The Call of the River Media
The Call of the River
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Embeddable Trailer (Paste into any web page)
<object width="400" height="230"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3979402&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3979402&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="230"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/3979402">The Call of the River... A Hundred Years of Whitewater Adventure</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1527797">Kent Ford</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Email invitation for showings
The Call of the River
From vintage footage to in-depth interviews with the sport’s eclectic pioneers, this must-see documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at what inspires kayak and canoe paddlers to answer the call of the river. See a preview at: www.thecalloftheriver.com
Produced by Kent Ford, a Whitewater Hall of Fame Inductee, the film featuring more than 100 sources of footage and images spanning 100 years of whitewater history. Public showings are 75 minutes. The DVD has extra scenes, and runs 93 minutes.
Whitewater’s history has as many twists and turns as the canyons its pioneers explored. Its story is a collage of unexpected influences, from building boats in friends’ basements to bribing damkeepers to release water. World champions defect from communist regimes and then utilize military by-products for equipment. Curiosity, ingenuity and outright audacity thrived as paddlers started exploring virgin runs and experimenting with designs and materials to make the sport easier.
The film chronicles the world of whitewater from its early beginnings in Europe through its position as a major outdoor sport in the world today. From the inaugural FIBArk race on Colorado’s Arkansas River, to Grumman Aviation entering the aluminum canoe business, the sport’s history is riddled with watershed moments, all of which have been painstakingly documented through more than 100 sources of footage spanning 80 years of history.
Learn how paddling exploded in the 1970s, spurred by the movie Deliverance, slalom’s inclusion in the 1972 Augsburg Olympics, and the advent of nearly indestructible plastic kayaks. Follow along as this cult-classic takes you from world champion defections from communist-occupied countries to the summer camps and clubs that fueled the sport’s early growth and continue to do so today. From early explorations in fragile wood and canvas boats to today’s multi-manufacturer line-up of creek, play and river-running kayaks, nowhere has the sport’s journey from obscurity to mainstream been so thoroughly unveiled.
Nearly 16 million Americans now participate in some form of whitewater paddling every year, all of whom will benefit from this look upstream at where the sport’s been and where it’s still going.
30-word description (back cover; film festival submissions)
The Call of the River
A Hundred Years of Whitewater Adventure
From vintage footage to in-depth interviews with the sport’s eclectic pioneers, this must-have documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at what inspires kayak and canoe paddlers to answer the call of the river. Order yours today! www.thecalloftheriver.com
Producer: Kent Ford (2008 Whitewater Hall of Fame Inductee)
93 minutes. Featuring more than 100 sources of footage and images spanning 100 years of whitewater history
100-word description
The Call of the River
A Hundred Years of Whitewater Adventure
Whitewater’s history has as many twists and turns as the canyons its pioneers explored. Its story is a collage of unexpected influences, from World War II's impact on boat materials to world champions defecting from communist regimes. Curiosity, ingenuity and outright audacity thrived, from building boats in friends’ basements to bribing damkeepers to release water, all in pursuit of the river experience. For the first time ever, The Call of the River, produced by award-winning videographer and former world champion Kent Ford, brings these tales and more together on film.
Featuring vintage canoeing and kayaking footage, in-depth interviews with eclectic pioneers and captivating narrative, this compelling documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at what inspires paddlers to answer the call of the river.
Order yours today! www.thecalloftheriver.com
Producer: Kent Ford (2008 Whitewater Hall of Fame Inductee)
93 minutes. Featuring more than 100 sources of footage and images spanning 80 years of whitewater history
DVD Packaging (100 words)
The Call of the River
A Hundred Years of Whitewater Adventure
Whitewater’s history has as many twists and turns as the canyons its pioneers explored. Its story is a collage of unexpected influences, from building boats in friends’ basements to bribing damkeepers to release water. World champions defect from communist regimes and then utilize military by-products for equipment. Curiosity, ingenuity and outright audacity thrived as paddlers started exploring virgin runs and probing the boundaries of the river experience.
OPTIONAL: Produced by award-winning videographer, instructional filmmaker and former world champion Kent Ford, The Call of the River brings these tales and more together for the first time ever on film.
Featuring vintage canoeing and kayaking footage, in-depth interviews with eclectic pioneers and captivating narrative, this compelling documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at what inspires paddlers to answer the call of the river.
OPTIONAL: Producer: Kent Ford (Whitewater Hall of Fame Inductee)
93 minutes. Featuring more than 100 sources of footage and images spanning 80 years of whitewater history
300 word description
The Call of the River
A Hundred Years of Whitewater Adventure
Whitewater’s history has as many twists and turns as the canyons its pioneers explored.
Its story is a collage of unexpected influences, from building boats in friends’ basements to bribing damkeepers to release water. World champions defect from communist regimes and then utilize military by-products for equipment. Curiosity, ingenuity and outright audacity thrived as paddlers started exploring virgin runs and experimenting with designs and materials to make the sport easier.
For the first time ever, The Call of the River, produced by award-winning videographer and former world champion Kent Ford, brings these tales and more together on film. Featuring vintage canoeing and kayaking footage, in-depth interviews with eclectic pioneers and captivating narrative, this documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at what inspires paddlers to answer the call of the river.
The film chronicles the world of whitewater from its early beginnings in Europe through its position as a major outdoor sport in the world today. From the inaugural FIBArk race on Colorado’s Arkansas River, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, to Grumman Aviation entering the aluminum canoe business, the sport’s history is riddled with watershed moments, all of which have been painstakingly documented through more than 100 sources of footage spanning 80 years of history.
