The Spirit of Whitewater- Documentary Update

In the early days of kayaking you had to be willing to build your own boat, teach someone to paddle so you had a shuttle friend, send 30 cents of stamps for a water level, and attend races to obtain paddles and other gear. A sixpack of beer could persuade a damkeeper to release some water.

Early kayaking participants were often chemists, scientists, and engineers unfazed by the newly evolving resins that it took to build boats. The canoeing roots of the sport were in summer camps, clubs, and explorer scouts, moving from the wood and canvas elegance to the new frontiers opened by the post war availability of Grumman Canoes.

Growth of paddling in the US exploded in the 70’s, spurred by the movie Deliverance and the Olympic Games, and more recently to nearly 16 million participants craving the outdoor sport lifestyle. Featuring old school canoeing and kayaking footage, and riveting interviews with the early pioneers “Spirit” provides a behind the scenes look at the ingenuity that made kayaking the sport it is today, from the European emigrants escaping communism to the American entrepreneurs who build the boats of today. We meet many of the eclectic personalities involved in the evolution of paddling, and watershed moments of how paddling became one of the premiere outdoor sports of today.

UPDATE: We have a 90 minute rough cut, and are in the process of negotiating rights for footage and starting on a final edit. Likely release in October 2008 through film festivals.