domrodrig

Wow! Thanks so much for the detailed response to the film.

A lot of the narrative reflects how I felt about certain ideas along the way. In some ways, the film is my journey through the fandom more than anyone else's, even though the film doesn't really focus on me as a subject that much.

As far as the Boomer/Kage arc goes, I think that Boomer's side happened much more organically. When I first met him, I thought he was a crazy person. I didn't want to exploit him, but I did find him difficult to relate to, and I knew that showing him in the film might be interpreted as exploitative if I wasn't able to get deeper into his life. Each time I went back to talk to him, I got to know him better and better. We became friendlier with each other. I started to realize what questions I should really be asking. Seeing the way that he was treated by the community was such a turning point, because I always saw Boomer as so harmless. In that final interview, it dawned on me that he knew exactly what he was doing and that he had made a conscious choice to express himself, despite any harm that might come back to him.

Uncle Kage's arc in the film was not nearly as organic, because I had a pretty good sense of what he was about before I even started the film. In fact, I didn't want him to be a part of Fursonas for a very long time, because he was always the guy media talks to. I worried that I wouldn't be able to get on a personal, intimate level with the guy since he was so trained for PR. However, his name would come up again and again, and finally I decided to scrutinize his Media Panels. It was very shocking to see how far he went in bullying people that didn't fall in line with his moral code. That was new to me.

We kind of had to work backwards with him--knowing that we'd have to build up his image as the kind, trustworthy authority figure in the film before revealing that other side of him. I do think it's worth mentioning that that second half shouldn't necessarily negate the first half. I think he says a lot of beautiful things about the fandom and I think he does believe them, even if he isn't always consistent.

I do think that sex negativity is a problem in the fandom. It's interesting, because the fandom feels very sex-positive when you're in it, but it's when people start talking to the media that it starts to get interesting. A lot of people have ideals that they can't really stand behind when you put them in the public eye. I get it--there's this argument that private things should be private and public things should be public. However, we're constantly redefining where that line between private and public is, so I think that's worth challenging.

I'm sure it's no secret that I agree with Varka, when he says that "everyone's a pervert in some way" and that people should stand up for who they really are. That's not to say we throw all decency out the window, but it's a conversation I think we should be having.

I never told Kage that it was me in the Winestream. I'm sure that he knows by now.

I haven't heard back from everyone, but the ones that have seen it have responded positively to it. I think it's always tough when you see yourself on screen to be totally secure with it going out to the world. That's something I can relate to, seeing myself on screen. As Kato put it, your "butthole clenches" when you see yourself.

I'm sure that Uncle Kage has seen it by now, but I haven't heard anything directly. I was just at Biggest Little Furry Con in Reno and he had a Story Hour scheduled shortly after my showing, so I expected to run into him. However, he missed his flight and did not make it to the con.

I love the word "predilections"

Yes, we did not send the film to them ahead of time for approval. Now that it's available everywhere, I'm sure he's taken the time to watch it.

My "furriness" has changed so much over time. I know it's different for everyone, but for a lot of us, I think it's a process of self-discovery that has different steps along the way.

Part of the reason why I was so secretive about it early on was because it was really just a sexual thing in the beginning. I'd sneak away to FA and look at furry porn and that was where it ended for me, so I thought I had enough distance to look at the social aspects of the fandom somewhat objectively. However, as I started to meet people and go to conventions, I quickly lost that objectivity and became endeared to more aspects of furry.

For example, I never thought that I wanted a suit before, and now fursuiting is my favorite thing ever. I've become much closer to the community over the last couple years. Especially when I started going to cons with my boyfriend in 2014, when I didn't have to be "on duty" for the movie all the time.

I'm sure I'll be doing this shit for the rest of my life.

Yep, it began as a 12-minute short that I made with a crew of four others at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. That short had the same six subjects that began the film as it is now: Bandit, Boomer, Grix, Freya, Diezel, and Skye.

It was more of a portrait piece that gave you a taste of each person and what they're like and was meant to make the viewer question how s/he felt about this whole thing. The film ended on a note suggesting that although they're all very different from each other, they're all one big happy family! I later learned that I was looking at the whole thing with rose-colored glasses, haha.

After we graduated, we continued to work on the film on our own time, hoping to expand it into a feature. We received a grant from The Sprout Fund in 2013 that helped a ton with travel and other expenses. In 2015, we partnered with Animal Media Group and they gave us a final push to film for one more year and now here we are.