Shigesato Itoi
In April 2014, siblings Jazzy and Robbie Benson announced the production of their documentary "about how "EarthBound" fans have fought to popularize the "Mother" series in North America since the 1990s", "EarthBound, USA". The Bensons had been conducting interviews with "EarthBound" fans and Starmen.net members for a year prior to the announcement. They had previously begun a feature-length film about the events of "EarthBound". Starmen.net "inspired" the documentary, which seeks to explain how the site's members convened via online message board and the consequent "re-emergence of a cult classic" and birth of Fangamer. The filmmakers had been planning to wait longer before making the announcement, but were preempted in part by interest following a tweet from series creator Shigesato Itoi, which mentioned their interview.