Danbury native’s film on Bigfoot now streaming

DANBURY — A conversation at a bicycle shop led Chris Simoes to sell his tools and other belongings on eBay in exchange for film gear.

The Danbury native and former federal law enforcement employee has been making independent short and feature-length movies for the past 10 years.

Now, his third full-length film, “Bigfoot: The Conspiracy,” has been released for free on Amazon Prime in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.

“The main message — even though they’re Bigfoot-genre films — is to treat people right and be respectful of nature,” said Simoes, who has won various awards at independent film festivals.

The movie was inspired by conversations Simoes has had with people who claim they have seen Bigfoot and his own experience as a former Border Patrol agent.

He stars as the main character, Dante, a retired Border Patrol agent who discovers the possible existence of Bigfoot and a government cover-up surrounding the legendary creature.

“It wasn’t that much [acting] preparation for me because I was playing someone similar to myself,” said Simoes, who directed, produced, wrote and edited the film.

Simoes enlisted his family and friends in the film world to act and help behind the scenes, with another Danbury native, Paul Kakos, playing one of the characters.

Kakos has promoted the movie in Bigfoot-related Facebook groups.

“People started viewing it like crazy,” said Kakos, who lives in Georgia. “That was pretty cool how the Bigfoot community really took to it.”

The 77-minute film was streamed for about 1.5 million minutes within the first few weeks, Simoes said.

Finding his passion

Simoes lives in St. Augustine, Fla., but graduated from Danbury High School in 1988 and lived in the city until he was 28.

He worked as a Border Patrol agent and after 9/11 became a federal air marshal. He worked out of the New York field office.

“It was like I was made for that job,” Simoes said.

He was forced to retire after an injury and worked at a bike shop, but found it was not as fulfilling. One day, he was motivated by a customer’s comment about changing your life if you’re not happy.

That’s when he sold his high-end bikes and tools and purchased a camera and other film equipment. He taught himself how to use the equipment through YouTube and trial and error.

“My dad, since he is self-taught, has learned a lot from each project going forward,” said Alexa Simoes, his daughter, who was the director of photography for the latest film. “Each time, it is improved.”

In 2014, Simoes wrote, produced and directed his first feature-length film, “Bigfoot: The Curse of Blood Mountain.” He said he got a “kick” out of Bigfoot as a kid and was drawn to the genre because of its cult following.

“Whether you believe it or think it’s ridiculous, it’s still interesting to everybody to an extent,” Simoes said. He started writing the new movie in late 2018 or early 2019.

He gets royalties based on the number of views, which he hopes will support the horror movie he’s writing about COVID and the vaccine.