Documentary proposal and budget
Search for the Alien Big Cats
Search for the Alien Big Cats – A one hour documentary investigating the numerous sightings and encounters with ‘Alien Big Cats’ (ABC’s) across Great Britain.
In the year 2000 Josh Hopkins (below) was playing outside his home in Monmouthshire, south Wales when he was attacked…by what he described as a big cat. Left with five long scars across his face, Josh described the incident – “At the start I thought it was playing, but when it struck its paw at me and I saw the blood fly past, I thought I was going to die”. Josh’s experience is only one of thousands of sightings and encounters across Britain, with the British Big Cat Society reporting 2,123 sightings between April 2004 and July 2005 alone. However, despite these statistics, nobody has been able to provide conclusive evidence that these creatures are living in Britain.
The narrative of this project will be split into two distinct parts. One aspect will focus on retelling the stories of those who have had close encounters with big cats across Britain. The other will follow a team of expert trackers as they scour the countryside and woodlands for evidence of big cats. The purpose of this documentary is to build a convincing argument that points to the existence of these creatures, and raises public awareness.
As well as Josh Hopkins, the characters featured who will be sharing their stories will be: Ted Noble, a farmer who, in 1980, captured a big cat on his land in Scotland, later to be named Felicity (below); William Rooker who managed to shoot remarkable footage of what appears to be a Tiger in Cambridge in 1994; and Anthony Holder, who was attacked at the bottom of his garden in London, after hearing his own pet howling. A team of trackers will also be involved, lead by Danny Nineham, an expert tracker who has investigated over 2000 cases in Britain alone, and worked closely with Gwent Police in south Wales on Josh’s case.
Josh, Tom, William and Anthony have all been approached and have agreed to take part and share their experiences. Danny Nineham has also been approached and is willing to be involved, and at the moment is putting together a team of trackers he feels will be suitable for this project.
The stories will be told through a mixture of interviews, eye witness footage, photos and dramatic reconstructions. These sections will be interspersed with experts offering their opinions and statistics. As well as this a camera crew will follow a team of trackers as they look for signs of big cats, and examine the evidence in front of the camera, explaining to the viewer what it is they are seeing, and why it is evidence of the creatures. This project is aimed at the Channel 5 9:00pm slot, for viewers with a love of animals, nature and mystery.
Budget:
| Number | Cost per day (£) | Number of days needed | Total (£) | |
| Camera operator | 3 | 150 | 15 | 6750 |
| Sound man | 1 | 150 | 15 | 2250 |
| Producer / Director | 1 | 150 | 15 | 2250 |
| HD Camera | 2 | 150 | 20 | 6000 |
| Night Vision Camera | 1 | 150 | 14 | 2100 |
| Sound Kit | 1 | 100 | 20 | 2000 |
| Tripod | 1 | 60 | 20 | 1200 |
| Accommodation crew | 5 | 30 | 19 | 2850 |
| Accommodation tracker team | 5 | 30 | 13 | 1950 |
| Flights / Transport | 3000 | |||
| Contributors | 4 | 200 | 800 | |
| Tracker team hire | 1 | 800 | 10 | 8000 |
| Editor | 1 | 150 | 15 | 2250 |
| Total | 41400 |
