Logo have published their therian documentary (41:47; YouTube), covered here in January.

Producers followed and interviewed several teenagers and young adults (and their parents), including the crew of FurCast and an otherkin forum administrator, Shiro Ulv.

In a poll of 120 therians/otherkin, a majority appear dissatisfied with the piece; fully 80% felt it was only slightly accurate, or not at all. The same proportion took issue with the inclusion of furries (including various fursuiters) in the documentary.

Similar numbers saw it as important for therians/otherkin to educate the public about themselves; however, views were mixed on participation in television documentaries. Most (83%) favoured the idea of therians/otherkin creating their own documentary.

As foreshadowed last year, Logo has bought distribution rights to an hour-long documentary on otherkin and therians from the UK's Zig Zag Productions (presumably no relation...):

The film promises to follow a teenager from Brunswick, Georgia, who believes he is a wolf, and is aiming to confirm this by changing his name legally to his wolf name, Shiro. It also introduces the viewer to a commune of ‘otherkin’ in upstate New York that includes a human ‘raccoon’ and ‘leopard’ in an “inter species poly-amorous relationship.”

The sixty-minute segment is to air in early 2013 as part of the What?! documentary series. Zig Zag is also negotiating distribution in other parts of the world. [O. Scribner]

Update (30 April): The documentary has been released.

Since we last covered MTV's True Life, the show has taken footage of several furs, but is seeking more. From an email:

This is a docu-series to chronicle the real life of a Furry. We have no intention of showing Furries in a negative light but instead hope to dispel some of the media myths out there about them.

The renewed casting call was recieved with scepticism on the furrymedia LJ community.

Meanwhile, UK-based Zig Zag Productions (whose shows are often "factual entertainment") hopes to contact a more rarified group – therians and otherkin.

The British magazine of anomalous phenomena, the Fortean Times, has published a three-page article about otherkin in its January 2012 edition (pp. 44–46). [Arethinn]

The article appears relatively non-controverisal, though some have raised concerns about a full-page spread of the Otherkin Alliance logo, used with credit but without permission.

Meanwhile, Evess Arudem - a member of the otherkin community - seeks to create a fan-sourced documentary, and is soliciting audio and video submissions. [Tsu]

Results for the Summer 2011 International Furry Survey led by Dr. Gerbasi and Nuka were released last month, and some are quite surprising. The study attracted 1940 participants (179 'non-furry'). 45% came from Anthrocon 2011; the rest filled out the survey online.

The same team ran an online survey last January, and a follow-up at Furry Fiesta 2011.

This survey swept in members of several related groups, most of whom saw themselves as distinct from furries. 74.4% of participants identified solely as furry, while 8.8% claimed to be therians and 4.7% otherkin. 3.6% felt they belonged to both furry and one of these groups.

Significant differences were found between furries and therians, and male and female furs.

Matthew Paul Finnigan (26), also known as Starblade Enkai, died 22 September 2010 – apparently after being stabbed in a friend's apartment. The suspect, James Torrey Hill, has plead not guilty to murder and is being held in custody.

Starblade was a controversial figure in fandom, best known for inspiring the "FYIAD" meme.

Update (20 Feb 2011): More news has emerged on the killer, who apparently had a preoccupation with the idea of killing someone, and stabbed Starblade because he was "sick of his life", "sick of school", and "might as well go to jail." [tip: rodox_video]