issh Adventures of Roger and Bob is
more about the idea that we're not really taking a
position on is it real? Is it a hoax? That
(10:23):
didn't really factor into the story that we wanted to
tell because I believe that those characters, those people are
obviously one hundred percent real and very colorful humans, and
so we wanted the focus to be on that, but
not like the age old debate about real or hoax,
and so in trying to fit the story into a
(10:48):
feature film, a three act structure, we took some liberties
in compressing certain events, a shortening time, coming up with
composite characters, or a combination of a few different of
the versions of the real people involved. So we were
I guess with that log lines or tagline rather setting expectations.
(11:09):
I think about the story that we're about to tell.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I didn't ask you if you believed in sasquatch. I
ask you earlier what got you interested in the subject.
I'm curious how you approached the telling of the story.
Was it completely from a filmmaker's lands, or did you
go into it with a little bit of your own
belief or disbelief in the existence of sasquatch when you
(11:33):
were approaching the field.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Again, I think, like the ten year old kid in
me is on board one hundred percent. As I get
older and a little bit more jaded and critical of things,
I don't know, I'm open to it for sure. You know,
that's one of the sort of core themes that this
story is about, is like that desire to believe in
(11:58):
something beyond ourselves. And I think Roger and Bob certainly
exhibited that, So yeah, for me, I think if I
saw a proof, I wouldn't be one hundred percent surprised,
but I think I would need to see some pretty
hard evidence beyond what I know at this stage to
have a belief one hundred percent. But it's certainly open
(12:19):
to it and hopeful.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I know you probably already answered this lightly in the
beginning here, but how does your portrayal of Bigfoot in
this film differ from the typical Hollywood creature depiction. I
know this is more about the people in the film,
but obviously Patty is an integral part of this the
main character, so to speak. For most people, at least
(12:42):
in the Bigfoot community, Patty is the star of the film.
But I, too, like you, have taken a little bit
of a different approach. I am very skeptical when it
comes to Bigfoot. I've had my own experiences that have
convinced me these things are real, just in the last
twelve months. But I come from a law enforcement background.
I was a police officer for sixteen years, so I'm
very skeptical, skeptical of people. I'm never skeptical of the phenomena,
(13:05):
but people I'm skeptical of, so It's interesting to me
that when you approach this film and you're looking at
the people involved, For me, they are truly what's interesting
about the film. It's been done to death. People have
analyzed this film over and over. It's probably the most
(13:26):
analyzed film outside of this Bruder film, but very few
people really pay attention to the people. So me being
skeptical about the film, I went back and listened to
very early interviews with Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. I
think the earliest interview that I could find was five
days after they filmed Patty, and I compared what was
(13:48):
said in that interview then versus an interview with Bob
Gimlin back in twenty nineteen, and I compared what he
said then versus what was being said in twenty nineteen.
I mean, there was some inconsistencies there. For me, one
of the big glaring ones that I found in my
research when it came to the film was Bob was
(14:09):
very insistent that this happened on a Saturday, but it
actually didn't. If you go back and check the date
when they actually filmed Patty, it was a Friday, and
Bob was very insistent on the fact that they couldn't
have been hoaxed because there was a crew working in
the area, and he referred to that in this twenty
(14:30):
nineteen interview. Several times they asked him, was it possible
that this crew might have faked those footprints? Could have
been one of these guys in a suit that you
guys came across and you ultimately filmed. Bob was very
insistent that no, they were off, they weren't working because
it was a Saturday, but it was actually Friday. So
I found those little things that stuck out to me
(14:52):
over the years. But ultimately I'm still on the fence
about the authenticity of the film. But I'm curious for
you what went into it for you as far as
did you consult with other Bigfoot researchers that have studied
the film, that have maybe known Roger and Bob? How
did you approach that when you started doing research into
(15:13):
creating this film. And stay tuned for more Sasquatch out
to Sea, We'll be right back after these messages.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Their story is largely public in the public domain, and
there's several books, so I think the majority of my
research was reading a handful of books. The way that
I took that information in was more as a character
study about these guys. What were their personalities, like, what
(15:46):
did other people think of them, What were some of
their physical characteristics, what were some of their abilities and
things that they were really good at. They just seemed
so dimensional when I thought about them that way. In
terms of I don't know the inconsistencies, and back to
your question about the research that was mainly my research.
I haven't really spoken with any legitimate Bigfoot researchers per se.
(16:13):
Beyond reading and listening to the podcast, reading the articles,
that's pretty much been the bulk of it. But the
film itself in terms of the I think the first
bit of your question about how did we approach the
creature in the film, really it's the Patty in this
(16:35):
film is always seen through the lens of the sixty
second film strip. We're not recreating the event per se.
We're with them on the trip for sure, but we're
not really there to I felt like if we were
there to recreate that moment, we'd be in a way
(16:56):
passing judgment a little bit, and we really wanted to
be careful to be respectful to the real people and
capture their sort of spirit as best we could.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
How important for you was the location of filming. Was
it important to get close to the location or was
that an essential part of your storytelling in the process
of making this film.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
That's an ongoing effort. To be clear, we haven't made
the film yet. We are making the film. I think
part of this conversation is to generate awareness about that effort.
But the idea is that we will shoot on location,
both in Willow Creek and then also further up in Washington,
in Yakama on around the Olympic Peninsula. But it's funny
(17:40):
you have that image of Bluff Creek in your mind.
You've seen that clip a thousand times. I'm a mountain
biker and I live in Sierra Madre in California here,
and we're right in the foothills of the mountains, and
some of my bike rides and hikes and things like
that take me to places that look they could totally
passed for Bluff Creek. Through the camera. I think there'll
(18:03):
be a little bit of movie making magic that happens
along the way, but I think the bulk of the shooting.
The idea is that we shoot in the actual locations
and also at the right time of the year. Actually
today is October twentieth, which is whatever anniversary it is
in fifty eight years. But I think if we shoot
(18:24):
up around the Olympic Peninsula in October, it's going to
be stunning with the leaves turning, and it's going to
look so much like the b roll that Roger and
Bob shot leading up to the Faithful Day.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I didn't even realize this is the anniversary of the
filming of Patty as we record this. So I guess
here's a question for you as far as approaching the film.