Learn how paddling exploded in the 1970s, spurred by the movie Deliverance, slalom’s inclusion in the 1972 Augsburg Olympics, and the advent of nearly indestructible plastic kayaks. Follow along as this cult-classic takes you from world champion defections from communist-occupied countries to the summer camps and clubs that fueled the sport’s early growth and continue to do so today. From early explorations in fragile wood and canvas boats to today’s multi-manufacturer line-up of creek, play and river-running kayaks, nowhere has the sport’s journey from obscurity to mainstream been so thoroughly unveiled.
Nearly 16 million Americans now participate in some form of whitewater paddling every year, all of whom will benefit from this look upstream at where the sport’s been and where it’s still going.
Order yours today! www.thecalloftheriver.com
Producer: Kent Ford (2008 Whitewater Hall of Fame Inductee)
93 minutes. Featuring more than 100 sources of footage and images spanning 80 years of whitewater history
Snippets
1944 "Even World War II had its unintended bright side...a bridge was destroyed, but it created beautiful rapids."
-- French Kayaker Roger Paris
1958 "Those were the days when nobody wore lifejackets. I didn't even know what one was."
--Former Nantahala Outdoor Center President Bunny Johns
1964 "Whenever you saw someone on the river, you became fast friends--because just around the corner, you might need to be."
--Whitewater pioneer Jimmy Holcombe
1968 "People said we were brainless... but it looked okay to us!"
-- Early paddler Bert Hinkley
1976 "We all had long hair and none of us had two dimes to rub together."
-- Perception Kayaks founder Bill Masters
1984 "There were some long winters of eating Velveeta cheese and just hanging out with my boat after I stumbled into the three-dimensional aspect of paddling."
-- Squirt boat pioneer Jesse Whittemore
Factoid Description and Timeline
1923 Camp Mondamin paddles 200 miles to the Mississippi
1932 British expedition to study Greenland kayakers
1948 National Geographic expedition down the Potomac River
1949 First FIBArk downriver kayak race in Salida, Colorado
1953 Grumman Aviation enters aluminum canoe business
1960 Summer camps thrive, canoe clubs explore
1965 Fiberglass boat-building comes to basement workshops
1971 Commercial raft trips begin in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania
1972 Walt Blackadar's big water exploits grace Sports Illustrated
1972 Jamie McEwan takes bronze at slalom’s Olympic debut, fueling U.S. craze
1973 Deliverance popularizes river adventure
1973 The first Hollowform plastic kayaks hit the river
1982 Perception Dancer becomes best-selling kayak ever
1984 Jesse Whittemore and Jim Snyder popularize squirt boats; Whittemore becomes first “pro” kayaker, sponsored by Perception
1989 World Slalom Championships come to Maryland’s Savage River; Jon Lugbill wins fifth gold
1992 C-2ers Joe Jacoci/Scott Strausbaugh win first and only U.S. Olympic gold
1993: World Rodeo Championships come to Tennessee’s Ocoee River
1996: Ocoee hosts Olympic Games; Dana Chladek wins silver
1998 Dagger, Perception sold to Watermark
2000 Australia builds recirculating whitewater park for Olympics
2004 Rebecca Giddens wins silver in Athens Olympics
2007 Eric Jackson becomes four-time World Freestyle Kayak Champion
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2009
MEDIA CONTACT
Kent Ford, Performance Video
(970) 259-1361; kentford@gobrainstorm.net
Performance Video Releases Call of the River
93-minute documentary features 100 sources of footage spanning 80 years of whitewater history
DURANGO, CO (July 1, 2009) – Whitewater’s history has as many twists and turns as the canyons its pioneers explored. Its story is a collage of unexpected influences, from building boats in friends’ basements and bribing damkeepers to release water to exploring virgin runs and experimenting with designs and materials to make the sport easier. Produced by award-winning videographer and former world champion Kent Ford, The Call of the River brings these tales and more together on film for the first time ever.
“It’s the first time anyone’s really ever presented the sport’s history this way,” says Ford, who was inducted into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame in 2008 and whose instructional videos have won numerous awards. “The story tells itself because there are so many interesting characters and milestones involved.”
Featuring vintage footage, in-depth interviews with eclectic pioneers and captivating narrative, this compelling documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at what inspires paddlers to answer the call of the river. The film chronicles the world of whitewater from its early beginnings in Europe through its position as a major outdoor sport in the world today. From the inaugural FIBArk race on Colorado’s Arkansas River in 1949, to Grumman Aviation entering the aluminum canoe business, the sport’s history is riddled with watershed moments, all of which have been painstakingly documented through more than 100 sources of footage spanning 100 years of history.
Learn how paddling exploded in the 1970s, spurred by the movie Deliverance, slalom’s inclusion in the 1972 Augsburg Olympics, and the advent of plastic kayaks. Follow along as this cult-classic takes you from world champion defections from communist-occupied countries to the summer camps and clubs that fueled the sport’s growth and continue to do so today. From early explorations in fragile wood and canvas boats to today’s multi-manufacturer line-up of creek, play and river-running kayaks, nowhere has the sport’s journey from obscurity to mainstream been so thoroughly unveiled.
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About Performance Video: Durango, Colo.’s Performance Video provides high-quality video instruction on outdoor sports. Its materials are developed in cooperation with top instructors in each discipline, providing the perfect preparation for hands-on instruction. To date, the company has 18 video and workbook titles in worldwide distribution, covering whitewater kayaking, sea kayaking, canoeing and mountain biking. Info: www.performancevideo.com
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