WINNER!

WINNER!
BEST FEATURE
DOCUMENTARY
UFO Congress Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION
LA Femme Festival
http://www.WhatOnEarthTheMovie.com
[email protected]
SHORT
Filmmaker Suzaanne Taylor is part of a lively community of visionary artists, scientists, philosophers, geometers, educators,
writers, and farmers who marvel at crop circles. This documentary tracks her interactions with these ‘croppies,’ in England,
as they go circle-chasing, indulge in circle-analysis, and share why they are so fascinated by the phenomenon.
LONG
Filmmaker Suzanne Taylor is part of an international community of visionary artists, scientists, philosophers, geometers,
educators, writers, and farmers who marvel at crop circles. This documentary tracks her interactions with these ‘croppies,’
in England, where they converge every summer and go circle-chasing, indulge in circle-analysis, and talk about why they have
changed their lives because of this phenomenon.
A big question that’s repeatedly addressed is why something so startling and so spectacular is so largely ignored. Croppies
express their opinions and their frustrations about how the hoaxing of some circles, and the limitations on our thinking
imposed by a worldview that’s grounded in scientific materialism, deflect attention from the phenomenon and hamper serious
investigation of it.
Evidence is presented that defies the idea that the circles all are made by people, and the possible motives of the hoaxers is
a subject for speculation.
The circles are looked at as art, as instigators to reexamine ancient knowledge lost to a culture separated from nature, and as
coming from a source that is aware of us, delivering formations that point to events on Earth and in response to whims and
wishes that individuals and groups express.
The most startling revelations we get from the circles come from their shapes. Mathematical information encoded in the
formations is seen to deliver a virtual curriculum in number and geometry, and leads to questions about who or what is
delivering the circles and why they are being created.
Croppies speculate about what the effect would be if it was ascertained that the circles aren’t being made by us, whereby
we’d know we aren’t the only intelligent occupants of the cosmos. There is talk about how ascertaining that the crop
circles come from another intelligence could help us think as one humanity in relation to ‘the other,’ to where we might
work cooperatively to solve the problems we all share. We see that ‘contact,’ established via the circles, could create a new
beginning for humanity - the start of an era when awe and wonder would supplant the dangerous oppositional behaviors that
are so prevalent today.
Producer/Director, Suzanne Taylor, has been involved
with films since she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and
summa cum laude from NYU. Having been an
actress, she crossed over to the other side of the
camera as the Executive Producer of the awardwinning feature documentary, CROP CIRCLES: Quest
for Truth, released in 2002. She began production on
her feature documentary, What on Earth?, in 2003.
A fine arts post-impressionist painter, Suzanne had a
one woman show. She is an accomplished chef, and
author of The Anybody Can Make It, Everybody Will
Love It Cookbook.
Her longstanding blog, Making Sense of These Times (http://www.TheConversation.org), speaks to the
world situation - how we got where we are and how we might get out of the challenging situation we are
in - from a progressive perspective. Her Los Angeles home long has been a gathering place for forward
thinking people.
Suzanne discovered crop circles in the late 1980s, when she saw photos of “strange patterns” that were
appearing in crop fields in southern England.
I was immediately intrigued, and I just knew something beyond the beyond was going on. For a few years, I
read reports, looked at photos and hosted crop circle researchers at my Los Angeles home. It was astonishing to
everyone that these complicated works of art - sometimes as big as two football fields - were turning up in crop
fields overnight.
I made my first trip to England in 1993, and was awed by the experience. I’ve returned to England many times,
and I’ve become part of a community of artists, philosophers, writers, scientists, mathematicians and assorted
mavericks who are as fascinated as I am by these amazing and mysterious works of art. My belief is that if it
were ascertained that the circles are not being made by people, our worldview would change. I made What on
Earth? to try to influence that shift.
Whitley Strieber
Author & Host of Dreamland Radio Show
http://www.UnknownCountry.com
Filmmaker Suzanne Taylor has created a magnificent,
startlingly brilliant film. Ground breaking crop formation
documentary, incredibly beautiful and powerful.