How would you describe the tone that you're trying to
convey in this film? Is it a mystery adventure comedy
or is it something new entirely? Because I can tell
you personally as being someone who is quote unquote in
(18:59):
the Bigfoot Commune and have been a part of it
for quite a while, I think we're all really hungry
for something new and exciting when it comes to the subject,
because the Patterson Gimlin film is a huge undertaking for
anybody who's tackling any part of that film or that mystery,
because it has been done to death in a way.
(19:22):
But I was so excited to hear your take because
you are separating the Patty component and saying, Okay, we're
not even talking about that, Let's talk about the people
that are involved. And to me, people are always the
most important thing in any story, because that's my job.
I interview people who have had encounters with Bigfoot, So
to me, it's always about the people and less about
(19:44):
the Bigfoot, which kind of sounds weird for most people,
but that's just how it turns out to be for me.
So I think it's really cool that you guys are
a focusing on that but getting into what really happened
with the people. You've directed films like Day at the
Pool and The Platinum Loop. How do you see Bigfoot
(20:06):
enterprises comparing to those? Creatively the emotions that are involved
in the film. I guess, how is the film going
to be different from those films and unlike anything we've
seen in the Bigfoot community. I guess it was last year,
maybe earlier this year, but I think it was last
year when Sasquatch Sunset came out and I interviewed those guys.
(20:28):
I got an advanced copy of that movie when it
was coming out. They wanted to come on the show,
and I'll be honest, they were super nice guys. I
loved their approach. They were big fans of Bigfoot. But
I didn't enjoy the film. I felt like I was
losing IQ points since I was watching the film because
there was so much to me that was unnecessary in
the film. Obviously art to subjective. I don't judge people's art,
(20:52):
but for me as a fan and a part of
the Bigfoot community, again, it goes back to what I
was saying, we're looking for something new and interesting and
something that hasn't been done. So I'll get back to
a question. I know, I've been around the world here,
I guess for you, the more pointed question is what
are you doing or how are you approaching this in
(21:13):
a way that's going to surprise maybe the people that
have been around the Bigfoot community and really involved in
what went on in the film, And how is that
going to be new and exciting for people like me
who were craving that in the Bigfoot community.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Yeah, I haven't seen Sasquatch Sunset, by the way. I've
seen the trailer, of course, and I was excited about
the poster art and those types of things. I'm a
graphic designer, so those kinds of things get me going.
But I can't really comment on the film, but I've
heard I think similar reactions probably, but I think that
was purely creature. That was all creature, which that's an
(21:49):
interesting on paper approach. But I think what sets Bigfoot
Enterprises apart is that we're outsiders in terms of the
Sasquatch community, and so I think with that we're able
to maybe look at the scenario a little bit more
objectively in terms of what we're attracted to, what parts
(22:10):
of the story we choose to bring into our script.
But then I think it's just that idea of it
just goes back to that core spark of the idea,
which is turning the camera one hundred and eighty degree
is away from the creature and looking at the world
from the opposite perspective and going opposite the creatures there,
but we're going away from it to the people. You
(22:33):
mention tone a little bit, and so I think the
tone of this film it's a drama, but it certainly
has comedic undertones. Roger was a funny guy, he was charming.
I think we all probably know people have people in
our families or friends that are maybe Roger where they're
(22:56):
fun to be around. Maybe we're not loaning the money,
but they make us laugh, they make us happy, and
they inspire us on some level. So that's the tone.
It's about friendships, it's about adventure, it's about family relationships.
Roger and his sister Ida, who's married to al Diatli,
(23:18):
who becomes their sponsor both in the film and in
real life. And it feels like it's to me, it's
this guy who he understands his mortality, that he's dying, right,
and so it's really his story from sixty seven to
seventy two. We take that journey with him and Bob.
(23:39):
It's comedic, it's a little bit sad, but it's a
little bit triumphant too in terms of just this Americana
success story.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
It's always fascinating to me as someone who does content.
I have a platform. I talk about lots of things.
I've talked about the Patterson Gimblin film for years. Obviously,
Roger passed away in seventy two, I think it was
early seventies. Bob is still alive. He's in his nineties,
but he's still alive and kicking. He's not as involved
in the Bigfoot community as he has been in the
(24:10):
latter years because he took a hiatus and then came
back to the community and was welcomed with open arms.
He's a rock star when it comes to the Bigfoot community.
He's clearly alive. And I've never really considered this. I'm
not a filmmaker, but as a podcaster, I am aware
of some of these larger personalities that are in the
(24:30):
Bigfoot community that are still alive. I think I was
the last person that interviewed Peter Burne, who was one
of the four horsemen of Sasquatchery, if you will, and
we disagreed on a couple of things during that interview.
He never thought that Bigfoot existed east of the Rockies,
and I thought he was completely wrong about that. And
I've made no qualms about it. But you're doing a
(24:51):
film that is arguably about the biggest thing that ever
happened in Bob Gimlin's life. From the outside looking in, obviously,
those are the things that has happened in his life
personally and privately that we're not privy to. But from
the outside looking in, one could arguably say this is
the biggest thing that ever happened to him, and it's
what he's become known for. Do you consider that at all?
(25:15):
What would Roger's reaction be if he was still alive?
But more importantly, Bob is alive, How is he going
to feel or what is he going to see when
he watches that film? Is that part of your process
at all when you're making a film like this.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
I mean, I think you have to factor it in
to a degree. Bob was such a I don't know
him personally, but seems like such a genuine straight shooter
of a guy. And that's how he's portrayed. He's the
guy with the ability, he's the guy with the follows through.
He's the guy that's got your back. He's the guy
(25:50):
that feels as this film became more and more commercially
successful quote unquote, he was probably the guy that was
feeling is this right? Are we doing the right thing here?
And it's interesting to me that he was burned by
the whole thing too at a certain point and stepped
away for decades and then came back. And if I
(26:13):
had an opportunity to speak with him, that would be
one of the questions I think that I would ask him,
is what was his motivation to stepped back into it
after distancing himself for so long. Roger, on the other hand,
I feel I don't know what his reaction would be.
He seemed like a guy with an attention span that
wasn't quite as lengthy as other people. Who knows what
(26:36):
he'd be onto today if he would have stuck with it.
I guess his track record leading up to that kind
of says that he bounced from one thing to the next.
