It’s here! Well, it’s been available for almost a week now, but I’m still excited and relieved that the footage is off my hard drives and into the world. I just want to thank everyone who has purchased the film for the support and patience while we brought this project to light over the last year. It’s been quite a journey.
HERITAGE • Official Trailer from Born Denali on Vimeo.
This was the 4th feature length film that I have produced behind The Swiss Account, On The Circuit, and Chasing Winter. However, it was the first film that I produced solely under our new label, Born Denali, which encompasses the work of both myself and my talented girlfriend Mary Mecklenburg. This was the most work that either of us had put into a film project and we learned a lot. To be honest, we had no idea it was going to be a film until after the 2012 Swiss Trip was over. We sat down and looked through all the footage post trip and realized we had more than we expected. I really enjoy documenting my climbing experiences through film and due to my productivity that season on the climbing front, we came away with a ton of content. Sharing that content with the world was the obvious next step.
As with the last 2 films, we decided to sell the film for a relatively cheap price (compared to other climbing films on the market). We sell our climbing films because:
1. It requires a ton of work to produce a feature length film featuring some of the hardest boulder problems in the world. As a two person crew with only 1 camera (now 2) and with myself being the climber as well, I am constantly transitioning between setting up shots, working V14′s and V15′s, sending V14′s and V15′s, repeating V14′s and V15′s for different angles, and hauling around camera gear as well as pads and climbing equipment. I’m not complaining, it’s all good training, but sometimes I would rather not climb that boulder I just sent for the 5th time and go try something different.
2. Camera equipment costs a ton of money and climbing in Switzerland costs even more. Remember, I rock climb for a living, which means I make very little money anyways. Sponsors help, but this is still the climbing industry. I happily traded a steady job and solid income for constant world wide travel on a shoe-string budget. I certainly can’t be expected to give away my work for free.
3. Free climbing media ruins the value exchange and internal economy within the industry. The amount of free climbing videos on the internet dilutes the demand for quality content. And the majority of quality content that is being distributed for free is paid for by climbing companies for use as advertisements. These videos utilize athletes who for the most part see none of that money trickle down to them for their massive role in making the production happen. Climbing media companies are making huge profits off the accomplishments of the athletes while the athletes are getting very little in return. The exchange for “exposure” just isn’t worth it anymore. It all seems kind of backwards to me. That’s why I produce my own content featuring mainly myself. I’m not using anybody, nobody is using me. And the laws of a capitalist economy thrive. If I don’t produce a product worth purchasing, I make the product better, or stop producing.
Hopefully that all makes sense.
With the advent of Vimeo On Demand, it’s becoming easier and easier for boutique film producers such as myself to easily distribute our creative content and receive fair compensation. I also believe that the Vimeo On Demand platform will be the future state of most media consumption. As wireless internet becomes more and more ubiquitous on a world wide scale, on demand streaming content will continue to take the place of hard copies. I figure, why not adapt early?
If you have any questions or comments about the film, or about my views towards media, feel free to ask. We have some big fall plans coming up and I will launch into that in another post. For now, thanks for checking out the film and reading my blog!
Hey Carlo, I know you have taken a lot of heat for speaking so honestly about climbing but I’d like to say thanks for your contributions to climbing with your ascents as well as your media. The film was top notch,and had some great music to go along with it. I think your honesty will prevail in the big picture, and keep it up with your cutting edge ascents.
Thanks Kevin. I really appreciate it. And I’m glad you enjoyed the film.
Hey Carlo,
Will it be possible to order a DVD copy of Heritage? Stoked to check it out!
Yes, it will be possible in the near future. We are in the process of producing both DVD’s and Blu-Ray Discs. We will be announcing the availability on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heritage/557031570996341
Thanks for your interest!