On June 29, 2000, 32-year-old Chris Boone of Spruce Pine, N.C. set the speed record for a bicycle on the 469 mile Blue Ridge Parkway in 29 hours 36 minutes and 22 seconds.
After a prayer with his support team, he began this journey at Milepost 469 in Cherokee, N.C. at 4:00 a.m. When he reached Spruce Pine, it began to rain, and it would rain the rest of the day, through the night, and into the next morning until he neared Milepost 0 between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia.
Chris described the storm, “if it were raining any less, it would be a downpour.”
We did not record (tape) his story until 2004 and then with the help of Elizabeth Hunter (writer for Blue Ridge Country and Our State Magazine). We (my wife K.B. and I) dusted the story off two years ago and we found the cast to characters to be remarkably intact. We began to video interview those involved (judges, sponsors, support team) transcribed their testimonies and outlined a rudimentary storyboard. As there was no motion documentation of the event but only a modicum of not best quality still images, we began to produce a library of B-roll imagery (motion)which could serve as a visual vehicle for the story.
Bill Summerlin, now chief of police for Spruce Pine, but then a county EMT remarked: “I was the only person that I could trust following Chris at 50 mph down the Parkway at night in the pouring rain – and close enough to light the road in front of him (Chris).”
Chris’s sister, Terresa testified, “ I saw orbs (angels) that night sweeping around Chris in the darkness keeping him safe and holding back the hundreds of deer on the side of the Parkway.”
Clarice Murphy, CEO of Hospice of the Blue Ridge for which this event was a fundraiser, said “Chris at the end looked ‘near-death’ – like many of our hospice patients.
EXPECTED DURATION: 30 minutes + or –
EDITING PLATFORM: Adobe Premier Pro 2020
WHY WE ARE LOOKING FOR A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR: We have produced narrative documentaries before but this project is pouring over the edge into the cinematic; the vision outside of our windshield needs to be much larger; our creative experience is limited in this expanded genre; and it would be much more fun to collaborate with someone who is highly skilled as an editor. As this is an emotional story, skills with sound effects and music will be an important skill set to have. We understand that a sound editor may be desired. We are not interested in working with a composer.
WHAT THIS FILM IS NOT: A project made for TV.
ASSETS: This project has been completely scripted from all of our interviews and press materials by a playwright that we have worked with before on a musical production that we commissioned. We are very happy with what she produced for us. The project is now completely installed on a timeline, the total running time currently is approximately 40 minutes. All still, motion and collected sound is cataloged on an Excel spreadsheet and referenced to its location on a dedicated hard drive.
EXPECTED TIME FOR COMPLETION:
One year, but isn’t the rule, to add one more?
THIS IS A PAID POSITION!
NEXT STEPS: Contact us! The business card enclosed. We will talk and see where this goes. Thank you!
Houck and K.B. Medford
