“Sasquatch” is a new docuseries about an investigative journalist who visits a cannabis farm that’s supposedly been attacked by Sasquatch. The docuseries from Duplass Brothers Productions premieres at South by Southwest this week and will be released on Hulu on April 20. 

Director Joshua Rofé spoke with The Daily Texan about how he discovered the story, his experience filming in the woods, and if he believes Sasquatch is real. 

The Daily Texan: What drew you to creating “Sasquatch?”

Joshua Rofé: So let's go back to February of 2018. I was having dinner with a buddy. His name's Zach Cregger. He's one of the (executive producers) on the show. We were saying goodbye for the night, and his parting words were, “Oh, by the way. There's this podcast that I really love that I think you should listen to. You're either gonna love it or think I'm crazy for loving it. It's called ‘Sasquatch Chronicles.’”

I listened to an episode the next day. The podcast is people calling in with their own encounter stories with Sasquatch. Cut to four days later, I've listened to 11 episodes, and I'm completely obsessed. And I believed that the people telling the stories were afraid.

I sent a text message to David Holthouse, who is the protagonist in one of the (episodes) of this show. He’s been an investigative journalist for about 25 years. I send him a text (that) said, “I wonder if there is a murder mystery that is somehow wrapped up in a Sasquatch story that exists.” He proceeds to tell me this story. It was 1993 and he was a young gonzo journalist, burning it at both ends really learning the hard way. 

A friend of his who was working on a cannabis farm in Northern California said, “Why don't you come out, and you'll smoke great weed? You'll take some mushrooms and trip in the forest. I promise you will go home feeling refreshed.” David arrives … and he gets to this cannabis farm and you can cut through the tension with a knife. People are setting up booby traps around the perimeter of the farm. And everywhere there are these whispers about a violent Sasquatch in the area. And these guys allege that they have just come from the scene of a triple homicide, where the bodies were torn limb from limb. And all the eyewitnesses have the same account that a Sasquatch did it. That was the initial chunk he told me that instantly made me know this was something I was going to try to pursue. 

DT: What was it like delving into Sasquatch culture? 

Rofé: It was incredible because you were meeting people who were fully formed in their beliefs. There was nothing fly by night about it. It was interesting to plunge into a subculture that most people would just sort of dismiss. 

DT: Do you personally think Sasquatch is real? 

Rofé: I promised myself I was never going to answer that question directly. When you’re up there, when you’re in those woods and you’re in that region for an extended period of time, there are things that seem possible to you that wouldn't be in your normal life when you're not in the woods. He describes it as a higher vibration of supernatural belief, and you understand that when you spend time there because there's trees in the forest; they're so big and they're so dense. If you saw a Brontosaurus walking by, you wouldn't be shocked. But you'd (also) say, “Of course, there's dinosaurs here.” That sort of speaks to Sasquatch (being) up there as well.