Type | Private |
---|---|
Genre | Adventure sports documentary films |
Founder | Josh Lowell |
Headquarters | New York , USA |
Big UP Productions is an American film production company based in New York City who are particularly known for work in the area of rock climbing. [1] The company is led by Josh Lowell, and films include titles such as: Rampage (1999), Dosage Volume 1 (2001), Pilgrimage (2003), Dosage Volume 2 (2004), Dosage Volume 3 (2005), and King Lines (2007). [2] Rock climbers profiled in Big UP Production films included leading names such as: Chris Sharma, Tommy Caldwell, and Tim Emmett. [2] In 2006, Big UP Productions and Sender Films received a Sports Emmy for "Outstanding Camera Work" for their work filming American climber Chris Sharma's first ascent of deep-water soloing route Es Pontas, in Mallorca Spain; it was part of the climbing film King Lines. [3]
Christopher Julius Rock is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer and director.
Action Directe is a short 15-metre (49 ft) sport climb at the limestone Waldkopf crag in Frankenjura, Germany. When it was first climbed by German climber Wolfgang Güllich in 1991, it became the first climb in the world to have a consensus 9a (5.14d) grade. It is considered an important and historic route in rock climbing, and one of the most attempted climbs at its grade, where it is considered the "benchmark" for 9a. The training techniques Güllich used to prepare for the unique physical demands of Action Directe also revolutionized climbing and what could be achieved.
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet (914 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is a popular objective for rock climbers.
Chris Omprakash Sharma is an American rock climber and considered one of the greatest in the history of the sport. In 2001, Sharma became the world's first climber to redpoint a consensus 9a+ (5.15a) route, Realization/Biographie, ushering in what was called a "technical revolution" in sport climbing. In 2008, Sharma redpointed the first 9b (5.15b) route, Jumbo love, and 2013 became only the second to climb a 9b+ (5.15c) route La Dura Dura. Sharma is also known for climbing the world's first 9a+ (5.15a) and 9b (5.15b) deep-water solo routes.
Realization, also called Biographie, is a circa 35-metre (115 ft) sport climbing route on a limestone cliff on the southern face of Céüse mountain, near Gap and Sigoyer, in France. After it was first climbed in 2001 by American climber Chris Sharma, it became the first rock climb in the world to have a consensus grade of 9a+ (5.15a). It is considered an historic and important route in rock climbing, and one of the most attempted climbs at its grade.
Tommy Caldwell is an American rock climber accomplished in sport climbing, hard traditional climbing, big-wall speed climbing, and big-wall free climbing. Caldwell made the first free ascents of several El Capitan routes in Yosemite National Park.
Deep-water soloing (DWS), also known as psicobloc, is a form of solo rock climbing that relies solely upon the presence of water at the base of a climb to protect against injury from falls from the generally high-difficulty routes. While typically practiced on sea cliffs at high tide, it can also be done on climbs above reservoirs, rivers, and even swimming pools. Often a dinghy or other small boat is kept on scene to pick up the fallen climber, as a fall from a taller route can still pose the risk of being knocked unconscious on impact with the water, which could lead to drowning. Pioneers include Miquel Riera, Tim Emmett, Klem Loskot, and Chris Sharma.
John Long is an American rock climber and author. His stories have been translated into many languages.
Peter Mortimer is an American filmmaker from Colorado. He has produced and directed multiple films related to rock climbing, mountaineering, and outdoor adventure under the production group Sender Films.
Beth Rodden is an American rock climber known for her ascents of hard single pitch trad routes. She was the youngest woman to climb 5.14a (8b+), and is one of the only women in the world to have redpointed a 5.14c (8c+) traditional climb. Rodden and fellow climber Tommy Caldwell were partners from 2000 to 2010, during which time they completed the second free ascent of The Nose, and Rodden made the first ascent of Meltdown, one of the hardest traditional climbs in the world.
Jimmy Chin is an American professional climber, National Geographic photographer, Academy Award-winning film director, and New York Times bestselling author. He directed, alongside his wife, E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Free Solo.
Adam Ondra is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing and bouldering. Rock & Ice magazine described Ondra in 2013 as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondra is the only male athlete to have won World Championship titles in both disciplines in the same year (2014), and he is also the only male athlete to have won the World Cup series in both disciplines.
Alexander Honnold is an American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big walls, in particular his free soloing of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park in 2017.
Sender Films is an American film production company based in Boulder, Colorado. Productions include outdoor adventure films, television shows, and commercials.
Nick Rosen is an American filmmaker living in Colorado. He is a partner, writer, and producer at Sender Films. He is the director, with his partner Peter Mortimer, of the Emmy-winning documentary film Valley Uprising and the National Geographic series, First Ascent, and a co-creator of the REEL ROCK Film Tour.
Reel Rock Film Tour is an annual traveling film festival that focusses on outdoor adventure films produced by Sender Films and Big UP Productions. The films are shown at screening events, spanning over 500 worldwide. 2019 marks the tour's 14th year. The festival's founders are Peter Mortimer and Josh Lowell.
Boone Speed is an American photographer and figure within the sport of rock climbing. The only son of Western sculptor Ulysess Grant Speed, Boone was raised outside of Provo, Utah, and studied Graphic Design at Brigham Young University.
Tim Emmett, is a British-born adventure climber and cimbing author, who practices to a high level in a diverse range of climbing disciplines, being ice-climbing, rock climbing, deep-water soloing and alpine climbing. Emmett has established the hardest waterfall ice-climbs in the world, and was the first to climb grades of W10 and above.
La Dura Dura is a 50-metre (160 ft) sport climbing route on the limestone cliffs at Peramola, a village in Oliana, Spain. The route was bolted and developed by American climber Chris Sharma in 2009 who had almost given up believing he could climb it until a collaboration with Czech climber Adam Ondra led to Ondra climbing the route on 7 February 2013, followed by Sharma on 23 March 2013. La Dura Dura became one of the first rock climbs in the world to achieve a grade of 9b+ (5.15c), and was the first consensus grade at that level. The route has not been repeated since Ondra's and Sharma's 2013 ascents. Being two of the leading rock climbers in the world at that time, their unique collaboration was widely followed in the climbing media.
Ross Kohut Lowell was an American inventor, photographer, cinematographer, lighting designer, author and entrepreneur who changed the film production industry with two inventions: a widely used quick-clamp lighting mount system, and gaffer tape. He founded Lowel-Light, a manufacturer of highly portable lighting equipment used in TV, film and stage lighting, with 20 patents filed by Lowell. Lowell was the cinematographer for the Academy Award-winning short A Year Toward Tomorrow (1966), and he won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 1980 for his compact lighting system. The same year, he was nominated for Best Short Film, Live Action for his 14-minute film Oh Brother, My Brother (1979), depicting two of his young children. In 1987 Lowell was awarded the John Grierson Gold Medal by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), "in recognition of his many achievements, inventions, and innovative developments in the field of lightweight lighting and of grip equipment."