Jay Levin
Founder and former Editor in Chief
Los Angeles Weekly
At all costs, don’t miss What on Earth? because you
think it might be woo-woo. It is anything but. It deals
intelligently, scientifically and with a sweet sense of
grandeur with the globe’s most persistent and beautiful
mystery, the phenomenon known as ‘crop circles.’ If you
have an inkling of adventure and even a small opening of
curiosity to other potentialities, or simply want to blow off
limitations on your imagination, you will savor this lovely
and pleasant voyage guided by filmmaker, Suzanne Taylor.
A good, spellbinding story and flick.
Brian Swimme
Author, Mathematical Cosmologist
specializing in the evolution of the universe
http://www.brianswimme.org
Marvelous film. Wonderful work. We might even begin
to feel stunned by the simple fact that here we are in the
midst of this overwhelming mystery, the universe. I loved
all of it. Congratulations!
Robert Aaronson
Head of Distribution and Sales - Netflix
You did a very good job. It’s the most bizarre phenomenon
ever. I’m totally open to whatever the explanation might
be.
James George
Author & Canadian Diplomat
I think it was one of the greatest events of my life, to see
this. I am deeply impressed with it.
Jonathan Dana
Code Entertainment
http://www.codeentertainment.com/bio.html
A great job. Interesting and astounding. How can this not
be taken seriously? It is like there is a collective amnesia.
I believe you will do very well with the film.
Larry Jackson
Co-creator of the iArtHouse
http://www.iArthouse.com
Powerfully effective and provocative. Certainly there is so
much more to this phenomenon than I could have imagined
from news reports or bits that I have seen. It makes me
wonder if I should start believing in God again.
Jane Hawthorne
I saw your brilliant film at Chet Snow’s conference. I was
the one in tears of joy. Well, actually, there were probably
several of us! Continued luck and love in your work to bring
us these amazing phenomena and the light and joy the
circlemakers remind us we are here to be.
Barbara Ross
Artist
http://www.withamazinggrace.com
I really loved your movie. It’s one of the best crop circle
movies I have ever seen. I’m trying to put my finger on
why, and perhaps your sincerity and love of the circles
comes through. Also, your filming is really excellent, an
those views of Wiltshire surrounding the crop circles magnificent.
J. Paul De Vierville
Professor of History and Humanity
I just finished watching your marvelous film. It brought me
to tears. What a masterwork that you have created. You
are the Mark Twain of crop circles.
Randy Fuhrman
Events Planner
Randy Fuhrman Events
http://www.randyfuhrmanevents.com
I love What on Earth? It is amazing. I feel you have a
huge success on your hands and this can be sold to a major
distributor.
Jim Dreaver
Author
http://www.jimdreaver.com
Much about the crop circles was new to me and the
film just made me shake my head and say to myself, in
amazement, “Wow...,” even more. Truly a mystery. This
does indeed sound like your Grail quest: finding a way to
link the circles with the salvation of our spiraling, out of
control world.
Matthew Thuney
Director of the Center for Ontological Action
http://www.thuneyfish.com/contact.html
One of the most solidly-grounded, fairest and insightful
treatments I’ve seen regarding the crop circle phenomenon.
Just viewing the images of these amazing formations is
sufficiently mind-boggling, but learning of their history
and characteristics is a life-lesson in itself. I particularly
enjoyed the last half, containing the insightful interviews
with crop circle researchers and theorists. I call them ‘True
Scientists.’ Now, if only mainstream science would follow
their lead. But that would be heresy.
Boyd Willat
Developer of the Dayrunner Planner and the
Sensa Pen
Your movie is very tasteful and tantalizing and not pushy,
and certainly giving your audience a chance to think for
themselves and …above all to feel the emotion of ‘wonder.’
Oh, my God, what if it were true? And the art. Damn, I
believe it is real art…so so beautiful and clean and clear!
