Sunday 30 September 2007

Committed DVD - Out Soon



It's been an insane year of filming and editing.

But now, at last... Committed is ready to hit the shops. It should go on sale worldwide from October 15th 2007

Watch the brand new trailer here


Order On-Line
You can now buy on-line direct from our web-shop. Guarantee your copy early by pre-ordering now. (last year sales of E11 were crazy and we had to rush to get more stock made). All pre-orders will be shipped on October 13th.



Many thanks to our sponsors, Mountain Equipment and Gore-tex for their support in making the film.
More Information
See our films page for more details about the movie.
  • For media see our press kit here.

  • For retailers see our DVD Info Pack here.
Film Premiere
We are delighted to be premiering Committed in Sheffield, England at The Climbing Works. Date is 14th October, 8pm. Tickets will be in short supply, to get yours contact The Climbing Works. See Heason events for further details.

A lot of people are going to be travelling there for the weekend, so come and get some climbing done, outside or in - then have a beer and watch the full movie.

We will also be selling copies of Committed on the night at a special one-off price for ticket holders. For more information sign up to our newsletter below.

Committed Screenings
The movie will also be playing at a number of film festivals around the world this autumn.
Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival, October 20th. Committed is shortlisted here for the 'Best Film' Award.
Kendal Mountain Film Festival, 9-18th November, screening dates to be anounced
  • We will be arranging plenty more screenings this autumn. Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest info (the box to the left of this text)
Reel Rock Tour - North America
A special short cut of Committed is touring North America along with King Lines, the amazing new Chris Sharma movie from Big Up and Sender Films.

This is running over 60 dates, so a lot of you should be able to get a preview of what is in store on the DVD. Check out the tour calendar.

Other stuff.
We are finally out of 'editing hell' so now have a bit more time to bring you a lot more information about the new movie. 100 hours of footage were shot for Committed, and obviously there is so much that didn't make it into the final cut.

So we are going to bring you a series of regular pod-casts. Be it 'what happened next' after a climber plummets to the ground, or an in-depth interview with Johnny Dawes, or the making of the movie, there are lots of goodies to look out for.

Sign up to our mailing list (the box to the left of this text) and we'll keep you posted on the latest happenings, plus some special give-aways too.

--

Dave and Paul



Monday 17 September 2007

If 6 Was 9

‘One man’s E9 might well be another man’s E11’ was the controversial quote from Bill Birkett in last year's climbing film ‘Set In Stone’. I can't imagine which two men he was refering to.

[a lot of people would have assumed that this comment questions whether the first E11 was really that hard - particularly when Dave Birkett himself in a recently broadcast interview is questioning whether E10 really exists. The film maker Alastair Lee points out to me though, that this comment was in an interview shot way before the E11 movie came out, and is speculaton about whether Dave Birkett's routes might harder]

There has been plenty of speculation about how hard Dave Birkett's major routes in the Lake District really are. Inevitable speculation considering that they have remained unrepeated, some from as long ago as 1992. Just why that is the case is something of a mystery. Fashion? Convenience?

Dave MacLeod. If 6 Was 9. Video Still (Committed Volume 2)

I imagine though, that the claim that Dave MacLeod had ['tried'] Birkett's hardest route, 'If 6 Was 9' must have irked somewhat [because most people do interpret 'tried' - as therefore 'failed'.] The truth was that Dave called in and played on the route briefly on the way home after climbing Breathless earlier that day.

So perhaps it will come as no surprise to people that when the time came for Dave to think about visiting the Lake District, If 6 Was 9 was top of his list. In fact, the Hot Aches Team were on standby in early summer to go and shoot Dave there, but the weather window never materialised. But in the last week we all finally made it down there.

Dave MacLeod. If 6 Was 9. Photo Claire MacLeod

After a trying time on our last shoot in the Cairngorms, it was nice for normal service to be resumed. Although the route is extremely dangerous, the level of climbing, 8a+, was well within MacLeod’s comfort zone and so we got to film a really enjoyable ascent. The verdict on the grade; ‘solid E9’. As always, MacLeod’s writing provides a fascinating insight. You can read his perspective on his blog. For A great route to film too; we rigged a rope system taking the cameras way out from the crag into space. We also had the luxury of 4 cameramen on the shoot, so expect some killer footage.

Dave Brown moving up to filming position out from If 6 Was 9. Photo Claire MacLeod

This scene is just too late to make it into Committed Volume 1. That movie is now finished and away to be manufactured (watch this space). So now the filming for Committed Volume 2 is underway. More filming is lined up in the next few days. Maybe some time soon we’ll give ourselves a break huh?

Thanks to Matt Sharman and Nadja Stracey for coming out and filming... they have the honour of been the first people to earn a credit on Committed Volume 2.