| Scott Herriott | |
|---|---|
Scott Herriott at CES |
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| Born | Chatsworth, California |
| Occupation | Documentarian |
| Known for | Co-hosting Internet Tonight |
| Website | |
| Walk the Pacific Coast Trail This Exit Only | |
Scott "Squatch[1]" Herriott (born in Chatsworth, California)[2] is an American documentarian, comedian, and Bigfoot hunter.[3]
He obtained a degree in religious studies at Cal State Northridge and studied at the University of Leeds in England.[4]
He won a regional Emmy[5] for his hosting duties on Internet Tonight on ZDTV (later known as TechTV, and later replaced by G4). and also was a contributor on The Screen Savers and Unscrewed with Martin Sargent. He was also a contributor on NewsNight with Aaron Brown and hosted the Disney Channel's First Season of "Walt Disney World Inside Out".[2][6]
In 2006, he went on his third journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, on which he confesses he is "slightly obsessed."[1][7]
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Herriott's fascination with Bigfoot started when he was a little child - seeing parts of the Patterson film on television, hearing of sightings, and receiving Year of the Sasquatch by John Willison Green from his father.[8] But it was not until 1986 that he became active in Bigfoot research, when he saw a CNN piece on a possible Bigfoot sighting. Within a year he went to the same area to conduct his own search and has been hooked ever since.[9] In his research he has been involved in the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) and says that stand-up comedy is the "worst profession if you’re interested in Bigfoot and want people to take you seriously."[3] He claims to have had at least one encounter with a Bigfoot and has made two documentaries on the phenomena. However, he is 85% sure that the Patterson-Gimlin film is fake.[8]
His alleged encounter occurred in the fall of 1992 after he heard of a sighting by two kids at the mouth of the Klamath River. He followed up this sighting by interviewing the two, trying to trip them up, and found their story to be credible. Then, with the father of one of the two kids, he made a 2 hour trek up the hill of the sighting. Near a redwood at the top, the hill started to flatten and Herriott noticed a darkness near a log. That is where he saw two brown eyes that soon started to sway. At this point, the father, Daryl, started to video tape the phenomena. When the two tried to move in closer, the eyes dilated and a reddish glow appeared. The creature, though, remained stationary and at this point the two split up to try to get the creature to move. Daryl quickly turned back as he saw a side-step with his peripheral vision and recorded for about 29 seconds what he saw but stopped out of fear as he started to cry. The next day they returned to the area and found a 25 by 15 foot matted area that was similar to a gorilla’s nest.[8][9][10]
For most of his tenure at TechTV, Herriott co-hosted Internet Tonight with Michaela Pereira lending his unique sense of humor to the show. On the show, his signature was to yell "The Big List" - a list of the links from the day's show. It won multiple Northern California Area Emmys and in particular Herriott won for his hosting duties.[5][11][12] By the end of 2000, Internet Tonight was slated to be cancelled under the premise that its type of programming would be incorporated into the new TechLive block. The show continued to air but only in reruns until it was finally pulled from the lineup in the fall of 2001.[13][14] After Internet Tonight was cancelled, Herriott was a contributor for The Screen Savers, especially the House Call segment, Call for Help, and Unscrewed with Martin Sargent and continued to work for the network until 2002. In 2001, the reduced role at TechTV allowed him to contribute to CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown but not kept on because they "[did not] have the money."[15]
This Exit Only is an hour long documentary about 17 unique places in America. Herriott visits one of a kind places such as Fridgehenge, a replica of Stonehenge but build out of refrigerators and a castle being built by a conspiracy theorist.
Walk is Herriott's first documentary about the 2,655 mile long Pacific Crest Trail. He had no desire to hike the entire trail so instead he hiked about 50 miles while interviewing over 100 hikers attempting the journey.[7]
Still Walking is Herriott's follow up to Walk. He shot the documentary in 2005 and interviewed over 100 thru-hikers. He walks more on the trail and waits at strategic spots to do follow up interviews with hikers from the first documentary.[7]
Even More Walking is the third documentary that Herriott produced about the Pacific Crest Trail. In 2006, he attempted to walk 1,000 miles of the trail while interviewing new thru-hikers while catching up with hikers featured in the previous two films.[7]
"Walked" is the fourth and, perhaps, final doc. in the series where Herriott finishes the trail by hiking approx. 1,700 miles between '07 and '08.
Journey Toward Squatchdom is a mockumentary about the Bigfoot phenomenon. He pokes fun at people who claim to have 14 Bigfoot sightings and find skeletons on every Bigfoot hunt.
Squatching is a slightly more serious take on Bigfoot as he journeys with Ed Marques (The Surf Guru on Internet Tonight). He uses state-of-the-art electronic monitoring equipment to try to capture video of Bigfoot. Also included is video from his 1992 supposed encounter with Bigfoot.
In 2009, Herriott shot, directed & edited a series of four "downloadable mini-documentaries, shot in HD, involving hiking, backpacking & driving around the West with friends, somewhat planned, somewhat willy-nilly, in search of the unusual, beautiful, humorous and random. Think of Huell Howser with fewer “That’s Amazing!”s." In 2010, he shot an additional episode as part of "Team Climb N' Drive" and their attempt to break the world speed record for reaching the highpoints of the lower 48 contiguous U.S. States.