Showing posts with label Bigfoot County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bigfoot County. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

"Bigfoot County" Director Denies Viral Campaign

Bigfoot County Actor/Director Stephon Stewart
"I just want my main audience to be the Bigfoot community and I would love to show it to people who live in Oregon,Washington, Texas, etc, where all of these great sightings occur." -- Stephon Stewart; Director of Bigfoot County

As fans of this blog know, there are currently four "found footage" Bigfoot movies being released this year (2012); The Lost Coast Tapes, Exist, The Woodsman, and Bigfoot County. It is the last movie, Bigfoot County, that we have been talking about lately. It is being marketed as "Blair Witch meets Deliverance with a touch of Bigfoot."

Our initial coverage of Bigfoot Country was about a viral video of a fictional retired park ranger from Siskiyou County, named Walter Higgins. Higgins claimed he found Bigfoot footage that was stolen by actor/director Stephon Stewart. We wanted to get Stephon's side of the story. He let us ask all the hard questions, and in the end, he says he has nothing to do with the campaign.

BLC: How did you get interested in Bigfoot? 
Stephon: I remember when I was 4 years old and was shown the Patterson-Gimlin footage from my mother. She said that it was America's greatest unsolved mystery. I think I have watched that clip at least a thousand times trying to study each possible frame to see if it was real. All these years later I still get chills after watching that footage. I'm very excited that in my movie I will be able to show that clip for the first time in the history of a movie.  
BLC: How did your view of Bigfoot change during the course of the movie?
Stephon:  Well for the past 3 years of my life I have been basically living in "Siskiyou County" and staying in the woods. I think it's safe to say that there are no woods like these in the United States. It's interesting every time at night myself along with the crew would have this uneasy feeling of thinking there is something out there watching you. Also the people over the past 3 years who said they have seen Bigfoot talk about it like they are getting the mail. It's just a way of living in Northern California and it's not even a big deal. I do have to say before I started shooting the movie I was a little skeptical on believing a Bigfoot could exist. But now that I have spent so much time in that world my opinion has completely changed. I believe in Bigfoot and I think they are an endangered species in this country.
BLC:  Did you realize there are actually 4 found footage Bigfoot movies for release in 2012? ( The Lost Coast Tapes, Exist, Bigfoot County, The Woodsman)
Stephon: Yes, I know there is a lot of competition this year for these films. I'm excited about it though because it will be interesting how the audiences view each one.
BLC: How is Bigfoot Country going to be different? 
Stephon:  Well I can't tell you everything because I would spoil the movie. However I can guarantee you that Bigfoot County has a completely different take on Bigfoot that has never been done before. People will be in complete shock after they view this film.
BLC: Do you know who Walter Higgins is? Or Chris Elliot? 
Stephon: Walter Higgins/Chris Elliot was created by some marketing people that wanted to try some new viral campaign online. Nowadays studios and production companies are looking to save money anyway they can. Doing something online like Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity did is what everybody is trying to follow. If a studio can save money and have people notice the movie they are trying to market then they will do it.
BLC: Are you a participant in the campaign? 
Stephon: Not at all. 
BLC: Then who bought the domain BelieveBigfoot.com?
Stephon: I did. I bought the domain name because I liked it and I was going to create a website by putting a trailer on it along with a poster and theaters that the movie will be playing in. The company wanted to try something with it first so I gave them the permission. I haven't really paid much attention to this Higgins video campaign they where doing. 
BLC:  Are you familiar with Steven Streufert of Bigfoot Books? Are you familiar with his criticisms? (he claims you did not approach him as a movie maker, but as a college student) Is there any foundation this?
Stephon: I met Mr. Streufert 3 years ago when I was in college making a short film about Bigfoot sightings in Northern California. After I shot the movie and showed it to people, I was approached by a production company that wanted me to make a movie about Bigfoot. So I decided to make it as well because it was a great opportunity. Mr. Streufert I respect and I really enjoyed meeting him at his famous Bigfoot Books store, it was a great experience. In the movie Bigfoot County there is no footage of Mr. Streufert at all because that wasn't my intention when I met him.
BLC: Okay, now that we got the serious journalism out of the way who are you cinematic influences?
Stephon: I'm a huge fan of Christopher Nolan, I believe he is the best director in the world right now. Also growing up I fell in love with Steven Speilberg and Jaws which was a huge inspiration to me. Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock also are icons that I look up to as well.
BLC: How will people able to watch Bigfoot County? 
Stephon: Well it's actually a pretty cool release. We have a DVD release for December of this year. But currently this film is being shown around the country to some colleges along with selected cities that have demanded to see the movie. I'll have a poster and trailer to show audiences next month. 
BLC: What are your next projects? 
Stephon: I have over 15 scripts currently. But a few that have stood out in my mind that I think people would really enjoy are "Devil's Triangle" which is a found footage movie about the Bermuda Triangle and "Loch Ness". Also I do have a sequel for Bigfoot County if the original does well but that is something that I will have to wait for before I can start production on that. Making a movie consumes your life so it definitely has to be something that your passionate about and must believe in.




Saturday, August 18, 2012

Bigfoot County's Walter Higgins Revealed

We may not know who Walter Higgins is, but we know who registered his Domain Name

A movie previously titled Siskiyou County, later changed to Bigfoot County has been described by Variety.com as "Deliverance" plus "Blair Witch" meets Bigfoot. 

