TOPPING OUT - Update #1

from the desk of the director

 

CURRENTLY COMPLETED 

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Deaven, Vlad, Alexis and Ben (center) at the Salt Lake Competition. 

1. The major competitions Ben competed in the 2021 season have been covered: Salt Lake City, Moscow, and Los Angeles. We have quite a few terabytes of b-roll and interviews from all three competitions, and we will be starting the assembly process in November.  

2. We have interviews from 10 Team USA athletes: Ben Mayforth, Brian Zarzuela, Tanner Cislaw, Melissa Ruiz, Jake Sanchez, Kyle Long, Lauren Pine, Bill Casson, Micah Winkle and Eris Skenderi.  

3. We have interviews in 4 different languages: English, Russian, Farsi, and Japanese. 

4. Team Japan, Team Belgium, and Team Russia participated in team interviews in Moscow. 

5. The film team was able to get interviews with the CEO of USA Climbing Marc Norman and the President of the International Federation of Sports Climbing (IFSC) Marco Maria Scolaris, and athletes Kai Lightner and Kyra Condie (Olympian). 

6. Having started filming in June, the director states that about 50% of principal photography has been completed. The rest will be captured in the coming months.  

NEXT STEPS 

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Alexis and Ben.  

1. Start the assembly cut process. This will happen in November. 

2. Continued interviews. There are multiple athletes who we would like to interview as well as a number of people involved in the climbing world in various positions.  

3. Fundraising campaign. Goals and details to be announced. 

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This newsletter serves as not only an update to the film's progress, but also a community building tool. There are many people subscribed who are not involved in the climbing community, who may not know much about filming, or are simply people who want to support an independent film about a group of amazing people. 

With this in mind, please do not hesitate to send any suggestions or requests to alexis@mountainmistmedia.co for what you would like to see from this newsletter in the future. 

Thank you for your support, and we will be in touch soon! 

Sincerely, 

The TOPPING OUT Team