TV show about furries would like to hear from you

[Liisa Two Eyes]

Hi. I'm not a fur, but I am working on a TV series about the wonderful world of fandom for the Space Channel and want to meet furries for an upcoming episode. Two reasons: to learn more about the community, and to find people to interview for the show.

I know what you're probably thinking... so let me explain a few things.

The series is about fan culture -- aside from furries there will be episodes on comic book collectors, otaku kids, LARP gamers, etc. I understand that furrydom encompasses many things, including spirituality, sexuality, philosophy, etc. We're interested in the art and culture of furries. I'm particularly keen to meet furries who are collectors, or creators, who would like to talk as much about their love for animal cartoons as their own fursonas. Especially if you are planning to attend a furry convention or gathering in the next year.

If this is you, or someone you know, I'd really like to hear from you. You don't need to live in Toronto.

The production company is called Markham Street films. You can look them up here: http://www.markhamstreetfilms.com/
I'm a professional arts reporter and film researcher -- not a stalker or spammer! You can look me up too.

Send me a PM and we'll go from there. I look forward to hearing your stories.

Cheers,
Liisa Ladouceur
for Markham Street Films

[Benjamin]

Hmm... Yeah, it's fairly tempting to help out on a project like this. It looks like it's done more as a respectful thing than a lot of media has done with the subject of furry. Space is definitely a channel that'd be respectful to a fandom like furry, at least.
"Fanboy Confessional" looks like it could be amusing... but I'm not sure if I quite fit the bill. Aside from being highly involved in the community, I'm not all that outwardly furry... unless you count my plush lion collection, t-shirts, and general lion fixation. Heh.
Am not sure how well I'd do on television, myself. My nerves may get the best of me.
 
Benjamin

[Oni]

And why should we tell YOU our FURRY SECRETS?!?!

*evil laughter*

[Wotan]

George Gurley (or as he called himself at the time: Pyewhackett), permanently cured me of ever wishing to talk to the media about the fandom.  In other words, good luck with getting your story, but I won't be contributing to it.

  I also never forget Hearst's Law: "Never get into an argument with a man, who buys ink by the barrel".

[Dan Skunk]

What did he do?

[Wotan]

What did he do?

George Gurley is a reporter from Vanity Fair, who posed as a fur, and attended several cons in 2000, including Anthrocon and Feral, specifically for the purpose of stealth journalism.  He later published what was essentially a smear article from the things that those who were dumb enough to trust him said and did at those cons.  Let's just say that it was one of the first serious smear articles against the fanDUMB.

[Benjamin]

Yeah, I remember that situation. It wasn't too pretty, really. Vanity Fair still gets a negative reaction from me each time I see those magazines or hear about them. Not that I was personally all that upset over the situation, but eh... they were very underhanded to do that to us. I was helping run Feral! at the time it was decided to let that guy come in and do his article. I think the fandom learned a lot from that bad experience, but it's also something we've never truly recovered from.
 
Benjamin

[Dragyn]

Ive read a few of those smear articles, and they just trash the fandom so badly that, I and alot of furs are fairly cautious of any media. Though I'm pretty sure if you get your facts straight, and go in with an open mind, youll be able to find some furs to help you out.

[Dan Skunk]

http://pressedfur.coolfreepages.com/press/vanityfair/

That one?

I just read it over again. Didn't seem at all like a smear article to me. Other than spending too much time talking about, "crush," it seemed pretty balanced and straightforward to me.

He's just reporting what he's seeing and what people are telling him.

Furry is a very diverse subculture full of people with many different interests that aren't shared by everyone. I know there are many furries that don't want to be associated with things like plushophilia, beastiality, spooge art, and people that really want to be animals, but people with these interests *are* a part of the fandom as much as anyone else.

If you spend time around a lot of furries, you're going to run into these interests--you'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice that sex is a huge component of a lot of furries interest in the fandom, for example.

I don't think I can fault George Gurley for anything. He was just telling the truth--whether or not some of us want the truth being told about us or not is a different issue altogether.

I can certainly see that not everyone has all the interests being shown in this article, so maybe some of us think it presents an inaccurate picture of others, but then, we even have J Badger there saying he's not interested in those things to balance it off.