I don't know. It's curious to me that he latched
onto this belief and ran with it, And I think
part of that really was back to his understanding of
(26:57):
his mortality and his diagnosis of Hodgkins lind foma. The
idea that now he needs to create a legacy for himself,
believe behind for his family. All those kinds of things
are a really interesting character motivation, both in real life
and in the film.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
This is obviously an indie film. You guys are going
directly to arguably the Bigfoot community looking for support and
making the film. I'm curious what made you choose that
route instead of traditional funding. Before we move more into that,
I've obviously asked some questions that I was curious about
for the film, But I know what you have, the
(27:37):
narrative that you want to get out there, and I
want to give you this opportunity carte blanche to talk
more about the film, the filmmaking, the funding of the film,
the support, all of those things that you want to
talk directly to the community about to convey exactly what
you're doing here and why he chose that route to
go to the community for support to get the film made.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
I feel like this can community, this audience is really
who we're making this film for, and we really would
love to invite the audience into our crowdfunding campaign that
we're hosting that'll run from mid November through mid January,
so people will be able to find us there. You
(28:20):
can also find us on Bigfoot enterprisesmovie dot com that
is our website currently. There'll be everything from tickets to
the film when it's finished, to hand painted plaster casts
that I'm going to make. So there's like small perks
(28:41):
that you would expect on a crowdfunding campaign, but beyond that,
there's this idea that by creating awareness around this film,
we hope to capture the attention of somebody that would
from the community, that could afford to come in at
a more meaningful level, that might want to take on
an executive producer title for a larger investment and even
(29:05):
share in some of the equity. So that's our plug
beyond that. This film you asked earlier about how it's
maybe different than the other films that I've made. Interestingly,
the thing that it's has in common with the other
films that I've made is this controversial strip of film
(29:27):
that the narrative is built around, strangely, the invention of
skateboarding and pools early on in the nineteen seventies. In
Day at the Pool, The Platinum Loop was a strip
of film involving Marilyn Monroe in the early seventies. So
it's built around that wasn't really by design, but that
(29:48):
is the one sort of thread that these three films
at least will have in common.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
How important is it to you as far as the
community involvement? The Bigfoot community is large in its own way,
but by and large it is a smaller community, a
niche community. How important is it to you, not necessarily
just financially, for the Bigfoot community to get involved in
the spirit of shaping the project. But is that community
(30:14):
involvement important in making the film? Do you think does
it have to be there for it to be successful
or do you think that the product ultimately will speak
for itself and the community will embrace it or may
not necessarily exactly agree with the way the film turns out.
I guess is the question. Stay tuned for more sasquatch
(30:36):
out to see. We'll be right back after these messages.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
Yeah, I think within this community you have to tell
a story that can live in one hundred, one hundred
and ten minute duration of time. We can't tell the
story beat for beat. But I think it really is
like this DIY kind of indie approach is really reflective
of how Roger might have approached this, how he probably
(31:05):
would have approached something like this, where that's how he
found success, That's how he and Bob took this show
around the country and turned it into something. They would
do radio interviews ahead of screenings as a promotional tool,
and then they would sell out these colisseums. There would
(31:28):
be a line out the front door. It was really
this kind of just Maverick style and approach that they
had that I think we're inspired by that in some way.
We're not really Hollywood guys by any stretch, even though
we live close. That's not who we are or really
what we do. So it's more about hopefully the community
(31:50):
will embrace this. Hopefully it's a story that oh gosh,
I didn't think of that, but I've always wanted to
see that and know about that story. I think these
guys not got at out of Hollywood, but Hollywood didn't
embrace them. They had to take it upon themselves to
make it happen and then take it out into the world,
and then they did. That's who they were. I'd like
(32:10):
to think that we have a little bit of that too.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
With your approach, the more indie approach. Do you think
it's going to resonate differently with the audience versus something
that's going to be some big budget I'd say Sasquat
Sunset type film that has a bigger budget with these
stars that everybody's known from other movies and genres. Do
you think this film being made with the community in mind,
(32:32):
telling a story from within the community, is going to
resonate differently with audiences versus some big budget Hollywood film.
That's relying more on special effects and the creature, because
you are, ultimately, as we talked about earlier, you're telling
a human story here. Do you think that's going to
resonate more with the audience that, by and large want
(32:54):
the sensational story. They want to see the Bigfoot, they
want to hear about the Bigfoot, but you're telling human
story here. So do you think ultimately that's going to
resonate differently with the community than some big budget Hollywood
film that's going to rely on special effects and focus
on the creature.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Yeah, I think so. I think so there won't be
as many agendas, and then it'll be the story that
we want it to be, because I feel like when
people see this, it's gonna be a little bit of
a discovery for them in that they know these people,
they know these characters, and so it's going to be
interesting to see them brought to life. Whether they judge
(33:31):
that we did a good job or we didn't, that's
beside the point. But I think the curiosity will be
there to see these characters that they've read about, heard
about come to life in a way that it's almost
going to be required viewing. I would say for this
community in a way, and I think it'll be different
(33:52):
in that regard from if this were a big Hollywood production.
If this were a big Hollywood production, I feel like
it would be mandated that there is a creature and
we see it gets away from the core idea. I
would say, I'll give you the last word on all
of this.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
You're talking to your potential supporters, you're talking to potential
audience members right now. What is the one thing or
things that you want to make sure everybody gets from
this interview and about this film?
Speaker 5 (34:23):
In a way, it's the story behind the origin of
the most famous cryptid in the world. Arguably, without these
guys and without their story and without Addie, we might
not be here right now talking about it. We probably
wouldn't be. Everything in pop culture in the world of
(34:47):
this genre is influenced by the Patterson Gimlin film. Everywhere
you look, it's frame three point fifty two. It's never
really done right in my opinion. I hope to adjust
that throughout the process of making this film. But really
I do feel like this hopefully will become required viewing
(35:08):
for the Bigfoot Sasquatch community. Just a kind of a
fun and respectful celebration of who these guys were, their
spirit of adventure, and keeping the spirit of adventure alive,
because in today's world, it's like we've lost to that
since completely. But we all know everything immediately, we've got
(35:30):
our phones. There's no go camping for two weeks searching
for something that just doesn't happen. I don't know. That's
just really an inspiring kind of notion for me about
this film, about this story. If people are likewise inspired
by these guys and want to see this story come
to Fruition again, we ask if they please join us
(35:52):
in whatever capacity they're able ifts they are interested in
coming on in a bigger, more meaningful way. I don't
know if you can include our contact information in the
lot of the podcast here, but if that's possible, I
invite them to reach out to us directly that way too.
