THE PIGEON KING - GETTING THE SCOOP FROM MARK McKINNEY, KATHLEEN MONROE and DIRECTOR GEOFF MORRISON

The new documentary, The Pigeon King unravels the astonishing and unbelievable story of a pigeon-breeding ponzi scheme.

It sounded like an unlikely way to get rich: breed pigeons and get paid for every bird you produce. For hundreds of farmers across Canada and the U.S., the promise was hard to resist.

Big Cedar Films’ new documentary The Pigeon King premieres Wednesday, November 18 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC TV and CBC Gem, as part of The Passionate Eye, taking viewers inside the remarkable rise and collapse of Pigeon King International and the man behind it, Ontario farmer Arlan Galbraith.

Galbraith built a booming business by selling farmers breeding pairs of pigeons and promising to buy back their offspring for years. At its height, more than 800 farmers had signed on, bringing in more than $40 million worth of contracts.

Then people started asking a very simple question: Where were all the pigeons going?

“From the outside, this story seems almost unbelievable,” said Geoff Morrison, director and producer at Big Cedar Films. “But what drew us in was how human it is — farmers trying to support their livelihoods, a business built on trust, and a man who still sees the story very differently from many of the people affected by it.”

Arlan Galbraith

Speaking out in the documentary for the first time, Galbraith — the self-named “Pigeon King” — tells his side of the story alongside farmers, former employees, whistleblowers and journalists who became caught up in one of the strangest agricultural stories in history.

Their very different accounts take the film from family farms and barns filled with thousands of birds to the courtroom, where Galbraith chose to represent himself in an extraordinary criminal fraud trial.

The trial is brought to life through dramatic reenactments based on court transcripts featuring Mark McKinney (Kids in the Hall) as Galbraith and Kathleen Munroe (Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent) as the Crown Prosecutor.

At its centre, The Pigeon King asks a question that isn't as simple as it first appears: Was Galbraith a con man or a true believer whose big idea spiralled out of control?

Strange and dark, The Pigeon King is a story about ambition, trust and what can happen when an opportunity sounds almost too good to be true.

The Pigeon King airs Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 9:00 PM (9:30 NT)  The Passionate Eye, CBC TV and CBC Gem Produced by Big Cedar Films

I caught up with director Geoff Morrison and actors Mark McKinney and Kathleen Monrow to discuss the documentary and their true feelings about pigeons!