Updates
“The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere, instantly.” One of Carl Boenish’s favorite quotes from Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
I have started getting emails asking if I am finished yet? And when will I be finished with the film? The answer, I don’t know. All I can do is continue to put one foot in front of the other. Money is always the issue. We have done as we said we would do on our kickstarter campaign we have transferred considerable amounts of footage, and archived massive amounts of audio and it was been a lot of work, and yes a lot of time. This is a intimidating undertaking and anyone who has looked at Carl Boenish’s huge body of work knows what I mean. Then there is the need to create a film out of the material. This is another matter.
We live this film , we breath this film, we don’t sleep much, but when we do we dream of this film.
We did an amazing shoot in Norway. As most of you know we are a Norwegian co-production and we will be partially financed by Norway.
I am still recovering from the intensity of this trip. It was both fantastic and a epic challenge. It was a growing experience. I grew up a lot as a director. It was painful. It was exhilarating! I learned I need to let other people do things and make decisions for them self. I tend to micromanage, I shouldn’t.
There was a lot of getting to know the Norwegian culture that I landed in. Both of my producers from the States had medical emergencies this left me to helm my own ship some of the time with my very capable co-producer from Norway. This shoot was at times insanity and can best be described as every first time director’s worst nightmare. We however pulled off nothing short of miracle. The footage looks fantastic. I believe most people who were not injured will remember at least a few moments of the shoot with some fondness. It was a tough one but the footage was so worth it.
Jean Boenish came to Norway to be interviewed. Also Erik Fenz came, who jumped with Jean after Carl died. Fred and Einer who were local climbers were interviewed they talked about guiding Carl and Jean up the troll wall. It was fantastic to see everyone together.
We also interviewed a local family that knew Carl and Jean and owned a small hotel that Jean and Carl had stayed in. They were very warm and welcoming and embraced Jean like family. It is in these moments you realize you are doing more then making a film, you are witnessing the healing that is still taking place.
We now have about a year production schedule, this is our plan film god or whatever willing. My form of prayer is how much celluloid has passed through my hands.
In the early eighties Carl Boenish coined the acronym “BASE” (standing for Buildings, Antenna, Span, and Earth, the objects jumped) and invented a sport. Carl was the catalyst behind modern BASE jumping; an electrical engineer and filmmaker who believed that BASE jumping would allow mankind to overcome artificial limitations. He religiously chronicled the early days of BASE in beautiful 16mm film, often with cameras mounted to the jumpers’ heads. He saw BASE as the next amazing thing to film. Subscribe via RSS.