(36:12):
We'd love to have some conversations about that absolutely.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
I will link to that in the show notes. You
guys go over and support the film. I am super
excited about it. I cannot wait to see it.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Eric.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your
process with the film talking about the film. I appreciate
your time thanks so much for coming on the show.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
You got it. Thanks so much, Brian, appreciate you having
us and look forward to talking again.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
The up put me in the movie.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
You know this shot. We've seen it a hundred times, Bigfoot.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
We will make the film.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
But what you don't know is the circus behind the
camera and unlikely to of misfits, turned that blurry monster
into a media empire. It all started with Roger Pattison,
a broke rodeo calon with a film camera, all charm,
no plan, his cowboy sidekick Bob gam He's a straight shooter, skeptic,
(37:20):
the original horse whisperer. And me Barbara Palmieri, Hollywood publicist,
no time for nonsense.
Speaker 6 (37:33):
We hit the road.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
We sold the myth in America.
Speaker 5 (37:38):
Ate it up for something happened, and people.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Will believe anything if you say it with the confidence
in a film projector exactly.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
But same has a price.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
The skeptics came so that the lawsuits and the polygraphs.
Turns out chasing as easy, but living with one not
so much. I don't know if it was real or
if it was fake, but I'm not here to judge.
(38:13):
I'm here to get this filmmate. Let me tell you
about our director, Eric Fulford. He made his career digging
up dusty reels of American storytelling, from the punk legend
Skate Myth of Day at the Pool to the surreal
Hollywood Spiral, the Platinum Loop. This sky's gotta think for
(38:36):
stories where truth and fiction and ambition. I'll share a drink,
think American hustle at a shot of Once upon a
Time in Hollywood.
Speaker 6 (38:47):
And a twist of Butch and sun Dance.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
Yeah, let's make a movie and a little bit of
history together.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
We will make the scene about a man that's standing
a lonely.
Speaker 6 (39:06):
And baking down a bone.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
He's mending me. They say, you don't gotta go home,
but you can't stay and I don't want to be.
We're about that.
Speaker 6 (39:48):
Try this chid, that child everything clear, ride back, cry
back the joy for me, need joy staying right there,
coming right away, Dons inside Sassie still st st st
(40:26):
ST ST ST S Inside in State State still SASST
(41:03):
F State
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Plays and PSST ST gas and pass us pass
Now one of your pudding. I got a string going
on here, something just because my dog. Something killed your dog.
My dog. We're flying through the air over the tree.
I don't know how it did it, Okay, Damn, I'm
really confused. All I saw was my dog coming over
the fence and he was dead. And once you hit
the ground, like, I didn't see any cars. All I
saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what
(00:38):
are you putting? We got some wonder or something crawling
around out here? Did you see what it was?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Or was it was?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Standing enough? I'm out here looking through the window now
and I don't see anything. I don't want to go outside.
Jesus quice you better, Hellohet thebody out here when I'm
out there, it's thought of a bench about tech forty nine.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Easy ann out there? Yeah, I'm walking right.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Hey.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Before we get into today's interview, I want to give
you all a little bit of context, and I want
to be real with you about where my head was
at before this conversation happened. When I first heard that
a film was being made about Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin.
I'll be honest with you. I had some concerns, and
I think a lot of you may have the same.
Hollywood doesn't exactly have the best track record when it
(01:34):
comes to telling stories about people in our community. We've
seen it time and time again. Filmmakers come in from
the outside, they don't understand the subject matter, they don't
respect the people involved, and they end up creating something
that either makes fun of the whole thing or twists
the story into something unrecognizable. And Roger and Bob well,
(01:54):
their legacy means a lot to a lot of people,
including me. The Patterson giml In film is one of
the most important pieces of evidence in the history of
Sasquatch research, and the men behind that footage deserved to
have their story told the right way, not as a punchline,
not as some kind of cautionary tale about delusional people
chasing monsters in the woods, but as a real story
(02:17):
about real people who went out there and captured something extraordinary.
So when I got the chance to sit down with
Eric Fulford, the director behind this project, I wanted to
make sure I knew what we were dealing with first.
I wasn't about to go into this interview blind and
then find out later that I had helped promote something
that disrespected the memory of Roger Patterson or misrepresented Bob Gimlin.
(02:40):
That wasn't going to happen. And to his credit, Eric
didn't just give me talking points or a press release.
He didn't try to smooth talk me or give me
some Hollywood run around. He sent me the entire screenplay,
the whole thing, every single page, and I read it
cover to cover. Now, I'm not going to spoil anything
for you here. You're going to want to experience this
(03:01):
story for yourself when the film comes out. But I
will tell you what put my mind at ease and
why I felt comfortable having this conversation and sharing it
with all of you. First off, this film treats Roger
and Bob as the protagonists. They're the heroes of this story,
not the villains, not the fools, the heroes. Roger's portrayed
(03:23):
as a dreamer, a guy with big ideas who was
trying to leave something behind for his family. Is he
shown as a perfect person. No, But he's shown as
a real person, a human being with strengths and weaknesses,
someone you actually root for, someone you want to see succeed.
And Bob well, Bob comes across as the heart and
(03:43):
soul of this whole thing. He's portrayed as a man
of integrity, a skilled horseman and tracker, a guy who
got pulled into something bigger than he expected, but never
lost himself in the process. He stays true to who
he is throughout the entire story. Folks who admire Bob
gets and I know there are a lot of you
out there, I think you'll be pleased with how he's represented.
(04:05):
But here's what really stood out to me about this project,
and this is something that makes it different from pretty
much any other Sasquatch related film we've seen in recent years.
This film is focused on the human story. Think about it,
When was the last time we got a Sasquatch film
that was really about the people. Most of the time,
filmmakers are so obsessed with the creature itself that they
(04:27):
forget about the human element entirely. They want to show
you the monster, they want to show you the scares.
They want to show you people running through the woods
getting picked off one by one. And look, there's a
place for that kind of entertainment. I get it, but
that's not what this story is. We saw Sasquatch Sunset
come out not too long ago, and that film went
(04:48):
in the complete opposite direction. It was all creature, no
human characters at all, just sasquatch living their lives in
the forest, and I thought that was an interesting artistic choice.
