Bat City
Austin, Texas | Series
Documentary, Animation
Every summer, 150,000 people watch 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats pour from Austin's Congress Ave Bridge and leave learning almost nothing about them. Bat City is building the bilingual educational experience these misunderstood animals deserve.
Bat City
Austin, Texas | Series
Documentary, Animation
1 Campaigns | Texas, United States
24 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$3,612
Goal: $50,000 for post-production
Every summer, 150,000 people watch 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats pour from Austin's Congress Ave Bridge and leave learning almost nothing about them. Bat City is building the bilingual educational experience these misunderstood animals deserve.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Every summer evening, something remarkable happens in downtown Austin.
As the sun dips below the horizon, crowds gather along the Congress Avenue Bridge — tourists, families, locals, first-timers — all waiting for the same thing. Then it begins. Nearly 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats pour into the darkening sky in a living, swirling cloud that can stretch for miles. It is one of the greatest urban wildlife spectacles on the planet.
Over 150,000 people witness this every year. Almost none of them leave knowing anything about the animals they just watched.
Bats are extraordinary. Most people just don't know it yet.
Bats are among the most ecologically important animals on Earth. In Texas alone, they save farmers an estimated $1.4 billion annually in crop damage and pesticides. They pollinate agave — so yes, you can thank a bat for that margarita. They disperse seeds that regrow cleared rainforests. They are nature's pest control, its night-shift pollinators, and the unsung heroes of ecosystems from Austin to the Amazon.
And yet fear and myth follow them everywhere. Most visitors leave the bridge with the same misunderstandings they arrived with.
Bat City is here to change that.
What is Bat City?
Bat City is a bilingual educational experience built for the 150,000 people who visit the Congress Avenue Bridge each year. Produced by Skip Hobbie Productions and implemented by The Trail Conservancy, Bat City meets visitors where they are — before, during, and after their time at the bridge — with content designed to entertain as it educates. Everything is created natively in English and Spanish.
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Here's what we're building:
3 New Interpretive Signs created in partnership with The Trail Conservancy, installed at the bridge and connected via QR code to our full suite of educational content.
6 Short-Form Videos featuring bat conservation legend Merlin Tuttle, the Austin Bat Refuge, and stories that cover everything from how Austin learned to love bats to why bats are heroes of the rainforest. Each video is 2-4 minutes and designed to be as entertaining as it is informative.
Family Activities including a Fact or Fiction game and a Nature Scavenger Hunt — mobile-friendly and ready to use while visitors wait for the bats to emerge.
Classroom Curriculum developed with Texas educators by our educational coordinator Anne Marie Fayen, aligned to TEKS standards and ready to bring the bat bridge experience into schools across the state.
Why now?
Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in America, and the Congress Avenue Bridge draws more visitors every year. This is one of the rare moments when a city's most beloved natural landmark and its booming population can grow together — if we give people the tools to understand and care for what they're seeing. The bats need more than wonder from their audience. They need advocates.
Help us build the bridge between spectacle and understanding.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Music Licensing
Costs $12,000
The right songs make the bats fly. This covers licensing tracks from Austin artists and the supervisor who clears them so we can use them le
Archival Licensing
Costs $10,000
Decades of bat history, from 1982 news clips to BBC wildlife footage, woven into the film. This pays the rights holders so those moments mak
Spanish Translation and Cultural Adaptation
Costs $7,000
Bat City is a Texas story, and Texas is bilingual. This funds a full Spanish translation and edit so the film reaches twice the audience.
Color Grading
Costs $6,000
Every frame gets shaped by a professional colorist, turning raw footage into the rich, cinematic look the bats deserve.
Sound Mix
Costs $6,000
The whoosh of a million wings, the hush of dusk, the score underneath it all. This is the final mix that makes the videos sound great!
Narration Recording
Costs $6,000
Austin musician Carrie Rodriguez gives voice to our bat narrator, Bootsy. This covers her recording session and studio time.
Campaign and Launch Costs
Costs $3,000
The nuts and bolts of getting this campaign in front of you, plus the launch event that kicks it all off.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Our amazing team includes veteran award-winning wildlife filmmakers, local experts, and the endorsement and support of outstanding partner organizations.
Since the scope of this project goes beyond videos, our team has folded in some of the very best in their fields to help deliver the best experience possible for our online or in-person visitors.