You did a good job and it is a gift to the world… thank you.
I am very proud to know you.
Elizabeth Rossen
Artist
http://www.elizabethrosson.com
Your DVD, What on Earth?, is just marvelous!! I’ve watched
it two times since receiving it and so enjoyed the comments
and thoughts of those you’ve interviewed - the “cream of
the crop!” It directly addresses the most profound issues
surrounding the whole phenomenon. Thanks so much for
making it. I was impressed with CROP CIRCLES: Quest
for Truth - this one is another impressive film that takes
the whole subject further.
Dr. Walter Starck
Publisher, Golden Dolphin Video CD Magazine
http://www.goldendolphin.com
Congratulations on an excellent job. The videography,
editing, music and narration are all very well done. Most
importantly, you managed to capture the beauty and
mystery of the circles and present their wonder without
any distracting diversions into dubious beliefs. Your own
narration is particularly good with clarity of both voice and
thinking. I hope it finds the attention it deserves.
VV Hsu
Filmmaker
What good work! I was disappointed when it suddenly
stopped. I wanted to see more. Good to wet people’s
appetite. I like you as the narrator and thus made it a
personal journey. This is a very smart approach. The editing
is good and the speakers are first class. Your presentation
is very professional and smartly written. Bravo!
Victoria Moran
Author
http://www.victoriamoran.com
Your film is exquisite-- so professional, so enlightening. And
incredible editing: it flows.
Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. / Dr. Toy (tm)
http://www.drtoy.com
You are the perfect guide asking the right questions and
interviewing many who cast insights, scientific reasoning
and comparative studies to help us approach understanding
of what is clearly beyond our comprehension. My husband,
a trained scientist, was skeptical, and afterward shares
more of my wonderment. Thank you for your dedication
over more than fifteen years in creating what promises to
be a special film for our times that helps to bridge the
gap between the past of Stonehenge and mysticism, and
Sputnik and skepticism. I intend to share the information
about your new documentary with many. Anyone who cares
about the earth should see this film.
Anne Baring
Jungian Analyst & Author
http://www.annebaring.com
Your film is marvelous - really exciting and also very
beautiful and poetic. I watched it entranced and really felt
the presence of tha consciousness that is trying to connect
with us and wake us up. It does feel as if we are being
nudged towards a line we have to cross, to become more
conscious. To be invited to do so by patterns as beautiful
and intricate and mathematically eloquent as these, is
wonderful. If we could, like the alchemists, be brought to
the point of “squarring the circle” that would be remarkable
- if only. You have really achieved what you set out to do.
Many, many congratulations.
Suzanne Kai
Executive Producer, StudioLA.TV
http://www.studiola.tv
I LOVE your documentary!! I think I’ve watched it ten times.
It’s so exciting to see and learn about the crop circles! You
Go, Girl!!
Cariel Quinly
Author
http://www.HeartlinkInstitute.com
I have seen numerous crop circle films but this one really
spoke to my heart. Well done. I showed my class and they
loved it. I will have you on my radio show.
Bob Hieronimus
21st Century Radio/Future Talk
http://www.21centuryradio.com
Roy Gibbon
Author
http://www.shumei.org/publications/offering_light.html
Absolutely stunning film.
I cannot praise it highly enough. Not only does What on
Earth? present numerous enchanting pictures of crop circles
accompanied by beautiful background music, but it also
includes fascinating stories, explanations and conjectures
about this phenomenon by people who have personally
experienced it. Something extraordinary is happening on
Earth, and it is probably much more important to all of
us than we can imagine. If you are at all interested in
the nature of reality beyond the narrow consensus views
promoted by our mainstream media and institutions, then
you owe it to yourself to see this film. I guarantee you won’t
be disappointed.
Marshall Masters
Host Cut to the Chase Radio
http://www.marshall.masters.com
Brad Steiger
Host Jeff Rense Show
http://www.jeffrense.com
http://www.bradandsherry.com
Your video nails the rational thinkers. Wow, you nail it big
time. You’re the first croppie producer to explain sacred
geometry in a manner that can be easily grasped by
mainstream folk.
