Student Filmmaker Capturing Stories on Economical, Societal Impacts of Bed Bugs

WASHINGTON — Although bed bugs are not believed to transmit disease, their economical and psychological impacts can be substantial for those dealing with uncontrollable infestations.

Henry Haverstick, bed bug documentary filmmaker, senior at American University, Washington, D.C., is using his videography talents to film interviews with bed bug experts, researchers and pest management professionals to bring public awareness to these issues in his “PEST” documentary.

Haverstick first learned about the impact bed bugs can have on those who cannot afford services when he visited the DeVries Urban Entomology Lab at the University of Kentucky (UK) to interview assistant professor of urban entomology Zach DeVries and his graduate research assistant Ben Grady.

“When I got to Kentucky, two things happened. Bed bugs were crazier than I ever imagined, and then my car broke down, so I was stuck there for a whole extra week,” Haverstick said. “I would go into the lab and follow Ben around every day, watching him feed the bed bugs with human blood.”

This sparked fascination for Haverstick. He went to The National Archives in Washington, D.C., to learn more about the history of bed bugs, read past news stories and view bed bug photography, which helped paint a clearer picture on the stories he wanted to tell in his documentary.

Haverstick started working closely with the entomological community and bed bug experts, like Rick Cooper, to share the role bed bugs play in society and their implications.

“The case now is the pest control industry is well-versed in bed bugs, and we can eradicate them, but we cannot affordably eradicate an infestation for someone,” Haverstick said. "It’s a fallacy that bug bugs are a poor man’s bug — when in actuality, the resurgence affected high and middle-class individuals way more, but they were the only ones that could afford it."

© Henry Haverstick

Haverstick said his goal for the documentary is to bring more national funding and resources to the pest control industry and to low-income communities on the frontlines of facing potential bed bug infestations.

“We can alleviate so many of these issues if we have national systems in place to [control] bed bugs,” he said. “We have funding for other pests like mosquitoes, but when you get into the psychological aspects of it, some people don’t seem to care [as much].”

Right now, Haverstick and his film crew are raising money to meet a $6,000 film budget to travel around the country and conduct interviews with entomologists and PMPs to speak directly about the work they’re doing in research labs and in the field.

“We are 70 percent of the way to full budget, and we still need $1,700 to go back and shoot this documentary,” he said. “I know the story I want to tell, but I don’t know every single person that will be telling the story yet. Sometimes we find out about a bed bug infestation, and we need to get on the road and go shoot it.”

While the film is still in production, Haverstick said the more support he can receive from PMPs willing to be interviewed and contribute monetary to the documentary, the more film festivals he will be able to enter to reach a larger viewing community.

“I have people working for free because they are passionate about it, and everybody wants to see this film be made,” he said. “I know not everyone can financially contribute to this film, but if this film gets made and no one sees it, what’s the point? Word of mouth is huge right now.”

To donate and learn more about the documentary, visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pest-a-bedbug-mini-doc#/