Hello - Welcome - Production News
Our new website!
Hello everyone and welcome! We are very excited to have our new web-site up and running and to post images and updates on all things documentary. A special thanks to Dave Marriott for designing a great site and plugging us in.
It's been a busy time around here since we finished our Kickstarter campaign back in August. We are grateful and thrilled to begin funding this project with the money raised. Erden's story is such a rich story, not only from the global circumnavigation side of it, but from a personal side - the sacrifices one makes and the dreams one pursues.
So now we get to tell this inspiring story and give back to all those who've followed and supported Erden along the way - all the unsung heroes out there.
We are just finishing up with our new designs for a T-shirt and hat, and they look great. I love the T-shirts. The title, Castaway With Purpose floats above a sea of waves. The foreground is interwoven in the waves as is Erden's little yellow boat, with birds flying overhead - it's really pretty cool.
The hats are almost completed. We'll be sending out a survey to all our backers soon to collect addresses for shipping. We're really excited to share this swag and get those out to you soon.
Frenchman's Coulee near Vantage WA.
FRENCHMAN'S COULEE
We recently spent a day filming at the Sunshine Wall at the Frenchman Coulee near Vantage, Washington. It was a hard day in many ways but great fun.
Eric Browne, our DP, captured the day on a Canon C300, a truly beautiful camera.
We met two climbers, Will and Stacia, who were gearing up for a day of climbing. We mentioned what we were doing and they immediately knew the story of Erden and Goran Kropp; what we were there to capture.
Gracious and friendly, they were off and we wished everyone good luck.
Later, when we reached the Sunshine Wall, Will and Stacia were just finishing up with a climb. The sun was brilliant and it was warm. I asked Stacia if she had one more climb in her and she said, "yeah!" So up she went.
Stacia getting ready.
The crux. Stacia did it in style.
As she ascended, those of us not climbers, were on pins and needles, or at least I was. Stacia seemed to be right at home though, a walk in the park for her. Nearing the top I heard her struggling a bit, fighting muscle fatigue, grunting. But she made it to the top, supported by her belayer, Will.
I suppose it was a bit of serendipity meeting up with them that day. Stacia, it turns out, is a reporter for a Tacoma paper who has a bi-line on things of adventure in the area.
Eric Browne our eminent DP, and his mule.
Graeme and Erden.
We are thrilled to have Eric Browne from Browne Productions on our team and so pleased he could join us that day to capture everything. His knowledge, experience, beautiful artistic eye and great disposition is a perfect fit for the team. We are thrilled to have him. Did I say that already?
Graeme produced the days shoot like a champ, with grace and style, my brother, grace and style. Yeah, it was fun. We plan to go back and film more.
Below is a photo of the plaque that was erected in memory of Goran Kropp, the world renowned adventurer who fell to his death at the base of Air Guitar, a popular trad climb on the Sunshine Wall. Erden and Goran's story will forever be entwined at that spot.
One life ended...and a new one began.
Plaque at the top of Air Guitar at the Sunshine Wall at Frenchman Coulee.
It reads: "This is my next dream. I set out into the great white solitude".