‘This Is Not A Conspiracy Theory’ Is An Episodic Documentary For Skeptics And Believers

Kirby Ferguson wants you to learn the truth behind those scurrilous secret plots governments and/or other organizations of real or perceived power may or may not be perpetrating. The Canadian filmmaker (known for his previous fantastic documentary work by way of Everything Is a Remix) has released a new installment of his latest episodic documentary, This Is Not a Conspiracy Theory.

According to the trailer, This Is Not a Conspiracy takes a deeper look at the “hidden forces that shape our lives.” Successfully funded via Kickstarter to the tune of $54,610, the documentary currently has two episodes (the first of which you can watch for free on Vimeo) available for purchase on Vimeo On Demand as well as on VHX.

To get more perspective on this uniquely-formatted project, we asked Ferguson about his intentions and creative process behind This Is Not a Conspiracy Theory and what we can expect from the rest of the documentary’s episodes:

Tubefilter: Why installments in the first place and not one long flick?

Kirby Ferguson: Because I like the conversation that takes place in the episodic format. I like to put pieces out, get a reaction, and incorporate what I learn. I think it makes the work better and I don’t foresee myself working any other way. I love the episodic format.

TF: How do you decide what to cover? What more can we expect?

KF: My choices are pretty subconscious. It’s very chaotic and they somehow just bubble up. Sorry if that sounds douche-y.

Next up I’ll be showing conspiracy theories are actually a descendant of early scientific thought, and I’ll show how that era still dominates our perceptions. After that, there will be an episode about the recent history of conspiracy theories, there will be plenty about science fiction (Philip K. Dick in particular), probably some stuff about video games, and lots about complexity science and systems.

TF: Is this meant to debunk conspiracies? Or prove them? Or just provide viewers with information so they can make their own decisions?

KF: I’m just trying to provide people with some tools of thought that they can use any way they wish. I’ll expose some methods common to conspiracy theories but my intent is not to debunk them in general. I don’t think people should automatically reject something just because it might sound conspiratorial. I think there are other ways to evaluate plausibility and I’ll illustrate those.

Check out the trailer for This Is Not a Conspiracy Theory below, and then make sure you visit Vimeo On Demand or VHX to purchase your copy of the documentary to stay up to speed with the skeptics and get all episodes as they are released.