Outside Television to Premiere New Original Series, REEL ROCK

January 14, 2013- (Boulder, Colo. & Westport, Conn.) – The Emmy-winning adventure filmmakers who began the popular REEL ROCK climbing and adventure film tour in 2006 are now bringing their talents to television for the first time ever with the creation of the weekly half-hour original series “REEL ROCK, Presented by The North Face and the GORE-TEX® Brand”, for America’s only network for active outside enthusiasts, Outside Television.
Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen of Sender Films and Josh and Brett Lowell of Big Up Productions, who have been collaborating on every REEL ROCK Film Tourthrough the current REEL ROCK 7, will now capture the very best footage and stories gleaned from the 300-city tour and bring them exclusively to Outside Television, every Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m., starting January 23. Outside will also provide “REEL ROCK Presented by The North Face and GORE-TEX®” fans dual encore episodes every weekend.
The North Face, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, and the GORE-TEX® brand, the innovative and durable waterproof/breathable fabric technology from W.L. Gore & Associates, are presenting sponsors for the new REEL ROCK series.
REEL ROCK tour and series creators Mortimer and Lowell circle the world with twin production crews, capturing the most exhilarating sites and personal ambitions of today’s most vibrant climbing and mountain adventure personalities. The new series’ initial season begins Wednesday, January 23 and features New York City nine-year-old AshimaShiraishi, already one of America’s top climbers; the highly competitive face climbers Hans Florine and Dean Potter, who continue to blaze new trails across Yosemite’s most challenging El Capitan; and free soloist Alex Honnold who attempts to traverse more than 7,000 vertical feet of granite without any ropes or support, among other upcoming episodes.

Shot entirely in high-definition, the locales are often as much an integral part of the production as the people themselves. Mortimer and Lowell and their cameras will travel to the face of El Capitan in Yosemite, the north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps, and the ice-strewn Helmcken Falls deep in the Canadian Rockies, among other stunning visual landscapes.

“Our mission is to bring the transcendence of the outside world into people’s living rooms and immerse them into a state of majesty unlike anything they might have experienced before,” says Rob Faris, senior vice president of programming and production for Outside Television. “We not only want to reward anyone who engages in rock climbing as a personal passion, but also inspire others to embrace the magnificence that mountain adventure uniquely possesses.”
REEL ROCK founders Lowell and Mortimer have been producing and directing climbing and adventure films for over a decade, with devoted audiences around the world. Their work has been featured on NBC, NPR, and The New York Times, and has won a Sports Emmy Award, plus dozens of awards at international film festivals.

After organizing small tours for individual film releases, Lowell and Mortimer realized the huge demand for exciting live events in the outdoors community and combined forces to create The REEL ROCK Film Tour in 2006. In 2011, REEL ROCK screened in over 280 locations world-wide, drew over 65,000 audience members, raised over $15,000 for non-profits, partnered with more than 150 retailers, university outing clubs and climbing gyms, and won copious media coverage and critical praise.

“Climbing’s not just a personal quest; it’s a white-knuckle way of life, and we’re incredibly fortunate to have unparalleled access into the lives and pursuits of some of the world’s most ambitious climbers,” Lowell says.

“It’s an incredibly driven, and sometimes eccentric, bunch,” Mortimer adds, “and now this weekly edition of ‘REEL ROCK’ gives us a huge opportunity to share what drives each one of them with the hundreds of thousands of people around the country who are grabbing the harnesses, protection and climbing ropes themselves.”

About REEL ROCK:REEL ROCK shows are exciting events where climbers and outdoors lovers come together to celebrate the ultimate in adventure filmmaking. Prize giveaways, appearances by top climbers, and fundraising for non-profit organizations are just some of the ways that REEL ROCK events are more than just film screenings. Sender Films and Big UP Productions combine the biggest names in the sport with stories of pushing the limits like never before. From battling Himalayan peaks to a battle on Spanish limestone to establish the world’s first 5.15c. From the non-conformist world of off-width climbing to the newfound fame of the boundary-pushing sport of free soloing, REEL ROCK’s films are nothing short of intrepid tales that will get your palms sweating from beginning to end.
About Outside Television: Outside Television is the only national programming network dedicated to the active outside lifestyle and the more than 141 million Americans who regularly participate. Based on Outside Magazine and its critically acclaimed brand, Outside Television embraces running, biking, skiing, hiking, sailing, surfing, kayaking and any other adventures involving wind, water, snow and terrain; as well as the full spectrum of the people’s lives who engage in them. Offering exclusively high-definition programs, Outside Television is fast becoming a fixture among leading cable, satellite, telco and broadband providers’ sports and entertainment offerings. To learn more about Outside Television, visit www.outsidetelevision.com.
For REEL ROCK For Outside Television
Peter Mortimer Thomas Tyrer, Circle Change Media
310.365.2803 310.874.0441
pete@senderfilms.com thomastyrer@circlechangemedia.com

Outside Television is currently available to more than 8 million TV homes including the following cities and respective local providers:

New York (Brooklyn and the Bronx – Verizon FiOS); Chicago (Comcast); Dallas-Fort Worth (Comcast); San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (Comcast); Boston (Comcast); Atlanta-Savannah (Comcast); Houston (Comcast); Detroit (Comcast); Seattle-Tacoma (Comcast); Tampa-St. Petersburg-Jacksonville (Comcast); Minneapolis-St. Paul (Comcast); Miami-Fort Lauderdale; (Comcast); Denver (Comcast); Cleveland-Akron (Comcast); Orlando-Daytona Beach (Comcast); Sacramento (Comcast); Portland (Comcast); Indianapolis (Comcast); Salt Lake City (Comcast); Tucson (Comcast); Albuquerque-Santa Fe (Comcast); Hartford-Vermont-New Hampshire (Comcast)