Very interesting. A superb production, indeed.
Dee Andrew
Host Eye to the Sky Radio
http://www.eye2thesky.net
Do you wonder why you don’t hear much about crop
circles anymore? Do you think crop circles have all been
explained as hoaxes? Well, think again! Suzanne Taylor
and her team have done a wonderful job of presenting the
deepening mystery behind the crop circle phenomenon.
I have watched this DVD several times now and I highly
recommend it.
Geoffrey Ransford
After letting you know how much I liked the film, my
(adult) son watched What on Earth? once, then a second
time, then a third time, and has been picking at it a fourth
time, all in a few days. I have never seen him do anything
like this. Keep up the wonderful work.
Larry W. Bryant
Author
http://www.ufoview.posterous.com
Your documentary encourages (and compels) the viewer
to perform a simple human task: to ask questions and
demand answers. Isn’t that what any mystery of nature
tempts us to do? Hop aboard this gently moving train to a
destination that reveals itself during the journey!
Alan Cohen
Author and Teacher
http://www.allancohen.com
I loved loved loved it! What a magnificent presentation!
It is by far the most comprehensive, well-balanced, and
heart-centered overview of crop circles I have seen. You
mention that you wanted to make the best video about it
ever, and you have succeeded gloriously! Thank you for your
sincere heartfelt dedication to this project. I love the crop
circle phenomenon and take great inspiration in knowing
that it is getting to more and more people -- and you are a
major vehicle for this service! Keep up that great work and
thank you for all you have done and are doing.
Joff Williams
Hi there, I’ve just watched your film last night and can’t
stop thinking about it. The images keep coming into my
mind whilst I’m trying to do other things. We have a small
art gallery tea shop restaurant place in a very busy market
town in the middle of France and want to sell your film
there. Thank you for opening my eyes a lot wider.
Cordula Herzog-Hall
I just watched the movie and I am so impressed with the
wonderful work you did. Thank you so much for bringing this
phenomenon to the public. I have been fascinated by crop
circle formations since their first documented appearances,
and you did a great job in bringing it all together, with the
different interviews and even the ‘fakers.’ Congratulations!
We forwarded one copy to our great channel JZ Knight,
and I am sure that she will be impressed. Thanks again
and God bless you!
Michael Newark
Dowser-- in the film
I love the fact you have included SO many of the formations I
dowsed genuine with powerful energies. Suzanne, SURE you
don’t dowse just a little? And the report where the Japanese
group meditated for a formation and one appeared the
day after, that one dowses powerful for me, so they were
answered. WOW. You have included so many good parts
it’s hard to pick out the best. I love the film. The balance
is right where you take the people on a wonderland trip
through the fields, JUST enough of everything to allow your
brain to interact with the film and form opinions. Nothing
heavy with the science, just the right mix I believe. WELL
DONE. Suzanne, you have a heart of gold, AND it shows.
Paul Shishis
Amazing to say the least. In all my experience and research
in this field I do believe you are on the right path of cosmic
consciousness. This should be shared to the entire human
family.
Victor Goss
Filmmaker
As an amateur crop glyph ‘researcher’ for the last decade,
I must congratulate you on making the best film so far on
the subject. I think you have a winner, and anything we
could do to help or share our work with you for the sake of
this film we would be glad to give.
Val Heath
Thank you, thank you, thank you and congratulations for
the brilliant DVD on crop circles. I saw you at Glastonbury
recently (I live there) and think your DVD is the best one
I have seen. It is a joy to see all the much loved faces
and hear their wisdom and of course the amazing filming
of the circles. I think the whole thing was put together
beautifully. Thank you once again.
Joan Hirsch
Massage Therapist
I LOVED your documentary, and the world REALLY NEEDS
all that information that you gathered. Just fascinating!