Was it's definitely something different. But at the end of
the day, it didn't tell us anything about the human
experience of searching for these creatures. It didn't explore what
(05:08):
drives people to go out into the wilderness looking for
something that the rest of the world tells them doesn't exist.
This film, Bigfoot Enterprises, it's not about the creature. I mean,
the creature is in it, obviously, that's kind of the
whole point. But the story is about Roger and Bob.
It's about their friendship, it's about their families, It's about
(05:29):
the sacrifices they made and the challenges they faced. It's
about what happens when two regular guys from a small
town in Washington capture something on film that changes their
lives forever. And then it's about what happens when the
world doesn't know what to do with what they brought back.
That's the story, the human story, and I think that's
(05:50):
what makes this project special. The filmmakers understood that the
most compelling thing about the Patterson Gimlin film isn't just
the footage itself. It's the men who captured it. It's
their journey, it's their struggle, and it's their legacy. The
other thing I'll say is this, the film doesn't shy
away from showing the people who doubted them. The skeptics
(06:12):
are in there, the critics are in there, but the
story doesn't take their side. Roger and Bob are presented
as men who believed in what they were doing and
stood by what they captured, and the film respects that.
So after reading the script, I'm confident that this isn't
some kind of hit piece or smear campaign against Roger
Patterson and Bob Gimlin. This is a story being told
(06:34):
by people who are taking it seriously, people who understand
the significance of what happened back in nineteen sixty seven,
and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the
final product up on the screen. Now, make sure you
stick around after the interview because I'm going to be
dropping some audio from the film's teaser at the end.
Trust me, you're going to want to hear it. All right,
(06:56):
let's get into my conversation with Eric Fulford. All Right,
folks on, welcome, I gut to the show. It is
Eric Fulford, filmmaker and director of Bigfoot Enterprises The True
Ish Adventures of Patterson and Gimlin.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Welcome to the show, sir, Hey Brian, thank you pleasure
to be here.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I am so glad to have you. I've been looking
forward to this conversation. Before we get into this amazing film,
let's talk about what in the world got you interested
in the subject of bigfoot sasquatch to begin with.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
So, as a kid growing up in the seventies in
northern California especially, it's always just been there for me.
The Patterson Gimlin film is a couple years older than
I am, so when I came into the world, the
headlines were already there, the shows like In Search of
and Wild Kingdom, Jane goodall, all of these points of
(07:47):
reference were there, and it wasn't really something that you questioned.
You just took it as fact. So I've always lived
with that clip.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
So how in the world did that turn into the
direction and tone of this film.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
As a filmmaker, I'm always on the hunt for new
ideas or the next idea. I don't know. One day
that clip, that sixty second strip of film just popped
into my head and I was just I was sitting
with it. I was thinking about it, and no longer
the ten year old kid that just took it as fact,
that took it at face value. I just I started
(08:27):
to wonder, what is this thing and who's behind it?
And if on that day in nineteen sixty seven, and
on that moment you were to flip the camera around
one hundred and eighty degrees, who are these people? Who
are these guys? What does that world look like? And
so that was the question that I asked myself that
sort of took me down this path, and that was
(08:49):
about ten years ago. From there, I connected with a
long time elaborator and mentor, Mark Schwartz, whose writer and
producer on the phone, and Mark Yellen, also writer and
producer on the film. I felt like I had the story,
and I felt like that story had never been told before.
(09:10):
It's always about Patty or about Bigfoo or Sasquatch, a
creature film, but it's never really like the human drama
behind it all. I was really interested in that and
wanted to explore that.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I'm interested in the title itself. I think there's a
lot to be said in just the title, the True
Ish Adventures. What exactly does the ish part of the
title mean to you? Are we looking at myth fact
or something in between.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
The first part of the title, Bigfoot Enterprises is for
riff on Roger Patterson and his kind of entrepreneur approach
to things. And so from that clip back in the day,
he spun up a whole four walling tour with the
film to make money. They set up a fan club
(10:01):
around it or an explorers club to be part of it.
He was so far ahead of his time in that way,
and we can talk more about that later. But the
tagline the True issh Adventures of Roger and Bob is
more about the idea that we're not really taking a
position on is it real? Is it a hoax? That
(10:23):
didn't really factor into the story that we wanted to
tell because I believe that those characters, those people are
obviously one hundred percent real and very colorful humans, and
so we wanted the focus to be on that, but
not like the age old debate about real or hoax,
and so in trying to fit the story into a
(10:48):
feature film, a three act structure, we took some liberties
in compressing certain events, a shortening time, coming up with
composite characters, or a combination of a few different of
the versions of the real people involved. So we were
I guess with that log lines or tagline rather setting expectations.
(11:09):
I think about the story that we're about to tell.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I didn't ask you if you believed in sasquatch. I
ask you earlier what got you interested in the subject.
I'm curious how you approached the telling of the story.
Was it completely from a filmmaker's lands, or did you
go into it with a little bit of your own
belief or disbelief in the existence of sasquatch when you
(11:33):
were approaching the field.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Again, I think, like the ten year old kid in
me is on board one hundred percent. As I get
older and a little bit more jaded and critical of things,
I don't know, I'm open to it for sure. You know,
that's one of the sort of core themes that this
story is about, is like that desire to believe in
(11:58):
something beyond ourselves. And I think Roger and Bob certainly
exhibited that, So yeah, for me, I think if I
saw a proof, I wouldn't be one hundred percent surprised,
but I think I would need to see some pretty
hard evidence beyond what I know at this stage to
have a belief one hundred percent. But it's certainly open
(12:19):
to it and hopeful.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I know you probably already answered this lightly in the
beginning here, but how does your portrayal of Bigfoot in
this film differ from the typical Hollywood creature depiction. I
know this is more about the people in the film,
but obviously Patty is an integral part of this the
main character, so to speak. For most people, at least
(12:42):
in the Bigfoot community, Patty is the star of the film.
But I, too, like you, have taken a little bit
of a different approach. I am very skeptical when it
comes to Bigfoot. I've had my own experiences that have
convinced me these things are real, just in the last
twelve months. But I come from a law enforcement background.
