EXPN.com - Tube 2001

2001 Tube Film Festival Winners
09.26.01
EXPN.com

The 2nd Annual Tube Film Festival featured 13 action sports videos at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia on August 20th and 21st in conjunction with the 2001 X Games. A jury of Philadelphia-area film experts and media personalities selected Best Film and Best Highlight winners, while those in attendance voted for their favorite to receive the ComChoice® Audience Choice Award.

The Best Film Award went to BEYOND GRAVITY by Aaron Black, Sean White and Aaron Jackson of Black & White Productions Beyond Gravity captures the diversity of the climbing lifestyle; from rock, ice, mixed, aid and alpine climbing to big-wall expeditions and free solo. Narrated by acclaimed climber and author Greg Child, it was shot on location in Australia, Canada, Greenland and the USA. Featured climbers include Peter Croft, Lynn Hill, Barry Blanchard, Katie Brown, Sean Isaac, Nancy Feagin, Joe Josephson, Steve House, Abby Watkins and others. The winning filmmakers will receive a Sony 5 disk DVD changer from The Stereo Shop in Greece, NY.

Urban 1st BASE was given the Best Highlight Film Award for it’s you-are-there depiction of the insane sport of BASE jumping. Terje Halvorsen, Gry Estensen and Jacob Ristdal Otnes of Medieoperatørene AS in Norway selected 16 minutes from their 40-minute work (1st Base) which was shot over a period of two years. Their cameras recorded jumps from Norwegian sites such as “Trollveggan” (the Troll Wall) and Kjerag, as well as man-made structures around the world.

The ComChoice® Audience Choce Award went to WHIPPED by Curt Myers and Eric Nelson of Powerline Productions, and Chris Wilson of Wilson Productions. Surf action from last winter's biggest days at Mavericks on the Northern California coast is featured in Whipped with big wave surf legends, 'Flea', Peter Mel, Jay Moriarity, Grant Washburn, Jeff Clark, the Wormhoudt Bros, Kelly Slater & 16 year old Anthony Tashnick. The film includes coverage of a shark attack, a day of 60+ foot waves, and a tribute to fallen surfer Jay Moriarty. Award sponsor ComChoice® will provide the winning filmmakers with a fully authored and encoded DVD master of their film.

The works screened at Tube 2001 ranged from star profiles, to event coverage, and even included some poetic musings about the creative and artistic nature of action sports endeavors. The sports covered in this year’s festival were surfing, windsurfing, rock and ice climbing, BASE jumping, skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross, bicycle motocross (BMX), and unicycling. On hand to meet the fans and sign autographs were motocross legend Carey Hart, BMX star TJ Lavin and Philadelphia skateboarder and X Games gold medallist Kerry Getz.

The jury members were Patrick Stoner, nationally syndicated film critic for WHYY-TV; Ben Maxwell, co-host of the Barsky morning radio show on WMMR; Christopher Brooks, minority affairs coordinator for the Greater Philadelphia Film Office; Ray Murray, Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Festival Of World Cinema; and Susan Mackey-Kallis, Professor of Communications at Villanova University and noted author of books about filmmakers. The Master of Ceremonies on Monday night was inline skater and X Games commentator Chris Edwards, on Tuesday night it was CN-8 news reporter Al Gnoza.

The second annual Tube Film Festival was presented by ESPN and their action sports website EXPN.com. Seventh Annual X Games took place August 17-23 in Philadelphia, PA and featured the world-class talents of more than 400 alternative sport athletes. The X Games is owned, organized and televised by ESPN, Inc.

Websites for the films and companies mentioned in this release are:
www.expn.go.com
www.beyondgravity.net
www.mop.no (Ist Base)
www.mavfilm.com and www.wilsonproductions.tv (Whipped)
www.comchoice.com

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