Preview the film now
"The Curious Mister Catesby"
a television documentary
about the life and works of Mark Catesby
DVD
"The Curious Mister Catesby"
is now available on DVD
Why make a film about Mark Catesby?
[ Program Concept ] [ Program Direction ] [ Program Consultants ] [ Production Team ] [ Project Status ]
There are many good reasons to make a film about the man whose artistic and scientific accomplishment was the greatest in North America prior to the Revolution. Perhaps they are best summarized in producer/director Cindy Neal's comments to the Trust's public symposium in Charleston, South Carolina in September 2005:-.
"There so many, many reasons why it is important that this film, The Curious Mister Catesby, be made. In fact, those reasons will vary as far and wide and be as many as there are individuals involved in the making. There are painters, historians, botanists, ornithologists, photographers, horticulturists - it goes on..each has a professional or personal interest in seeing this film become a reality, but my personal interest may be the most, well, personal.
"You see, I've been preparing (without ever knowing what was happening to me).I've been preparing for this job for years and years. It all started back in 19..well, let's just say I was a young woman when it began. You see I am a producer and director of outdoor - or conservation - issue oriented moving pictures. It is my job to take all the scholarly information and advice, all the research and writing about a subject.and "give it wings." I am the one who gets to put the heart into a film. I am the one who has the "fun job."
"I grew up in a timber camp in the mountains of West Virginia - just about as far from here culturally and ecologically as one could imagine. For many years I had worked around the world - most often in the Northern Great Plains - recording the demise of the US and Canadian prairies and the grasslands and their great flocks of birds, or I had often worked in the West recording the demise of just about everything that is western to us.
"One day along came Dr. David Gordon, of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Winyah Bay Focus Area Task Force. They plucked me up off the prairie and dropped me in the middle of a Lowcountry swamp.a place I had no idea of. Inadvertently I had been set on the path that almost 300 years before had been blazed by Mark Catesby! Like Mr. Catesby, I fought bugs and sunburn, I ran from snakes and alligators, I got mildewed in the rain and humidity. I sweated - not glistened, but plain old fashioned stinking sweat.and, in the process, like Mark Catesby, I fell in love.
"Never, in all the places on this earth that I've had the privilege to work, have I seen such incredible natural beauty and health as there is here. I've never felt so connected or been so awed by a place. There simply is no other like it on the face of this earth - that I know of anyway. The diversity, the brilliance of colors, the virility of the climate - and to think how much of this magnificent place remains in very close to pristine condition.just as Catesby saw it and loved it nearly 300 yrs ago, is astounding. Aside from my personal passion, I can suggest that this Lowcountry could well serve as the template for our country in forming non-traditional partnerships between private landowners and public agencies. It won't take too many luscious pictures in this film to show many others what it looks like when it's done right.
"Education, of course, is a basic and fundamental reason for producing "The Curious Mister Catesby." You know, I have a pretty good education. I went to some fine schools and I'm reasonably bright, I've read a lot - but until I came here I had never heard of Mark Catesby and his Natural History book or his paintings. What happened? Why didn't he make it into the history books? Did you learn 
about him in 8th grade history? Was it just me that missed this important part of our US history? I don't think so. Mark Catesby - who many think is the most important and greatest artist and scientist our country knew before the Revolution - He and his work have been blatantly overlooked - I hope this film will correct this gross error of omission for our children and grand children. It is very important that they understand how and why this country is great and who made it so.
"Along those same lines - if a man of such substance as Mark Catesby didn't make the cut - I wonder how many others our historians and scholars have also neglected who have made significant contributions to our history?
"And, finally, to make this film could play a part in helping future conservation efforts both here and across the world. Here's how I believe this will happen. When I look at the images that Catesby created and compare them to others I immediately feel his joy and energy. His birds and critters are alive, but delicate and there is this sense of innocence that draws one into the subject and - for me, it's nearly impossible to look at that crazy Blue Jay or the loud mouthed Rice Bird and NOT SMILE, be happy, enjoy being part of Catesby's world - as we surely are. Can't you just smell that opulent Magnolia when you look at those creamy leaves.