If anyone's going to hate furries over an article like that, it's not because there's something wrong with the article, it's because there are people out there that like to stereotype groups of people and hate people that are different from them. There are many people in the world that hate each other over their different believes, cultures, and races. This is the real problem, and it's not a furry problem; it's a human problem.

We should be working to mature as a culture beyond that type of thinking and accept others that have differing beliefs and lifestyles. Furry has always been admired by others for it's ability to be so accepting and tollerant of differences. Probably because being so diverse, we wouldn't be able to help each other with our shared interests if we didn't. Liking funny animals is hardly a very popular idea and there are so few of us around, it would be hard to do anything if we concerned ourselves with judging each other.

I think in furry, we're already ahead of mainstream culture in developing these ideals. We should continue working on them within furry and continue being an example to others of what can be accomplished when people put their differences aside to pursue their common goals.

[DJDarkViper]

looking at the website i see things in the completed documentry page that make me a little nervous

PENIS DEMENTIA : The Search
for the Perfect Penis

FLATLY STACKED

FAN BOYS

ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT: Excursions Through the World After Dark

id be pretty happy to express my thoughts to you so long as im assured that the intentions are not to hurt the fandom, but to bring it to more of a public understanding that yes, it is indeed jsut another fandom to be apart of, in much the same vain as Weaboos and Trekkies

Basically are we looking at Penn & Tellers Bullshit here? or are we looking at MTV?
-----------------
EDIT:
http://pressedfur.coolfreepages.com/press/vanityfair/vf2.jpg

holy crap! top right photo, second from the left, that looks almost exactly like my buddy Brian! last i heard from him was back in Van when he showed me his fursona. The shirt and glasses convinces me, but the lighting conditions keep me from saying outright that its him   maaan, where did you go?

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

Some of us are depressingly normal and don't make good sensationalist journalism at all. Unless you follow me, and by extension my shipmates, when we storm a foreign port. And then it isn't furry, it's 'drunken Canadian sailors pwning a downtown area'. Which might actually be more scandalous.

-tucks his ears under his cap and tries to look inconspicuous-

Although I admit I was cannibalistic and ripped into a barbecued rabbit with my bare hands in Spanish territory a couple of years ago. Does that count for sensationalism?

[Liisa Two Eyes]

Hello again and thank you to those who responded. I've met some very interesting furs and we are in the process of scheduling film shoots over the coming months. We'll let you know when the episode airs and hope you enjoy it.

[DJDarkViper]

im both nervous and a little ambitious to see how this turns out

[Ekevoo]

I hope it goes well. :3

[Dragyn]

Im curious as well, but i dont have space channel

[Dan Skunk]

The MTV thing was alright too, but the show was about sex and Furry isn't just about sex, so it came off as being a little misleading. Was still a fun video though.

http://pressedfur.coolfreepages.com/press/sex2k/

[DJDarkViper]

through the magic of some japanese/chinese/mandarin youtube style portal, i managed to watch all TEN parts of the "Fur and Loathing in Las Vegas" CSI episode
what a terrible website >_<

[James_Roshal]

It not that Dragyn need to worry to much, he cna watch it at my place.   You have to keep up up-to-date with it Liisa and Wula

[Dragyn]

Im curious as well, but i dont have space channel

My friend right now your on this lovely tool called the internet. Depending on how well you utilize it getting almost anything you want is fairly easy. For me somehow I managed to find and the MTV episode they did. I saved it for the lulz though :3 So when the episode gets ripped and thrown onto youtube and other bits of the tubes I am sure someone will be passing links out left and right to the rest of us xP

Its not such a lovely tool if your on Dial up

[Aurifer]

Ha, dial-up. I know how it is.

Me, I'm a patient person. I've been living on dial-up for all of this year -- no, cancel that; I've been SHARING dial-up.
I don't ever download any torrents or anything. It's a bit hard to upload or download big things, like pictures, and it's almost useless to try for updates unless they manage to keep the half-downloaded file when the internet connection times out.
Basically, I don't really need any more, unless I want to do certain things like watching YouTube or whatever. Actually, I could set a movie to download over the course of a few hours, but not unless I wasn't sharing.

But still, I'd like to get that link once the show is made.