A few post back I mentioned: "Amanda and I are very close to working with two very talented people who's work we think is amazing". For some of you who follow the film on twitter, you might have come across the USA Today article that made the announcement a few days earlier than planned - which I thought was quite funny. But in any case:

In May, Amanda and I will be traveling to Northern California - we'll be doing this to film scenes with Larry that are from the perspective of both coming home and (then later in the film) prepping for his next 16,000 mile adventure. We've always known that we would need additional help with these scenes - unlike the strictly documentary part of For Thousands of Miles, these will be specific shots that involve a lot of planning and precision (in some cases). So, after a lot of thought, we approached our 1st choice for the posistion, Karen Abad. And she said "of course!".

I really can't explain how fortunate I feel about the history of this project - I think back to just weeks after this production blog launched (in 2004), when I talked with Amanda about my number one choice, out of *anyone*, for filming this documentary, being a small team of Belgians half way around the world. And by some odd and random string of events - it actually happened. I actually was able to spend two amazing weeks on the road with a team of three filmmakers who taught me so much about storytelling.

And now we'll be working with Karen, whose work on Vimeo I love so much - she's always been such a big part of the film's support structure for me. Has always been very encouraging... and even gone out of her way to self-design and hand-make buttons for the film! She's just been great - and she's immensely talented and Amanda and I are extremely excited to be working with her on this step of the film (above is a picture from our first group chat).

Well, that's one big announcement related to people that we're very anxious to be working with - and that leaves one left to go. But I'll save that for it's own special post. In the meantime I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite Memory Banks from Karen, Memory Bank 120394a.

Labels: Crew, Expedition to Endure, Post-Production

I wanted to write a post about a project that Larry McKurtis - the star of such films as For Thousands of Miles - has kicked off to promote sustainability, environmental awareness, and healthy lifestyles.

In true expedition style - Larry, along with Jayson Hale, and Jake Barrett, will be traveling by bike from Alaska to Argentina, a distance of over 16,000 miles!

It's quite the ambitious undertaking - and personally knowing what it's like to start a project from scratch with little to no support structure in place, I wanted to help send all the love their way possible. They need eyes on the project, they need feedback, donations, sponsorship, word of mouth, but most of all they need to know people are out there cheering them on.


I was very happy when I heard about Larry's involvement with Expedition to Endure - I guess because I always felt like my 1st bike trip really set into motion the drive to take on large projects. That when the miles were over, and I was back home, I felt empty and cut off... and taking on Pedal was a way to start to fill that void back in. So I suppose, what I'm trying to say, is that watching Larry take on something overwhelming like this is not only reassuring but reinforcing.

These three are setting out on a long, long road - long before they'll ever arrive in Alaska - and what they're doing is inspiring. They want to spark people's interest in the world around them, and the benefits of exploration and adventure. Let them know what you think.

Labels: Expedition to Endure, Larry