Jay Breymer
Novelist, Essayist and Poet
Beautiful work, Suzanne. I have been following the “Crop
Circle Mystery” since the early 90’s, know how important
the phenomenon is, and thank you sincerely for doing such
and excellent job of presenting the history, context, and
diverse viewpoints, Bravo!
Mudita ZuVuYah
I want to get the word out in as many ways as possible
to support you in putting What on Earth? into millions of
hands. In my opinion, this is such a remarkable piece! Not
only is it clear and informative for the folks that are new
to this subject, but it is thrilling and juicy for me, a Croppie
for thirteen years. I am enjoying sharing it with visitors and
just ordered another to pass around as a loaner. Thank you,
thank you for a brilliant and expansive film. I particularly
appreciate the We Are One consciousness that weaves
throughout.
Crop circles have been occurring all over the world for at least hundreds and perhaps thousands of years.
Usually appearing overnight in anything that grows, they are beyond remarkable, displaying advanced
geometries in formations as big as two football fields. Why has something so startling and spectacular been
relatively ignored? Or silenced?
My film was made out of a passion to correct the ideas held by a misinformed public. The source of many
crop circles is unknown, but the public has been misled - perhaps by a deliberate disinformation campaign
- and now thinks they’re all made by people.
Could they be the marks of another intelligence? Could these marks trigger the biggest shift in our worldview
since Copernicus and Galileo challenged Earth’s place in the cosmos? Have the governments of the world
been keeping us in the dark, thinking we weren’t ready for such a leap?
If you can’t account for every crop circles as coming from human beings, where do they come from? The
answer could change the world.
I have had a personal involvement with the circles since the late 1980s. What on Earth? was shot over
several summers in southern England. The film engages my fascinating friends - visionary artists, educators,
philosophers, artists and mathematicians from around the world - who converge at this epicenter of the
crop circle phenomenon to study it and document it.
What on Earth? deals with the profound effect the circles have had on these people. And the effect they
might have on the world. I am devoted to getting my film seen so that peer-reviewed articles in science
journals - which attest to the circles being of unknown origin - can no longer be ignored.
Evidence suggests we are being signaled by an intelligence that’s not our own. That people ignore what is
occurring is as unbelievable as the phenomenon itself.
We need a massive change of mind in the world. We struggle with overwhelming problems. Our thinking
has created many of them, and it stands in the way of solving all of them. As long as we think the same way,
how can we change the results we get?
What could revolutionize our thinking so we would make the radical changes we need? See this movie. It
will plant seeds. Visit the website. Interact there. Be part of a conversation about what can get us where
we need to go.
And let’s get attention paid to the circle phenomenon. If there’s other intelligence besides ours, we’ll take
our place in a much bigger reality than we know now. Our small-mindedness will have to give way, and, as
someone in the film says, “That could be what saves this civilization.”
John Mack
Pulitzer Prize winning Harvard professor
http://www.johnemackinstitute.org
By and large, you can’t really nail down the UFO abduction
phenomenon. But the crop matter, you can’t deny that.
There they are. They’re there. It’s the most dramatic,
most extraordinary crossover from the other dimension in
the history of the human race.
John Michell
writing in his magazine,
The Cereologist
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_Michell_(writer)
A great power has arisen, directing thoughts and perception
towards a more complete and satisfactory view of reality
than the modern conventions of materialism have previously
allowed. Gently, subtly, with no disturbance or panic, we
are being guided across a watershed, from one worldview
to another. And this is in no way arbitrary, but a purposeful
process, in accordance with the interests of eternal nature
and the necessities of the present.
Brian Swimme
Author and mathematical cosmologist
specializing in the evolution of the universe
http://www.brianswimme.org
The existence of crop circles eases us out of some of the
prior certainties we might have had. We find ourselves
considering new ideas about the nature of our universe.
We begin to imagine that things might be different than
we thought. We might begin to release ourselves from
some of the tired explanations imprinted in our minds by
the media. But, most important of all, we might begin to
feel stunned by the simple fact that here we are in the
midst of this overwhelming mystery, the universe.
