Warren Miller Entertainment’s parent company acquires Fly Fishing Film Tour
The tour is the largest annual showcase of fly fishing films.
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A former drug cartel member finds his road to recovery through fly-fishing off the coast of Honduras. A fishing group hopes for success on their hunt to tame the elusive African Tiger fish. And a daughter lives vicariously through her mother’s tales of fishing Greenland’s fertile banks.
These are only a few of the captivating stories that were told by the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) in 2018, the largest annual showcase of fly fishing films that reaches more than 85,000 attendees through more than 160 live events across six countries. The team is currently preparing for the 2019 tour, launching in late January.
Adding to its portfolio of excellent storytellers, Active Interest Media (AIM)—parent company of BACKPACKER Magazine, Climbing Magazine, SKI Magazine, and Warren Miller Entertainment (WME)— today acquired F3T. The tour will now operate under WME.
And it’s a natural fit since both companies are based in Boulder, Colorado, and since F3T principles Ryan Thomson, Chris Keig, and Doug Powell are all former WME employees who created the niche category of action sports films and event programming over the last decade.
“Ryan, Chris, and Doug have built an incredible business using a familiar model, and we are excited to add our resources to the mix to continue to grow the audience for these great films and events,” said Andy Hawk, managing director for AIM’s Mountain Group.
Powell said F3T has collaborated closely with WME to grow the tour. He said, “This is a chance to make our more efficient and effective and expose a larger audience to the remarkable stories being told in and around fly fishing.”
Keig added that, “Warren Miller’s reach and resources in the tour department are going to make it easier for us to improve upon what we already do well. We’ll be able to bring more shows to more markets and improve our promotion of those shows along the way. Our affiliate partners, the fly shops and conservation groups who produce their own F3T premieres, stand to benefit substantially as Warren Miller fans learn how close they likely are to an existing Fly Fishing Film Tour event.”
AIM already owns the Anglers Journal family of brands, including Anglers Journal TV.
“The chance to bring the Warren Miller and Anglers Journal audiences into the F3T family means more folks being inspired to get out on the water, more traffic in fly shops, and more awareness building and fundraising opportunities for fishing-related conservation and charities,” Thompson said. “It is an exciting opportunity for our whole sport.”
F3T also supports independent filmmakers, fly shops, and conservation groups that form the backbone of the fly-fishing industry’s educational and environmental efforts.
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