Private Project

Stellafane and Beyond

A historic pink clubhouse in Vermont holds 100+ years of amateur telescope making history, and is the key to the development of astronomy, optics, and space science around the world. How did this amateur telescope making club turn astronomy into a science accessible to the every-day person and how will it continue to affect the larger world of science & technology, space exploration, and national defense?

  • Tara Roberts Zabriskie
    Director
  • Doug Arion
    Producer
  • Tara Roberts Zabriskie
    Producer
  • Tara Roberts Zabriskie
    Editor
  • Taylor Castillo
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Science, Space, Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 40 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 30, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    70,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digita
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Tara Roberts Zabriskie

Tara is an international award-winning editor and an
independent documentary filmmaker. Her film Defending
the Dark (2022) screened at more than a dozen film
festivals and was nominated for 2 awards, one
internationally, has aired on public broadcasting stations on
more than 80 channels across the country reaching major
markets coast to coast and audiences worldwide on the
PBS app. It also continues to be shown internationally at community screenings to help educate,
inform and start a conversation for change. Her documentary film, The Buzz on Native Plants
(2024) is on Public Broadcasting and on the PBS app. Her work as Editor/Co-Producer on
Buscon Searcher/Swindler earned Best Documentary 2009 at the Sports Movie Film Festival in
Milan, Italy.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This film tells the story of the little known science behind making the most precise optical instruments in the world. As I learned more about this process and the people who keep it alive I realized how important this story is to tell. From igniting the interest amateur astronomers and telescope makers to seeing how telescopes like Hubble and Voyager would not be bringing us data from space objects if it were not for the people who know how to make lens by hand - making them accurate within a a millionth of a inch - that's less than the thickness of a lightwave.