I was a police officer for sixteen years, so I'm
very skeptical, skeptical of people. I'm never skeptical of the phenomena,
(13:05):
but people I'm skeptical of, so It's interesting to me
that when you approach this film and you're looking at
the people involved, For me, they are truly what's interesting
about the film. It's been done to death. People have
analyzed this film over and over. It's probably the most
(13:26):
analyzed film outside of this Bruder film, but very few
people really pay attention to the people. So me being
skeptical about the film, I went back and listened to
very early interviews with Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. I
think the earliest interview that I could find was five
days after they filmed Patty, and I compared what was
(13:48):
said in that interview then versus an interview with Bob
Gimlin back in twenty nineteen, and I compared what he
said then versus what was being said in twenty nineteen.
I mean, there was some inconsistencies there. For me, one
of the big glaring ones that I found in my
research when it came to the film was Bob was
(14:09):
very insistent that this happened on a Saturday, but it
actually didn't. If you go back and check the date
when they actually filmed Patty, it was a Friday, and
Bob was very insistent on the fact that they couldn't
have been hoaxed because there was a crew working in
the area, and he referred to that in this twenty
(14:30):
nineteen interview. Several times they asked him, was it possible
that this crew might have faked those footprints? Could have
been one of these guys in a suit that you
guys came across and you ultimately filmed. Bob was very
insistent that no, they were off, they weren't working because
it was a Saturday, but it was actually Friday. So
I found those little things that stuck out to me
(14:52):
over the years. But ultimately I'm still on the fence
about the authenticity of the film. But I'm curious for
you what went into it for you as far as
did you consult with other Bigfoot researchers that have studied
the film, that have maybe known Roger and Bob? How
did you approach that when you started doing research into
(15:13):
creating this film. And stay tuned for more Sasquatch out
to Sea, We'll be right back after these messages.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Their story is largely public in the public domain, and
there's several books, so I think the majority of my
research was reading a handful of books. The way that
I took that information in was more as a character
study about these guys. What were their personalities, like, what
(15:46):
did other people think of them, What were some of
their physical characteristics, what were some of their abilities and
things that they were really good at. They just seemed
so dimensional when I thought about them that way. In
terms of I don't know the inconsistencies, and back to
your question about the research that was mainly my research.
I haven't really spoken with any legitimate Bigfoot researchers per se.
(16:13):
Beyond reading and listening to the podcast, reading the articles,
that's pretty much been the bulk of it. But the
film itself in terms of the I think the first
bit of your question about how did we approach the
creature in the film, really it's the Patty in this
(16:35):
film is always seen through the lens of the sixty
second film strip. We're not recreating the event per se.
We're with them on the trip for sure, but we're
not really there to I felt like if we were
there to recreate that moment, we'd be in a way
(16:56):
passing judgment a little bit, and we really wanted to
be careful to be respectful to the real people and
capture their sort of spirit as best we could.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
How important for you was the location of filming. Was
it important to get close to the location or was
that an essential part of your storytelling in the process
of making this film.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
That's an ongoing effort. To be clear, we haven't made
the film yet. We are making the film. I think
part of this conversation is to generate awareness about that effort.
But the idea is that we will shoot on location,
both in Willow Creek and then also further up in Washington,
in Yakama on around the Olympic Peninsula. But it's funny
(17:40):
you have that image of Bluff Creek in your mind.
You've seen that clip a thousand times. I'm a mountain
biker and I live in Sierra Madre in California here,
and we're right in the foothills of the mountains, and
some of my bike rides and hikes and things like
that take me to places that look they could totally
passed for Bluff Creek. Through the camera. I think there'll
(18:03):
be a little bit of movie making magic that happens
along the way, but I think the bulk of the shooting.
The idea is that we shoot in the actual locations
and also at the right time of the year. Actually
today is October twentieth, which is whatever anniversary it is
in fifty eight years. But I think if we shoot
(18:24):
up around the Olympic Peninsula in October, it's going to
be stunning with the leaves turning, and it's going to
look so much like the b roll that Roger and
Bob shot leading up to the Faithful Day.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I didn't even realize this is the anniversary of the
filming of Patty as we record this. So I guess
here's a question for you as far as approaching the film.
How would you describe the tone that you're trying to
convey in this film? Is it a mystery adventure comedy
or is it something new entirely? Because I can tell
you personally as being someone who is quote unquote in
(18:59):
the Bigfoot Commune and have been a part of it
for quite a while, I think we're all really hungry
for something new and exciting when it comes to the subject,
because the Patterson Gimlin film is a huge undertaking for
anybody who's tackling any part of that film or that mystery,
because it has been done to death in a way.
(19:22):
But I was so excited to hear your take because
you are separating the Patty component and saying, Okay, we're
not even talking about that, Let's talk about the people
that are involved. And to me, people are always the
most important thing in any story, because that's my job.
I interview people who have had encounters with Bigfoot, So
to me, it's always about the people and less about
(19:44):
the Bigfoot, which kind of sounds weird for most people,
but that's just how it turns out to be for me.
So I think it's really cool that you guys are
a focusing on that but getting into what really happened
with the people. You've directed films like Day at the
Pool and The Platinum Loop. How do you see Bigfoot
(20:06):
enterprises comparing to those? Creatively the emotions that are involved
in the film. I guess, how is the film going
to be different from those films and unlike anything we've
seen in the Bigfoot community. I guess it was last year,
maybe earlier this year, but I think it was last
year when Sasquatch Sunset came out and I interviewed those guys.
(20:28):
I got an advanced copy of that movie when it
was coming out. They wanted to come on the show,
and I'll be honest, they were super nice guys. I
loved their approach. They were big fans of Bigfoot. But
I didn't enjoy the film. I felt like I was
losing IQ points since I was watching the film because
there was so much to me that was unnecessary in
the film. Obviously art to subjective. I don't judge people's art,
(20:52):
but for me as a fan and a part of
the Bigfoot community, again, it goes back to what I
was saying, we're looking for something new and interesting and
something that hasn't been done. So I'll get back to
a question. I know, I've been around the world here,
I guess for you, the more pointed question is what
are you doing or how are you approaching this in
(21:13):
a way that's going to surprise maybe the people that
have been around the Bigfoot community and really involved in
what went on in the film, And how is that
going to be new and exciting for people like me
who were craving that in the Bigfoot community.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Yeah, I haven't seen Sasquatch Sunset, by the way. I've
seen the trailer, of course, and I was excited about
the poster art and those types of things. I'm a
graphic designer, so those kinds of things get me going.
