BLOG: Survived

Joshua Ligairi » 05.23.11 »

Alaska was life-changing. I've always enjoyed NATURE, but THE WILD is a very different thing. There is nothing in the lower 48 that gets close to the Alaskan wild.

I also met some amazing Athabaskan people in the village of Huslia. It is a place and a culture that I feel so privileged to have been allowed to enter. And it looks like I'm likely going back for the Moose and Bear hunts later this year. Very excited about that prospect.

View from the propeller plane on the flight into Huslia.

But being home never felt so good--except for having just slept all day because I'm sick and came in on the red eye--but other than that, really good.

PRESS: Knights in the news

That jousting reality show (tentatively entitled American Knights) that we created with the fine folks at Vessolar Studios over a year ago (then, with the much snazzier name, Knights of Mayhem) is currently in production at NatGeoTv and, following some buzz from the upfronts, is starting to get some early press.

Salt Lake City's KSL News did a feature on local-hero-in-the-making, Charlie Andrews, when his knights performed at a Utah renaissance fair. The news clip and full story are below. You can also check it out at the KSL News site.

Mike Anderson » 05.22.11 »

JOUSTING TROUPE BECOMES SUBJECT OF NEW REALITY SHOW

A local man is the World Champion of Full Contact Heavy Armored Jousting, but is soon to become the star of a new reality show.

Charlie Andrews, originally from California, is the reigning, undefeated champion of jousting; a sport Andrews helped evolve into the competition it is today.

Following his recent success with the first full-contact jousting troop--the Knights of Mayhem--Andrews is now the subject of an upcoming reality show to air on National Geographic TV. The reality show has been tentatively titled the Knights of Mayhem and is set for five episodes.

Over the weekend, Andrews competed against other knights at the Renaissance Festival and Fantasy Fire in preparation for the World Championship next month in Las Vegas.

"It's two trains on the same track. Head on. Bang," Andrews described.

Andrews and the Knights of Mayhem have now attempted to develop new standards for modern day knights, making it the next extreme sport.

"We haven't killed anyone yet in our sport, but we've sent quite a few to the hospital," Andrews said. "Who doesn't love big strong men, coming down, pounding themselves with eleven foot lances?"

The lances are made of solid wood; the armor made of steel. In all, the equipment weights about 150 pounds.

"There's nothing better than rolling down the list at 20 miles per hour, on a 2,000 pound warhorse, and laying the wood to some fool coming the other way," Andrews said. "It's the nest feeling in the world."

When these guys make contact, it's sure to hurt.

"This is a hundred percent full contact," added Andrews. "This is the German version known as Realgestech. It is the most dangerous in the world."

This and more of Mike Anderson's pieces can be found at the KSL website. And if you missed it, you should check out The New York Times Magazine feature on Charlie and some other prominent full-contact jousters here. Find out when you can see Charlie live--and maybe even get into an episode of the reality show--at KnightsofMayhem.com. And keep an eye out for the show coming to NatGeoTv this fall!

BLOG: Support Bramble!

Joshua Ligairi » 5.15.11 »

Not Curt Bramble. Screw that guy.

Remember that awesome band Bramble I posted about awhile back? They are amazing street musicians from Salt Lake City who I first experienced playing on Park City Main Street during Sundance (see video below). I immediately bought the band's CD, had them on my iPod throughout the festival, and, by the end of the week, had asked them to be in my first fictional film, Rain City, assaying the roles of street musicians.

Now, (and for the next 18 days) Bramble has a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the recording their first full-length album. I know times are tough-- I'm completely strapped as I put all of my money into my upcoming film--but every dollar helps and if you like what you see in the video below, I'm confident you'll enjoy the fruits of an honest-to-goodness studio session with these guys. Their infectious honesty and enthusiasm permeates their music and soaks into you the more time you spend with it.



If you love this even a quarter as much as I do, you should consider sending a dollar or 2 or 25 their way via their Kickstarter campaign--which features a really nice video plea from the band as well.

SCREEN CAP: Wanna go to Grove City?

Really? CleanFlicks, Ohio? How did we let this one slip by?

PHOTOS: Cleanflix sign

Joshua Ligairi » 5.10.11 »

In a day and age when everyone is throwing computer generated 3Dimensional text into practical environments (including us on Skeleton Picnic), I thought it would be cool to get in there with some actual hefty props.

These are some rescued signs from real Cleanflix store locations that we had kicking around from when we were in production on the film (in fact, Robert Perry probably wants his back). I think they make for some fun promo shots. We certainly had a blast screwing around with them.

Unfortunately, not everyone on the crew was at the photoshoot, but we got some good shots with those who will be my primary Icarus A&E collaborators going forward.

Huge thanks to Sharon Rowan for snapping these Cleanflix photos for us. Check 'em out!



Sharon was also kind enough to give us all the rights to these Cleanflix photos so, as with all content originating from Icarus A&E on this blog, feel free to re-post these anywhere you like--but please remember to credit Sharon Rowan. Check out Sharon's other work, both still photos and graphic design, here.

PODCAST: Lions, tigers, and big hairy gay men

Another great podcast episode. This time, I'm joined by my friend Malcolm Ingram, filling in as guest host while Jay is off premiering his film at HotDocs. Mick and I interview my new friend Michael Webber about his incredible film, The Elephant in the Living Room. Charlotte's official write-up is below, but check out the site for the complete show notes (which include links to everything we talk about on the show) and don't forget to subscribe on iTunes!


Charlotte Cook » 5.6.11 »

In Episode 13 of the podcast, host Joshua Ligairi is joined by special guest-host Malcolm Ingram. The Bear Nation director talks about the Kickstarter campaign for his new film, Continental, and together the two bears (one gay, one straight) interview Michael Webber about his new film, The Elephant in the Living Room, which features actual bears (along with lions and tigers) wreaking havoc in America’s suburbs. Michael reveals a lot of scary facts about wild animals living in domestic settings, which eventually leads Josh to admit his deep-seated fear of baboons. This episode also includes some recommendations of documentaries new to DVD and is jam-packed with discussion about documentary distribution, the current state of the independent film industry, and what Malcolm calls a “cruel cinematic Darwinism.” Enjoy!

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Original post, show notes, credits, links and more at TheDocumentaryBlog.com.