Fly Fishing Film Tour 2015: Beattie Outdoor Productions and Tom Bie
This weekend was a whirlwind, full of fishing work and play...I flew into Denver on Friday to attend my very first F3T: Fly Fishing Film Tour event and now that it's happened, I'm happy I did!
For those who aren't familiar with the tour, it's a traveling film festival featuring the best outdoors/fly fishing films in the world. In any one given afternoon or evening, about a dozen films are shown, along with whatever the host decides to include in the event like prizes, drinks and entertainment.
Saturday night was the U.S. premiere for the year and it was one rad evening. Held at the City Hall Theatre (a cross between bar and theatre), it consisted of live music, industry booths and a few bars to choose from. Tom Bie of the Drake magazine, and I, talking about fishing, the tour and everything in between. It's often said that you don't have to be a fly fisher person or even an angler to enjoy F3T, and last night was a perfect example of that. I met people from all walks of life, including groups of women (hello Casting for Recover girls!), World Fishing Network and Hookin' Up enthusiasts and guys who've never fished before but came to see what the event was all about.
All of these films really were beautifully made and interesting, and some were educational and often funny too, especially RA Beattie's Mongolia and Carpland, and RC Cohen's Icelandic For Yes. They have hundreds of shows across North America, and as long as you appreciate pretty cinematography, storytelling and the outdoors, you'll want to include it in your social calendar.
For more info, go to http://www.flyfilmtour.com for the U.S. and http://flyfishingfilmtour.ca for Canada.
Denver and the surrounding area is kind of a fishing hub, so in addition to the F3T event, I managed to visit my Hookin' Up production company's office to shoot some VO for the upcoming season, catch up with some old friends and meet new ones like Tom Bie of the Drake magazine. A group of us had brunch on the patio (thank you sunny Colorado weather!), and exchanged ideas and thoughts on fishing, the TV and publishing worlds and the importance of the film tour.
All in all, I had a fun and productive weekend and I'm leaving very motivated and inspired!