Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold

A little nod to something I'm very proud of

Whilst I was away in Antarctica, ‘Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold’ went live on Disney+ in the UK.

When I was 18 or 19, I threw myself pretty hard at this whole adventure filmmaking thing. I was hugely inspired by the likes of Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk, the dirtbags turned Nat Geo wonderkid filmmakers who were at the cutting edge of their craft and game. I wanted that life, an I wanted those jobs. Obviously I knew it would never happen. The possibility of that dream becoming a reality would be measured with lots of decimal places.

But hey, spoiler alert, thanks to a 50/50 combo of hard work and pure luck, it came true. I write this with no ego attached, just a little cocktail of disbelief, imposter syndrome, bubbling elation and quiet contentment. I’m 36 now. Twice the age of that teenage dreamer. My life and my priorities have completely and totally changed.

How I came to end up directing films with Alex Honnold for National Geographic is a long story for a beer, but the short version is that I dedicated myself to something that I wanted, and I rode the wave of trying to get there. It was weird how quite quickly the whole ‘journey not destination’ cliche became real, and instead of focussing on the unattainable prize I, instead, fell in love with the craft, the work and the lifestyle.

This film series marked the start of a new chapter for me professionally. In so many ways the opportunity has changed my life. My role was to direct the show on the ground. On this project that meant I was ultimately responsible for basically everything on the ground. Not in terms of specific tasks, but in terms of leadership. Logistics, safety, story, cinematography - I had to juggle it all. And with roles like this, the shit from below roles uphill, and the shit from above rolls down. It’s a full on job, but it’s one I’ve grown to know well and love from the fifteen years I spent directing before I took this one on.

I’m proud of this show for a few reasons, but mostly because of the job I did and the people it with. A particular shout out to Mikey Schaefer and Aldo Kane (two rockstars I looked up to long before they became my pals). I wasn’t really involved in the edit, and that was a lesson in and of itself. Filmmaking is a team sport, and it helps kill what remains of the ego when you’re ultimately not in control of what’s being made.

I’d love to know what you genuinely think of the series. I’m proud of the story we told, and whilst I’d have maybe cut it quite differently (I kept being reminded by the significantly more experienced Exec Producers that this isn’t an indy flick), I think using adventure as a vehicle to tell scientific and environmental stories is a pretty good idea.

I’ll be sharing quite a lot of what happened to us on that trip on social media, and if the mood takes me and the writing gets longer then I might throw some words down on here too.