But I can't really comment on the film, but I've
heard I think similar reactions probably, but I think that
was purely creature. That was all creature, which that's an
(21:49):
interesting on paper approach. But I think what sets Bigfoot
Enterprises apart is that we're outsiders in terms of the
Sasquatch community, and so I think with that we're able
to maybe look at the scenario a little bit more
objectively in terms of what we're attracted to, what parts
(22:10):
of the story we choose to bring into our script.
But then I think it's just that idea of it
just goes back to that core spark of the idea,
which is turning the camera one hundred and eighty degree
is away from the creature and looking at the world
from the opposite perspective and going opposite the creatures there,
but we're going away from it to the people. You
(22:33):
mention tone a little bit, and so I think the
tone of this film it's a drama, but it certainly
has comedic undertones. Roger was a funny guy, he was charming.
I think we all probably know people have people in
our families or friends that are maybe Roger where they're
(22:56):
fun to be around. Maybe we're not loaning the money,
but they make us laugh, they make us happy, and
they inspire us on some level. So that's the tone.
It's about friendships, it's about adventure, it's about family relationships.
Roger and his sister Ida, who's married to al Diatli,
(23:18):
who becomes their sponsor both in the film and in
real life. And it feels like it's to me, it's
this guy who he understands his mortality, that he's dying, right,
and so it's really his story from sixty seven to
seventy two. We take that journey with him and Bob.
(23:39):
It's comedic, it's a little bit sad, but it's a
little bit triumphant too in terms of just this Americana
success story.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
It's always fascinating to me as someone who does content.
I have a platform. I talk about lots of things.
I've talked about the Patterson Gimblin film for years. Obviously,
Roger passed away in seventy two, I think it was
early seventies. Bob is still alive. He's in his nineties,
but he's still alive and kicking. He's not as involved
in the Bigfoot community as he has been in the
(24:10):
latter years because he took a hiatus and then came
back to the community and was welcomed with open arms.
He's a rock star when it comes to the Bigfoot community.
He's clearly alive. And I've never really considered this. I'm
not a filmmaker, but as a podcaster, I am aware
of some of these larger personalities that are in the
(24:30):
Bigfoot community that are still alive. I think I was
the last person that interviewed Peter Burne, who was one
of the four horsemen of Sasquatchery, if you will, and
we disagreed on a couple of things during that interview.
He never thought that Bigfoot existed east of the Rockies,
and I thought he was completely wrong about that. And
I've made no qualms about it. But you're doing a
(24:51):
film that is arguably about the biggest thing that ever
happened in Bob Gimlin's life. From the outside looking in, obviously,
those are the things that has happened in his life
personally and privately that we're not privy to. But from
the outside looking in, one could arguably say this is
the biggest thing that ever happened to him, and it's
what he's become known for. Do you consider that at all?
(25:15):
What would Roger's reaction be if he was still alive?
But more importantly, Bob is alive, How is he going
to feel or what is he going to see when
he watches that film? Is that part of your process
at all when you're making a film like this.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
I mean, I think you have to factor it in
to a degree. Bob was such a I don't know
him personally, but seems like such a genuine straight shooter
of a guy. And that's how he's portrayed. He's the
guy with the ability, he's the guy with the follows through.
He's the guy that's got your back. He's the guy
(25:50):
that feels as this film became more and more commercially
successful quote unquote, he was probably the guy that was
feeling is this right? Are we doing the right thing here?
And it's interesting to me that he was burned by
the whole thing too at a certain point and stepped
away for decades and then came back. And if I
(26:13):
had an opportunity to speak with him, that would be
one of the questions I think that I would ask him,
is what was his motivation to stepped back into it
after distancing himself for so long. Roger, on the other hand,
I feel I don't know what his reaction would be.
He seemed like a guy with an attention span that
wasn't quite as lengthy as other people. Who knows what
(26:36):
he'd be onto today if he would have stuck with it.
I guess his track record leading up to that kind
of says that he bounced from one thing to the next.
I don't know. It's curious to me that he latched
onto this belief and ran with it, And I think
part of that really was back to his understanding of
(26:57):
his mortality and his diagnosis of Hodgkins lind foma. The
idea that now he needs to create a legacy for himself,
believe behind for his family. All those kinds of things
are a really interesting character motivation, both in real life
and in the film.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
This is obviously an indie film. You guys are going
directly to arguably the Bigfoot community looking for support and
making the film. I'm curious what made you choose that
route instead of traditional funding. Before we move more into that,
I've obviously asked some questions that I was curious about
for the film, But I know what you have, the
(27:37):
narrative that you want to get out there, and I
want to give you this opportunity carte blanche to talk
more about the film, the filmmaking, the funding of the film,
the support, all of those things that you want to
talk directly to the community about to convey exactly what
you're doing here and why he chose that route to
go to the community for support to get the film made.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
I feel like this can community, this audience is really
who we're making this film for, and we really would
love to invite the audience into our crowdfunding campaign that
we're hosting that'll run from mid November through mid January,
so people will be able to find us there. You
(28:20):
can also find us on Bigfoot enterprisesmovie dot com that
is our website currently. There'll be everything from tickets to
the film when it's finished, to hand painted plaster casts
that I'm going to make. So there's like small perks
(28:41):
that you would expect on a crowdfunding campaign, but beyond that,
there's this idea that by creating awareness around this film,
we hope to capture the attention of somebody that would
from the community, that could afford to come in at
a more meaningful level, that might want to take on
an executive producer title for a larger investment and even
(29:05):
share in some of the equity. So that's our plug
beyond that. This film you asked earlier about how it's
maybe different than the other films that I've made. Interestingly,
the thing that it's has in common with the other
films that I've made is this controversial strip of film
(29:27):
that the narrative is built around, strangely, the invention of
skateboarding and pools early on in the nineteen seventies. In
Day at the Pool, The Platinum Loop was a strip
of film involving Marilyn Monroe in the early seventies. So
it's built around that wasn't really by design, but that
(29:48):
is the one sort of thread that these three films
at least will have in common.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
How important is it to you as far as the
community involvement? The Bigfoot community is large in its own way,
but by and large it is a smaller community, a
niche community. How important is it to you, not necessarily
just financially, for the Bigfoot community to get involved in
the spirit of shaping the project. But is that community
(30:14):
involvement important in making the film? Do you think does
it have to be there for it to be successful
or do you think that the product ultimately will speak
for itself and the community will embrace it or may
not necessarily exactly agree with the way the film turns out.
