"Lord Of The Rings artist" Speaks Out About Sierra Kills Involvement

An hour ago, we received an email from the person Robert Lindsay was probably talking about when he wrote about a "Lord Of The Rings artist" contacting Justin Smeja about the Sierra Kills event where two Bigfoots were shot and killed near Gold Lake, CA.

Daniel tells us he doesn't consider himself to be a Hollywood animation "bigwig" as suspected by Lindsay.

"I think I'm the guy being referred to in that story, though I would never claim to be a Hollywood animation bigwig. I'm a film and tv designer working for a special effects firm, meaning I draw ideas for costumes, creatures and props for movie makers for a living. I don't animate, nor do I live in Hollywood and I am certainly no bigwig in this industry," wrote Daniel.

Here's the email:

Hello Shawn,

this is Daniel Falconer. I'm a designer working in the film industry. I read an article on your blog reporting on a rumour going around about a Hollywood effects bigwig bringing Justin Smeja's sasquatch encounter and shooting story to life: http://bigfootevidence.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/lord-of-rings-artist-may-be-trying-to.html

I wanted to take a moment to clarify the facts behind this story as there are some mistakes that have been reported. Please feel free to post my e-mail in full if you wish. Apologies in advance - I am going to take a long time to say not very much, but I want to make sure there's no misunderstanding from which crazy rumours or stories could spring. :)

I think I'm the guy being referred to in that story, though I would never claim to be a Hollywood animation bigwig. I'm a film and tv designer working for a special effects firm, meaning I draw ideas for costumes, creatures and props for movie makers for a living. I don't animate, nor do I live in Hollywood and I am certainly no bigwig in this industry. I was lucky enough to be one of the thousands of folks in my industry to work on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, but I was just one tiny cog in that huge machine and carry no influence in this industry.

In addition to my day job drawing creatures and the like, I maintain an avid interest in the sasquatch phenomenon and generally devour any information on the subject I can get hold of. I've been out in the field many times now with kind and generous researchers and friends across the US and have experienced some stuff that leads me to conclude there's something to this all, though I remain open minded as to exactly what it is. When I can, I have done artwork for witnesses and researchers in the past as favours, partly to help contribute to the field of research and also because it helps satisfy my own curiosity. I want to know what sasquatch is. This has always been a hobby and in no way is connected to my professional work for the film industry and none of my work colleagues or employers have ever been involved.

Like everyone, I heard about the Sierra situation last year and was eager to learn more. I know some of the parties peripherally involved thanks to exchanges via e-mail, so I enquired and Bart Cutino put me in touch with Justin Smeja, the alleged witness and shooter, earlier this year. While I can never know whether it happened the way it has been told or not, I was impressed by the story and offered to do some artwork based on what Justin and his hunting partner said they had seen. I learned from Justin that in fact another artist had already done a lot of work and he kindly shared those pictures with me. I was very impressed by the quality of the work and wasn't sure what more I could bring to it that hadn't already been achieved, but Justin assured me he'd love to see what I might do. I told him I'd give it a go, doing some Photoshop painting based on his descriptions and the artwork he had already had made. I am not sure if the name of the other artist is public or not so I will refrain from mentioning them here, but let me reiterate, it was very good work in my opinion.

As things stand at present, I still intend to do the promised images for Justin, though my busy work schedule and existing commitments have kept me from making any real progress yet. When I have done them and when Justin has confirmed that they match what he witnessed (a process which usually takes weeks going back and forth with changes and tweaks) then he'll be free to do with those pictures whatever he wants. I haven't charged him at all. The way I see it, it's a two-way favour and I appreciate him taking the time to share his story with me, which is the same one everyone has heard and read.

So, just to summarise, when I heard the story, I contacted Justin to offer my services as an illustrator and he said yes. Eventually I'll get around to finishing the artwork for him and it will either be publicly available or not - his call. There are no animations or any association with any film maker that I am aware of - just one bigfoot nerd doing a couple of drawings for a guy who claims to have encountered some. :)

There was mention of a Twitter account in this somewhere but I don't know anything about that. I have never used Twitter so that ain't me.

Thanks and I hope that clarifies the situation. There's really no story here, but I wanted to chime in before the rumourmill turns this into something that it isn't. Thanks for your help and I look forward to coontinuing to read your blogs,

- Daniel