SKIP HOBBIE — Director
Skip is a lifelong Austinite and Emmy Award winning wildlife cinematographer, with 20 years experience filming documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic, PBS, Netflix, and the feature film Deep in the Heart. Filming the bats in Texas again and again, sparked a passion for bats that has taken him around the globe as one of the world's leading specialists in filming bats.
BEN MASTERS — Executive Producer
Ben is a filmmaker and writer specializing in wildlife and adventure stories. He is most known for directing Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story, The River and The Wall (SXSW 2019 Award Winner) and for producing Unbranded (Mountainfilm 2015 Audience Award Winner). Ben and his company Fin & Fur Films, have made a number of in-kind contributions of equipment and footage to Bat City.
HILLARY PIERCE — Producer
Hillary is a Texas-based, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker with a passion for conservation and environmental storytelling. Her work includes The River and the Wall, Tower, A Song For You: The Austin City Limits Story, and At the Ready. Her films have played Sundance, SXSW, and on screens worldwide, inspiring audiences to engage with pressing environmental and social issues.
Anne Marie Fayen — Curriculum Developer
Anne Marie has 15+ years of experience in the field of K-12 science education including managing teacher & student programs at the Dallas Arboretum, facilitating STEM professional learning at the Perot Museum in Dallas & The Field Museum in Chicago, & teaching 3rd grade. Recent work has focused on connecting diverse audiences with the wonders of Texas wildlife and landscapes to highlight ecological issues and promote conservation action.
MATT STEPHENS — Creative Director (UX)
Matt has over 25 years of experience at the intersection of design, technology, and business, working to shape the user experience for local and international brands. He currently works as Founding Designer at REALLY, served as VP of Design at The Zebra, and co-founded the online art community, DeviantArt.com, a site that boasts over 50 Million users.
KY HARKEY — Interpretive Expert
Ky founded The Visitor Experience to spread joy and protect public lands through wildly successful visitor experiences. Ky honed his approach to Visitor Experience Design during a 10-year career serving Texas State Parks. As Interpretation Director, he led 35 program staff and 65 field interpreters to develop projects and products which engage new audiences and improve 10 million annual visits.
FALCON Keller — Editor / Producer
Falcon is an award winning editor and key part of the Fin & Fur Films team behind Deep in the Heart, the H-E-B: Our Texas, Our Future film series, and The American Southwest. Her creative drive extends beyond film to her other passion - music. Her band, Being Dead, was named Band of the Year at the 2025 Austin Music Awards.
OUR PARTNERS: 
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Every summer evening, something remarkable happens in downtown Austin.
As the sun dips below the horizon, crowds gather along the Congress Avenue Bridge — tourists, families, locals, first-timers — all waiting for the same thing. Then it begins. Nearly 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats pour into the darkening sky in a living, swirling cloud that can stretch for miles. It is one of the greatest urban wildlife spectacles on the planet.
Over 150,000 people witness this every year. Almost none of them leave knowing anything about the animals they just watched.
Bats are extraordinary. Most people just don't know it yet.
Bats are among the most ecologically important animals on Earth. In Texas alone, they save farmers an estimated $1.4 billion annually in crop damage and pesticides. They pollinate agave — so yes, you can thank a bat for that margarita. They disperse seeds that regrow cleared rainforests. They are nature's pest control, its night-shift pollinators, and the unsung heroes of ecosystems from Austin to the Amazon.
And yet fear and myth follow them everywhere. Most visitors leave the bridge with the same misunderstandings they arrived with.
Bat City is here to change that.
What is Bat City?
Bat City is a bilingual educational experience built for the 150,000 people who visit the Congress Avenue Bridge each year. Produced by Skip Hobbie Productions and implemented by The Trail Conservancy, Bat City meets visitors where they are — before, during, and after their time at the bridge — with content designed to entertain as it educates. Everything is created natively in English and Spanish.
Here's what we're building:
3 New Interpretive Signs created in partnership with The Trail Conservancy, installed at the bridge and connected via QR code to our full suite of educational content.
6 Short-Form Videos featuring bat conservation legend Merlin Tuttle, the Austin Bat Refuge, and stories that cover everything from how Austin learned to love bats to why bats are heroes of the rainforest. Each video is 2-4 minutes and designed to be as entertaining as it is informative.
Family Activities including a Fact or Fiction game and a Nature Scavenger Hunt — mobile-friendly and ready to use while visitors wait for the bats to emerge.