Ralph Noyes
The Crop Circle Enigma:
Grounding the Phenomenon in Science,
Culture and Metaphysics
After honest appraisal of crop circle data it is impossible
to maintain the rationalistic worldview on which modern
science and education are founded. One is led into
unfamiliar channels of thought, which point away from
structured theories and hard-and-fast beliefs towards a
more mystical view of reality, and, eventually, towards the
greater mysteries of divinity and the living universe.
Paul Horowitz
Project Director
Search for Extra - Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
http://www.seti.org/Page.aspx?pid=1366
If we were to discover extra-terrestrial life, it would show
that we are not intellectually unique in the galaxy. Man
has a tendency to think he’s very special. We consider
ourselves morally, culturally, and intellectually unique.
But if we were to find a signal from another star system,
another thinking being, we would know that none of that is
true. A connection with another intelligence would be the
first bridging across four billion years of independent life in
evolution. It would be the end of Earth’s cultural isolation
in a galaxy and a universe surely containing millions of
other civilizations. It would be without doubt the greatest
discovery in the history of humankind.
SUZANNE TAYLOR is the Executive Producer of the
feature documentary, CROP CIRCLES: Quest for Truth.
http://www.WhatOnEarthMovie.com
A former actress and fine arts painter, she is a central figure
in the worldwide crop circle research community. As the
founder of Mighty Companions, a non-profit dedicated
to thinking outside the box, her home in Los Angeles is a
gathering place for people committed to shaping a better
future. Her blog, Making Sense of These Times
(http://www.TheConversation.org), posts considerations
about how our worldview needs to evolve and how the
crop circle phenomenon could influence that evolution.
To quash circle skeptics who question her intelligence, she
resorts to standard biographical information: at NYU she
made Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude.
A Mighty Companions archival site includes a diary of early
crop circles goings on
(http://www.MightyCompanions.org/cropcircles).
Mary Duprey
Co-Producer/Editor
http://www.breakthroughvisionaryfilms.com
MARY DUPREY earned her BA from SUNY Potsdam and her
MA from Goddard Collage.
After studying editing and digital film production at the New
York film Academy and the Los Angeles Film School, she began
her editing career by creating trailers and promotional pieces.
This is her first feature film.
She was associate editor for the short documentary, The Last
Stand: Heroes at Ballona Wetlands, which aired on PBS as part
of the Natural Heroes series in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, the film
won Best Documentary Award at the ION Film Festival, and in
2005 it won the Telly Award.
Awards include several Gold Cines, a Gold and two Bronze
awards from the International Film & TV Festival of New York
BRUCE HANIFAN’s music encompasses a wide variety
of styles ranging from classical film scores, rock, and avant
guard to contemporary world music. His music has a fresh,
modern sound and he often combines interesting ethnic or
high-tech elements with traditional orchestral styles.
Awards include several Gold Cines, a Gold and two Bronze
awards from the International Film &TV Festival of New
York, several Golden Eagle Awards, one Gold and four Silver
Cindys, the Crystal Award, a Buccaneer award and Telly and
Bronze Apple Awards.
Suzanne Taylor,
producer/director,
on location for her
new documentary,
What on Earth?