In the same Variety.com article, director/writer Stephon Stewart is quoted as saying, "I went up to shoot a movie on Bigfoot, then a local I met with presented me with evidence that blew my mind. After seeing this film, you will begin to believe what many have doubted since the 1967 Patterson/Gimlin Bigfoot Footage was released." 

Notice in Stewart's quote he refers to a local. Could that be Walter Higgins? We got in touch with Walter and asked him a few questions.

BLC: How did you initially get in touch with the man from LA that stole the video from you?
HIGGINS: He found me through contacts he had while coming out to Sisikiyou County to do a small project on Bigfoot.
BLC: Can you name the person who you talked to?
HIGGINS:Stephon Stewart.  At least that is the name he told me.  Though there is evidence to believe he may be impersonating someone.  
BLC:Is there a Bigfoot in your found footage? Is there a way you can share a screenshot of the bigfoot with us.
HIGGINS: Yes.  That will be forthcoming.  Based on how Lionsgate reacts.  I am givng them until Wednesday before I release more footage.
BLC:Can you give the latitude and longitude of where you found the video?
HIGGINS: I did not track this.  If I go back out there again, I will see if I can track this.
BLC: How much footage is there? Minutes, hours?HIGGINS:over 10 hours.
BLC:Is there anything you want to say to the Bigfoot community about your footage?
HIGGINS: I want to say that, I am still very very upset about this matter.  I am a man of God, of trust, and, trusting others has gotten me into too much damn trouble in my life.  This Stephon character told me he was going to use the footage for a small short type bigfoot doc, then, he pieced together what I had, which had moments of people being attacked by bigfoot and and other aspects I will hold back from stating until I hear back from Lionsgate one way or another, then it seems he has cashed in on an upcoming feature after he tricked me into signing paperwork that he states clears him to use the footage.  This Stephon character is a fucking asshole.  Sorry.  Just really pissed off right now.  If anyone out there knows how to get in contact with him via email or phone, please do so,  He has been changing his email/phone around, avoiding me.
Though I know where he works.  I think I'm going to make a trip out to visit him. 
BLC:Thank you for your time. 
HIGGINS: ok, thank you.  God bless. 
You can watch Walter Higgins' rant in the video at the very bottom of this post. There is only one concern we have with Walter's latest video. The last 10 seconds reveals a domain name BelieveBigfoot.com if you type it in your browser it quickly forwards to WalterHigginsBigfoot.com. Who registered that first domain name that flashes only for a second? Non other than Stephon Stewart. See the Domain registration information below provided by Go-Daddy.

We sent an email to Stephon for comment, but did not recieve a reply at the time of this post
Registrant:
Stephon Stewart
Studio, California 91604
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: BELIEVEBIGFOOT.COM
Created on: 01-Jun-12
Expires on: 01-Jun-13
Last Updated on: 01-Jun-12

Administrative Contact:
Stewart, Stephon stephonxxx@xxxx.com
Studio, California 91604





Thursday, August 9, 2012

Bigfoot County, New Sasquatchploitation Movie Following Found Footage Trend

Is Walter Higgins part of a viral media campaign for
 the newest Bigfoot movie Bigfoot County?
We like to take credit for coining the term Sasquatchploitation, we've been using since 2009 and after all we have the list of top 51 Sasquatchploitation Movies. If we can't claim the term at least we been keeping you up-to-date with the newest Sasquatchploitation coming 'round the bend; The Lost Coast Tapes, Exist and more recently Bigfoot County. Bigfoot County, based on a press release, is "a found footage thriller about a group of filmmakers who ventured into Siskiyou County in Northern California, an area widely known for its Bigfoot sightings, and disappeared. Their footage was found a year later."

That's it. That's the trend. "Found footage." What is found footage? Think low-budgets like Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and even big-budgets like Cloverfield

Wikipedia does a great job summarizing the Found Footage genre:
Found footage is a genre of film making, especially horror, in which all or a substantial part of a film is presented as discovered film or video recordings, often left behind by missing or dead protagonists. The events on screen are seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved, who often speaks off screen. Filming may be done by the actors themselves as they recite their lines, and shaky camera work is often employed for realism.
With the announcement of Bigfoot County it is a trifecta this year for found footage Bigfoot movies.

More interesting, the movie Bigfoot County may have already started an online viral campaign by creating a  faux YouTube channel. After all, the whole idea of found footage is to give a "reality" quality to everything in the movie, media outside the movie contributes to the "reality." Blair Witch created fake news clippings and published them online, Cloverfield used texting on cell phones.

Watch the video below that seems to jive with the description of the Movie of finding footage in Siskiyou county. Some of you may remember this as the Walter Higgins, retired park ranger from Siskiyou county.



More from the press release:


Grindstone will release the film this winter through Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
“I went up to shoot a movie on Bigfoot; then a local I met with presented me with evidence that blew my mind,” says BIGFOOT COUNTY director Stephon Stewart. “After seeing this film, you will begin to believe what many have doubted since the 1967 Patterson/Gimlin Bigfoot footage was released.”
Grindstone’s Ryan Black adds, “The film puts a scary twist on a classic legend. Bigfoot enthusiasts and horror fans alike will really enjoy what Stewart has created.”
In addition to his directing duties, Stewart also produced the film with Richard Halpern along with executive producers Johnnie Colter and Joey Napoli. Angelique De Luca is associate producer.
One thing for sure, we will watch Walter Higgins' You Tube Channel for any updates.
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