A BIRD WITH A KNIFE
DIRECTORS: WINSLOW CRANE-MURDOCH + CECILIA BROWN
A BIRD WITH A KNIFE is a feature documentary examining the fifty-year mystery surrounding the mutilation of thousands of cattle across the American West. Following a veteran investigator, an Oregon sheriff, and the ranchers whose cases they’re working to solve, this is a story about obsession, mystery, and how we live with the unknown.
PITCH + TEASER
VOTING OPENS MONDAY, APRIL 15 • 10AM PT
VOTING CLOSES WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 • 11:59PM PT
SYNOPSIS
In the 1970s, thousands of cattle across the American West began turning up dead and mutilated with surgical precision. The cases spawned a media frenzy, and their strangeness ignited a string of theories: Aliens? Satanists? The CIA? Or predators – a widespread delusion? Despite years of investigation, no cases were solved. Now, after a long hiatus, there’s been twenty cases in rural Oregon, and history seems to be repeating itself. There, a deputy sheriff is intent on solving the crimes, but as he examines the facts at hand, he must reckon with the decades of unsolved cases that came before.
Meanwhile in New Mexico, Dave Perkins has spent the past 47 years investigating this mystery. Perkins, and fellow investigator Chris O’Brien, have been on hundreds of mutilation site visits, making this mystery their life’s work. Just as Perkins came to figure out what it would take to solve this mystery, he died. Before his death, he told us “Cattle mutilation has brought me closer to enlightenment than anything I could have studied.”
A BIRD WITH A KNIFE will weave between the active investigation playing out in rural Oregon and the arc of Perkins’ lifelong investigation, which will take us through the history of this phenomenon using a trove of archival materials. We’ll be taken from rural pasture lands and local sheriffs offices, to alien watchtowers and congressional hearings on UFOs. It will be quirky but emotional, informative but engaging, and will ask us to interrogate our relationship to the unknown. As the film closes, we will come to understand cattle mutilation as a strange and winding thread stitched through the mythology of the American West.
DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT
We came to this project a few years ago because we wanted to focus on making local stories near our home in Portland, Oregon. To us, it was an opportunity to get to know the rural communities that surround the urban pocket we live in. Winslow grew up in a rural farming community in upstate New York, where he watched as depopulation caused it to shrink over time. He left too, and this story about cattle mutilation, which is also a story about the sustainability of rural ranching communities across the US, felt close to home. After nearly two years of relationship building in Fossil, we’ve gained the trust of the community, including ranchers who have had mutilations on their land. We have put time into understanding the intricacies of this phenomenon, and believe we can tell this story in a way that is intriguing, insightful, and makes those who participate feel heard and respected.
We were also drawn to the opportunity this long unsolved mystery presented us, to transcend the boundaries of true crime, and make a film that uses cattle mutilation as a conduit for asking bigger questions about who we are and how we form beliefs. We are aware of the risks of making a film that touches on the paranormal, the unexplainable, or the forces that appear beyond our comprehension. However, we also see the value in making a story about these things, because it is an examination of the very nature of belief. In an America that is ever divided, and a culture with a growing disdain for facts, we will interrogate the line between the magic of the unknown, and the seduction of conspiracy.
What our main character, Dave Perkins saw in these mutilations was not fear, but wonder. In him we see the arc of any good hero; the oblivious step into the unknown followed by the quest to bring order to the chaos. Even while he claimed to desire the answer, he also knew that the mystery itself animated his life. We were struck by Dave’s passion for the pursuit, and this is something we hope viewers will also be inspired by. Maybe there is something magical in the simple fact that there are still mysteries in our world. Then again… maybe it’s just birds.
PROJECT INFO.
| LENGTH (MINUTES): | 80 |
| LANGUAGE: | English |
| START OF PRODUCTION: | March 01, 2024 |
| EXPECTED DELIVERY: | January 01, 2026 |
| SHOOTING FORMAT: | Digital |
| SHOOTING LOCATIONS: | Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, Western New York |
| TOTAL BUDGET: | $708,460. |
| PRODUCTION COMPANY: | Sideyard Studios |
| PRODUCTION COUNTRY: | United States |
| CONFIRMED PARTNERS: | Naked Edge Films |
| BUDGET GAP: | $608,460. |
| CURRENT PROJECT STATUS: | We are in early production and have been filming in the small community of Fossil, Oregon and taken one trip to New Mexico. We are gearing up for a big production push this summer, which will take us through Oregon and the Southwest. Our plan is to finish the bulk of production this summer and fall – funding dependent. |
PITCH TEAM
WINSLOW CRANE-MURDOCH + CECILIA BROWN
DIRECTORS
A BIRD WITH A KNIFE is directed by Winslow Crane-Murdoch and Cecilia Brown, the husband and wife duo behind Sideyard Studios.
WINSLOW’s first feature film The Quiet Epidemic (HotDocs 2022) was selected at over 20 festivals around the country, winning ‘best documentary’ four times, and receiving a national theatrical release.
CECILIA has a master’s in multimedia journalism from the University of Oregon. Walking Two Worlds (2022), which she edited and wrote, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022. She has had her work published by This American Life, Reveal Podcast, Magnolia Network and The North Face, and been awarded ‘Best Oregon Filmmaker’ at McMinnville Film Festival.
They recently co-directed the documentary short, Strong Grandma, which is currently on the festival circuit and has played at True/False, Big Sky, Montclair, SCAD, and Bend Film Festival among others. Together they specialize in human centered stories that speak to the delicate moments that make us who we are.