The Pyramid, UK
The Pillow, UK
Celtic Knot, UK
Boxley Trefoil, UK
Hessen, Germany
Lane End Down, UK
Huish, UK
Bainbridge, Ohio, USA
The Mandolin, UK
West Woods, UK
Shalbourne, UK
Etchelhampton, UK
Spokes, UK
The Face, UK
Catherine Wheel, UK
Oss, Netherlands
West Stowell, UK
Birdwing, UK
Locust Grove. Ohio, USA
Bockschaft, Germany
Mandelbrot Set, UK
Crawley Down, UK
Barbury Castle, UK
Rollrights, UK
Windmill Hill, UK
Uffington, UK
Chilcomb Down, UK
Rope, UK
Suzanne Taylor
Rope, UK
Production Notes
My house in Los Angeles is a gathering place for progressive activists. The crop circles became a part of our conversation in
the late 80s, after I saw some pictures of them. What could they be and where did they come from? The more I learned, the more I realized that there was no way to account for people making these artworks -- all of them, that
is. (See “Why Real Crop Circles Can’t be Hoaxed” :http://www.theconversation.org/booklet2.html.) And that if other intelligence
was engaging with us, we would be one humanity in relation to ‘the other,’ which would be the biggest change in our juxtaposition
to the universe since Galileo proved that Earth wasn’t at its center, and would give us another worldview from which we might
have more success running our world. Along the way, as my involvement with the circles grew and I became part of the community of ‘croppies’ who come to England
from all over the world every summer to engage with the phenomenon, I took it as my mission to counter the bad job the media
was doing in bringing us information about what was going on. (See the Robertson Panel from 1952 http://www.en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Robertson_Panel for the government’s decision to make fun of the idea of visitation.) Since you tell the world about
anything by making a film, in 1996 I started looking for a filmmaker. It took me till 2000 to find one, and CROP CIRCLES: Quest
for Truth, which came out in 2002, was the result. I’m the Executive Producer of that movie, which won the 2003 Audience Award
from the UFO Congress Film Festival, and had a respectable theatrical run followed by three years on the SciFi Channel.
I started “What on Earth?” the following summer -- 2003, when thousands of people in Europe died from the worst heat ever
and it was especially scorching in the fields -- to give a different slant to what the first film had covered. This one, for which I’m
producer/director, is a more personal effort, where I take you into the inner sanctum of circle enthusiasts who are comfortable
with me and let their hair(s) down. The first film was more about evidence and proof and this one is more about enthusiasm and
passion. Why have such intelligent, successful people dropped careers to write books about the circles, give lectures about
them, take the photographs and generally have revised their lives to maintain an involvement with what is going on?
I am the one in the croppie community with eyes on the world, and how to get the information out. So, summer after summer, I
returned to be with my buddies and film what they had to say. I amassed over 200 hours of footage, and, with Mary Duprey, my
editor, made it into a coherent whole. Mary contributed so much to structuring it, let alone shooting some of the best footage,
that I made her the co-producer.
The production had started out with an artist friend who was trying out her video camera the summer we shot the first movie.
It was a harrowing beginning to a 10-week shoot when, for the first few weeks, the fields were quarantined thanks to mad cow
disease, and the whole time was so cold that we never got out of winter jackets. My friend fell so in love with filming that us
two little innocents embarked on the escapade of making another movie together, thinking it would be a low-budget job where
we’d shoot on a shoestring and then play with putting it together. Ah the joys of modern technology, where you don’t have to
be a movie studio to turn out a film. All right, but you do have to know more than we knew, and I gradually moved from the little
lark we embarked on to where the film became a professional production, still casual and friendly in tone but with more serious
attention paid to sound and lighting and cinematography, let alone the post work of scoring the movie, doing color correction,
and all the rest. In the sumer of 2009, after two years when I hadn’t been in England while the serious work of assembling the film was going
on, I went there to show it to the circle family who were thrilled that it had just won the 2009 EBE AWARD for Best Feature
Documentary from the UFO Congress Film Festival. What a difference technology had made, where, after years of painstaking
searching for rumored circles, cell phones and GPS devices were spreading reports on new circles and guiding everyone to
the right spots. There were three film crews at work, and best I make hay before the market gets flooded. I sat in on a shoot being done by a
company that had a full crew and many more bells and whistles than I ever had. I am the on-camera presence dialoguing with
everyone in What on Earth?, and I was struck by a difference in what they were getting, where my relationships with the people
had made them so natural when they were filmed -- albeit I took a lot of flack for always shoving cameras in people’s faces.
At this new shoot, the croppie being filmed was put on a platform to answer questions fired at him, and he was stammering. It
was a relief from kicking myself that we’d never had a boom or some of the other accouterments that go with having a full scale
production crew!