JD: How did you get your start in cinematography and how did you become a director?

JI: I went to Stanford’s documentary film program in 1971-72 — MA in Film & Broadcasting. Small department, hands-on, crafts-school type do-it-yourself courses, where you got a chance to practice everything: shooting, directing, editing, etc. … started with my thesis film producing, directing, shooting, and editing in ‘73: a documentary about health care in Alaskan native villages along the Yukon River.

JD: What led you to create this film and what was the process like getting it distributed to a wide audience?

I sent screeners to the four interested ones, and two of those made offers: Zeitgeist, based in NYC, and Shadow, based in Maine. I went with Shadow because the advance was higher and I had a good intuitive feeling about Ken Eisen at Shadow. Like me, he’s been in the biz for over 25 years. He’s sort of a back-to-the-land former hippie type but isn’t really, he hails from the NYC area like I do. And he has a reputation among other filmmakers for being honest and actually paying royalties! I’m very happy with my choice, although Emily and Nancy at Zeitgeist also came very highly recommended.

So it turns out that Gary Snyder really had an impact on both Mark — by encouraging him to get into nature, even in a city, thus Mark’s starting to feed the parrots — and me, by recommending someone who helped me find a distributor. His influence on this whole endeavor is quite profound. We got to meet him and hang out with him about a month ago when we all appeared at a benefit screening at Mike Getz’s theatre in Grass Valley.

JD: How did your question about what separates Mark from the pigeon lady go over?

JI: People seem to get a kick out of it. It’s difficult to answer for one thing (Parrots are prettier? Parrots are cooler than "flying rats?"), and I think it’s disarming when Mark simply says, ‘I don’t know.’ That to me is the best answer. But it does make you think about the other possible replies. It’s an interesting philosophical conundrum...

JD: Was there controversy around the renovations to Mark's cottage?  The couple who owned it are interviewed saying that it felt right to leave him be.  Then suddenly the theater is in tears seeing him forced to say goodbye to his feathered friends.  Given that he has become a legend were people angry about it?

JI: There was a lot of misunderstanding and some outrage when Mark had to move because of the renovation, and that’s when a lot of national press focused on the story: NY Times, NPR, People Magazine, LA Times, etc. It was portrayed as a simple good guy/bad guy story, where the owners were kicking him out (and) he had nowhere to go, etc. Actually, as I tried to point out in the film, they’d let him stay in the cottage for three years without paying rent, and they’d paid his water, garbage, electricity, etc. all that time. They finally had to renovate the place because it was beginning to sag and fall apart and would slide down the hill if a foundation weren’t put underneath. Mark was ready to have his intense time (six years) with the parrots end, because it was exhausting and he wanted to get back to a life with people. But he didn’t want to end it arbitrarily, so the fact that he had to leave was ok with him, even though he didn’t know for sure where he’d go or what would happen next. Some friends in Oakland offered him a room to write (in), he was working on the book at the time, so he moved over there for a while. It all worked out fine.

JD: Has Mark been back to visit his parrots on Telegraph Hill and in the sanctuary?  Do they still remember him?

JI: After about a year and a half away from the Hill, Mark got a call from the woman who owned the house next door to the cottage where he used to live on the Greenwich Steps. She needed a caretaker, and needed someone to take care of a cat (that) was left in the house after the former renters moved. Mark moved into this house, and that’s where he and I live now, with the cat, and with four parrots (two from the flock — injured and sick). After awhile he started feeding the flock again, but not as often as before. He found a cherry tree they’d come to, where he could reach the branches. They recognized him right away, even after two years. Sophie, Pushkin, Olive, Scrapper, and other old-timers still come around for a handout. Our next-door neighbors are Tom and Denise, Mark’s former "landlords."

Mark is in Phoenix, Arizona today doing a benefit for the Oasis Sanctuary, where Mingus is living happily ever after with a mate. Mark and I will also visit Mingus this fall. He’ll bring his guitar on that trip!

JM: Tell us about Mark's book and how it is doing.  Does he finally feel that he has found his calling?

JI: Mark’s book is doing really well: The paperback is on the NY Times Bestseller List (#32 this week). I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read it yet, but it covers the full six years of his relationship with the flock (the film only covers his final year), and there are a lot more parrot characters in the book, including Dogen, Mark’s favorite bird. Both hardback and paperback have gone into third printings.

Yes, he has found his calling, and he’s writing another book: this one about his time on the street as a "dharma bum," searching for his path in life. It’s something that people in this culture have a really hard time understanding, although it other cultures this sort of thing is more common. (For the parrot memoir, there’s a book web site with more info and pix: www.wildparrotsbook.com.)