"I believe this brave, honest, joyous man that we call the curious Mr. Catesby found a grand secret here in this Lowcountry. It can be ours to share with generations to come and people who have never suspected it..the message is - look at that gorgeous Catesby Painted Bunting .Does it not just make you know that - life is good.
"Those are some of the reasons I want to make this film."
"I would love to know why you are interested in Mark Catesby."
"There so many, many reasons why it is important that this film, The Curious Mister Catesby, be made. In fact, those reasons will vary as far and wide and be as many as there are individuals involved in the making. There are painters, historians, botanists, ornithologists, photographers, horticulturists - it goes on..each has a professional or personal interest in seeing this film become a reality, but my personal interest may be the most, well, personal.
"You see, I've been preparing (without ever knowing what was happening to me).I've been preparing for this job for years and years. It all started back in 19..well, let's just say I was a young woman when it began. You see I am a producer and director of outdoor - or conservation - issue oriented moving pictures. It is my job to take all the scholarly information and advice, all the research and writing about a subject.and "give it wings." I am the one who gets to put the heart into a film. I am the one who has the "fun job."
"I grew up in a timber camp in the mountains of West Virginia - just about as far from here culturally and ecologically as one could imagine. For many years I had worked around the world - most often in the Northern Great Plains - recording the demise of the US and Canadian prairies and the grasslands and their great flocks of birds, or I had often worked in the West recording the demise of just about everything that is western to us.
"One day along came Dr. David Gordon, of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Winyah Bay Focus Area Task Force. They plucked me up off the prairie and dropped me in the middle of a Lowcountry swamp.a place I had no idea of. Inadvertently I had been set on the path that almost 300 years before had been blazed by Mark Catesby! Like Mr. Catesby, I fought bugs and sunburn, I ran from snakes and alligators, I got mildewed in the rain and humidity. I sweated - not glistened, but plain old fashioned stinking sweat.and, in the process, like Mark Catesby, I fell in love.
"Never, in all the places on this earth that I've had the privilege to work, have I seen such incredible natural beauty and health as there is here. I've never felt so connected or been so awed by a place. There simply is no other like it on the face of this earth - that I know of anyway. The diversity, the brilliance of colors, the virility of the climate - and to think how much of this magnificent place remains in very close to pristine condition.just as Catesby saw it and loved it nearly 300 yrs ago, is astounding. Aside from my personal passion, I can suggest that this Lowcountry could well serve as the template for our country in forming non-traditional partnerships between private landowners and public agencies. It won't take too many luscious pictures in this film to show many others what it looks like when it's done right.
"Education, of course, is a basic and fundamental reason for producing "The Curious Mister Catesby." You know, I have a pretty good education. I went to some fine schools and I'm reasonably bright, I've read a lot - but until I came here I had never heard of Mark Catesby and his Natural History book or his paintings. What happened? Why didn't he make it into the history books? Did you learn about him in 8th grade history? Was it just me that missed this important part of our US history? I don't think so. Mark Catesby - who many think is the most important and greatest artist and scientist our country knew before the Revolution - He and his work have been blatantly overlooked - I hope this film will correct this gross error of omission for our children and grand children. It is very important that they understand how and why this country is great and who made it so.
"Along those same lines - if a man of such substance as Mark Catesby didn't make the cut - I wonder how many others our historians and scholars have also neglected who have made significant contributions to our history?
"And, finally, to make this film could play a part in helping future conservation efforts both here and across the world. Here's how I believe this will happen. When I look at the images that Catesby created and compare them to others I immediately feel his joy and energy. His birds and critters are alive, but delicate and there is this sense of innocence that draws one into the subject and - for me, it's nearly impossible to look at that crazy Blue Jay or the loud mouthed Rice Bird and NOT SMILE, be happy, enjoy being part of Catesby's world - as we surely are. Can't you just smell that opulent Magnolia when you look at those creamy leaves.
"I believe this brave, honest, joyous man that we call the curious Mr. Catesby found a grand secret here in this Lowcountry. It can be ours to share with generations to come and people who have never suspected it..the message is - look at that gorgeous Catesby Painted Bunting .Does it not just make you know that - life is good.
"Those are some of the reasons I want to make this film."
"I would love to know why you are interested in Mark Catesby."