I guess is the question. Stay tuned for more sasquatch
(30:36):
out to see. We'll be right back after these messages.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
Yeah, I think within this community you have to tell
a story that can live in one hundred, one hundred
and ten minute duration of time. We can't tell the
story beat for beat. But I think it really is
like this DIY kind of indie approach is really reflective
of how Roger might have approached this, how he probably
(31:05):
would have approached something like this, where that's how he
found success, That's how he and Bob took this show
around the country and turned it into something. They would
do radio interviews ahead of screenings as a promotional tool,
and then they would sell out these colisseums. There would
(31:28):
be a line out the front door. It was really
this kind of just Maverick style and approach that they
had that I think we're inspired by that in some way.
We're not really Hollywood guys by any stretch, even though
we live close. That's not who we are or really
what we do. So it's more about hopefully the community
(31:50):
will embrace this. Hopefully it's a story that oh gosh,
I didn't think of that, but I've always wanted to
see that and know about that story. I think these
guys not got at out of Hollywood, but Hollywood didn't
embrace them. They had to take it upon themselves to
make it happen and then take it out into the world,
and then they did. That's who they were. I'd like
(32:10):
to think that we have a little bit of that too.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
With your approach, the more indie approach. Do you think
it's going to resonate differently with the audience versus something
that's going to be some big budget I'd say Sasquat
Sunset type film that has a bigger budget with these
stars that everybody's known from other movies and genres. Do
you think this film being made with the community in mind,
(32:32):
telling a story from within the community, is going to
resonate differently with audiences versus some big budget Hollywood film.
That's relying more on special effects and the creature, because
you are, ultimately, as we talked about earlier, you're telling
a human story here. Do you think that's going to
resonate more with the audience that, by and large want
(32:54):
the sensational story. They want to see the Bigfoot, they
want to hear about the Bigfoot, but you're telling human
story here. So do you think ultimately that's going to
resonate differently with the community than some big budget Hollywood
film that's going to rely on special effects and focus
on the creature.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Yeah, I think so. I think so there won't be
as many agendas, and then it'll be the story that
we want it to be, because I feel like when
people see this, it's gonna be a little bit of
a discovery for them in that they know these people,
they know these characters, and so it's going to be
interesting to see them brought to life. Whether they judge
(33:31):
that we did a good job or we didn't, that's
beside the point. But I think the curiosity will be
there to see these characters that they've read about, heard
about come to life in a way that it's almost
going to be required viewing. I would say for this
community in a way, and I think it'll be different
(33:52):
in that regard from if this were a big Hollywood production.
If this were a big Hollywood production, I feel like
it would be mandated that there is a creature and
we see it gets away from the core idea. I
would say, I'll give you the last word on all
of this.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
You're talking to your potential supporters, you're talking to potential
audience members right now. What is the one thing or
things that you want to make sure everybody gets from
this interview and about this film?
Speaker 5 (34:23):
In a way, it's the story behind the origin of
the most famous cryptid in the world. Arguably, without these
guys and without their story and without Addie, we might
not be here right now talking about it. We probably
wouldn't be. Everything in pop culture in the world of
(34:47):
this genre is influenced by the Patterson Gimlin film. Everywhere
you look, it's frame three point fifty two. It's never
really done right in my opinion. I hope to adjust
that throughout the process of making this film. But really
I do feel like this hopefully will become required viewing
(35:08):
for the Bigfoot Sasquatch community. Just a kind of a
fun and respectful celebration of who these guys were, their
spirit of adventure, and keeping the spirit of adventure alive,
because in today's world, it's like we've lost to that
since completely. But we all know everything immediately, we've got
(35:30):
our phones. There's no go camping for two weeks searching
for something that just doesn't happen. I don't know. That's
just really an inspiring kind of notion for me about
this film, about this story. If people are likewise inspired
by these guys and want to see this story come
to Fruition again, we ask if they please join us
(35:52):
in whatever capacity they're able ifts they are interested in
coming on in a bigger, more meaningful way. I don't
know if you can include our contact information in the
lot of the podcast here, but if that's possible, I
invite them to reach out to us directly that way too.
(36:12):
We'd love to have some conversations about that absolutely.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
I will link to that in the show notes. You
guys go over and support the film. I am super
excited about it. I cannot wait to see it.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Eric.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your
process with the film talking about the film. I appreciate
your time thanks so much for coming on the show.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
You got it. Thanks so much, Brian, appreciate you having
us and look forward to talking again.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
The up put me in the movie.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
You know this shot. We've seen it a hundred times, Bigfoot.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
We will make the film.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
But what you don't know is the circus behind the
camera and unlikely to of misfits, turned that blurry monster
into a media empire. It all started with Roger Pattison,
a broke rodeo calon with a film camera, all charm,
no plan, his cowboy sidekick Bob gam He's a straight shooter, skeptic,
(37:20):
the original horse whisperer. And me Barbara Palmieri, Hollywood publicist,
no time for nonsense.
Speaker 6 (37:33):
We hit the road.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
We sold the myth in America.
Speaker 5 (37:38):
Ate it up for something happened, and people.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Will believe anything if you say it with the confidence
in a film projector exactly.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
But same has a price.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
The skeptics came so that the lawsuits and the polygraphs.
Turns out chasing as easy, but living with one not
so much. I don't know if it was real or
if it was fake, but I'm not here to judge.
(38:13):
I'm here to get this filmmate. Let me tell you
about our director, Eric Fulford. He made his career digging
up dusty reels of American storytelling, from the punk legend
Skate Myth of Day at the Pool to the surreal
Hollywood Spiral, the Platinum Loop. This sky's gotta think for
(38:36):
stories where truth and fiction and ambition. I'll share a drink,
think American hustle at a shot of Once upon a
Time in Hollywood.
Speaker 6 (38:47):
And a twist of Butch and sun Dance.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
Yeah, let's make a movie and a little bit of
history together.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
We will make the scene about a man that's standing
a lonely.
Speaker 6 (39:06):
And baking down a bone.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
He's mending me. They say, you don't gotta go home,
but you can't stay and I don't want to be.
We're about that.
Speaker 6 (39:48):
Try this chid, that child everything clear, ride back, cry
back the joy for me, need joy staying right there,
coming right away, Dons inside Sassie still st st st
(40:26):
ST ST ST S Inside in State State still SASST
(41:03):
F State
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Plays and PSST ST gas and pass us pass
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