The Principle is now available for streaming and on DVD/Blu-Ray.
BioGamer Girl recently chatted with The Principle Producer Rick Delano about how the film came about and much more. Read on.
BioGamer Girl: First off, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. For anyone who hasn't heard of The Principle can you tell us what the film is about.
RICK DELANO: "The Principle" is the very first documentary feature examining the Copernican Principle. This Principle is very simple and very powerful. It states that the Earth is not in any central or otherwise special or privileged location in the universe. It is the basic idea that brings the modern scientific world into existence.
It is also the greatest scientific detective story in history, the story of how our view of reality and our place in the cosmos was completely turned upside down by Copernicus, and how stunning new observations of the universe on its largest scales mean that a new chapter in that detective story is at hand.
BGG: How did this film concept come about and how long has it been in process for?
RICK DELANO: My partner Robert Sungenis and I were watching the scientific debate over these new results from large-scale surveys over a period of about five years. As the back-and-forth in the science journals worked itself out, it became clear to us that the so-called "Axis of Evil", a preferred direction spanning the entire universe and related in completely astonishing ways to our location, was actually standing up and would very likely be confirmed. In 2010 we started pre production, and principal photography launched in 2011. So we have been researching the film since about 2005.
BGG: How much research went into the making of the film and how did you decide where to start first?
RICK DELANO: The research behind The Principle includes the doctoral thesis of Robert Sungenis, published as his amazing book "Galileo Was Wrong", so over all about 12 years with of research went into the film. We eventually decided to focus in on the Copernican Principle, since it is such a powerful idea in the history of science, and because essentially everyone in the world is completely persuaded it is true.
Since the "Axis of Evil" and other unexpected results covered in the film have the potential to overturn the foundational assumption of our entire picture of cosmology, we decided to start with interviews of some of the leading scientists who had been working on this data, and/or publicly commenting about its significance.
We started with Lawrence Krauss in 2011 and ended up interviewing a wide range of leading scientists including Michio Kaku, George Ellis, Max Tegmark, Julian Barbour, and others. We also included the views of non-mainstream "mavericks" such as John Hartnett, Ron Hatch, and of course Robert Sungenis himself.
BGG: While making the film, what was some of the most interesting things that you came across in your research?
RICK DELANO: I will never forget the day we decided to delay the release of the film long enough to wait for the public release of the Planck satellite mission data in 2013. We literally put the whole film on the line, in the hope and expectation that Planck would confirm the existence of the "Axis of Evil". If it would not have, we would have been dead on arrival.
In the weeks leading up to the June, 2013 release, we were given many opportunities to bite our nails and swallow hard, since a number of supposed "leaks" and "advance reports" we're coming out suggesting the Axis was not going to stand up. But based on our nearly ten years of watching the scientific debate rage back and forth, we remained confident that the Axis would be confirmed.
On the day of the release, I literally gave a war cry when the results were shown. I knew right then and there that we had the most interesting and important science doc to come around in a long while. Nobody else was going to have this.
BGG: What did you enjoy most about working on this documentary?
RICK DELANO: The most enjoyable part of the experience was working with my brilliant Director KTEE Thomas, who is simply amazing. No one else I can imagine would have stuck with us through the kind of challenges and difficulties a project like this faces, both in terms of making the film interesting and accessible to viewers, and also in terms of the opposition it has always been certain to stir up.
BGG: How did you decide who to feature in the film and how did Kate Mulgrew become involved on the project?
RICK DELANO: The interviewees were basically the most influential researchers we could get to agree to sit for our cameras, along with as many high profile science media personalities as we could get, plus the Mavericks and dissidents.
We were extraordinarily blessed to get Kate, since KTEE and I both very much wanted a female voice for the narrator, to balance out the film and give us a "helping hand" as we explore our way through these incredibly powerful and advanced concepts. Kate was our first and as it turns out our only choice. Her narration is incredible. Simply fantastic.
BGG: Thank you again. Is there anything else you would like to add?
RICK DELANO: Thank you! I would only like to add that "The Principle" has been the subject of the most hysterically over-the-top media disinformation campaign ever launched against a science doc, and there is a very good reason for that. The film is one of a kind, and it challenges things that the existing media and scientific elites are clearly not comfortable having challenged. Our ability to withstand this media hoax and to see our film now reaching tens of thousands of viewers is extremely gratifying. We appreciate the help of all the media outlets that have assisted us in getting our side of the story out. We are seeing very rapid growth in interest and discussion of the film.
To learn more, visit the official The Principle website.