Classroom Curriculum developed with Texas educators by our educational coordinator Anne Marie Fayen, aligned to TEKS standards and ready to bring the bat bridge experience into schools across the state.
Why now?
Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in America, and the Congress Avenue Bridge draws more visitors every year. This is one of the rare moments when a city's most beloved natural landmark and its booming population can grow together — if we give people the tools to understand and care for what they're seeing. The bats need more than wonder from their audience. They need advocates.
Help us build the bridge between spectacle and understanding.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Music Licensing
Costs $12,000
The right songs make the bats fly. This covers licensing tracks from Austin artists and the supervisor who clears them so we can use them le
Archival Licensing
Costs $10,000
Decades of bat history, from 1982 news clips to BBC wildlife footage, woven into the film. This pays the rights holders so those moments mak
Spanish Translation and Cultural Adaptation
Costs $7,000
Bat City is a Texas story, and Texas is bilingual. This funds a full Spanish translation and edit so the film reaches twice the audience.
Color Grading
Costs $6,000
Every frame gets shaped by a professional colorist, turning raw footage into the rich, cinematic look the bats deserve.
Sound Mix
Costs $6,000
The whoosh of a million wings, the hush of dusk, the score underneath it all. This is the final mix that makes the videos sound great!
Narration Recording
Costs $6,000
Austin musician Carrie Rodriguez gives voice to our bat narrator, Bootsy. This covers her recording session and studio time.
Campaign and Launch Costs
Costs $3,000
The nuts and bolts of getting this campaign in front of you, plus the launch event that kicks it all off.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Our amazing team includes veteran award-winning wildlife filmmakers, local experts, and the endorsement and support of outstanding partner organizations.
Since the scope of this project goes beyond videos, our team has folded in some of the very best in their fields to help deliver the best experience possible for our online or in-person visitors.
SKIP HOBBIE — Director
Skip is a lifelong Austinite and Emmy Award winning wildlife cinematographer, with 20 years experience filming documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic, PBS, Netflix, and the feature film Deep in the Heart. Filming the bats in Texas again and again, sparked a passion for bats that has taken him around the globe as one of the world's leading specialists in filming bats.
BEN MASTERS — Executive Producer
Ben is a filmmaker and writer specializing in wildlife and adventure stories. He is most known for directing Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story, The River and The Wall (SXSW 2019 Award Winner) and for producing Unbranded (Mountainfilm 2015 Audience Award Winner). Ben and his company Fin & Fur Films, have made a number of in-kind contributions of equipment and footage to Bat City.
HILLARY PIERCE — Producer
Hillary is a Texas-based, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker with a passion for conservation and environmental storytelling. Her work includes The River and the Wall, Tower, A Song For You: The Austin City Limits Story, and At the Ready. Her films have played Sundance, SXSW, and on screens worldwide, inspiring audiences to engage with pressing environmental and social issues.
Anne Marie Fayen — Curriculum Developer
Anne Marie has 15+ years of experience in the field of K-12 science education including managing teacher & student programs at the Dallas Arboretum, facilitating STEM professional learning at the Perot Museum in Dallas & The Field Museum in Chicago, & teaching 3rd grade. Recent work has focused on connecting diverse audiences with the wonders of Texas wildlife and landscapes to highlight ecological issues and promote conservation action.
MATT STEPHENS — Creative Director (UX)
Matt has over 25 years of experience at the intersection of design, technology, and business, working to shape the user experience for local and international brands. He currently works as Founding Designer at REALLY, served as VP of Design at The Zebra, and co-founded the online art community, DeviantArt.com, a site that boasts over 50 Million users.
KY HARKEY — Interpretive Expert
Ky founded The Visitor Experience to spread joy and protect public lands through wildly successful visitor experiences. Ky honed his approach to Visitor Experience Design during a 10-year career serving Texas State Parks. As Interpretation Director, he led 35 program staff and 65 field interpreters to develop projects and products which engage new audiences and improve 10 million annual visits.
FALCON Keller — Editor / Producer
Falcon is an award winning editor and key part of the Fin & Fur Films team behind Deep in the Heart, the H-E-B: Our Texas, Our Future film series, and The American Southwest. Her creative drive extends beyond film to her other passion - music. Her band, Being Dead, was named Band of the Year at the 2025 Austin Music Awards.
OUR PARTNERS: