About this project

The main photograph above is of me taking my first steps on my first highline, captured by Jacqueline Harrah. Please visit www.highlinersfilm.com to view the HD version of the video above. 

HOW TO USE KICKSTARTER:

On the right-hand side, do you see the list of Pledge Levels? Kickstarter allows you to donate to this project, and in return, we give you some awesome rewards. It's kind of like pre-ordering dvd's to make the actual dvd exist. 

Just choose a contribution level that feels comfortable for you, click on it, and you can support the film through Amazon Checkout.  Your donations will not go through if we do not meet the proposed budget, and we will not get any of the the hypothetical funds. It's an all or nothing system. 

Highliners will be a film that portrays highlining and the people who practice it in an honest and accessible way. My goal with this film is to leave the viewer feeling inspired and enpowered to orientate their lives around what is meaningful for them. I will capture moments in a truthful light so that the viewer feels included in these experiences and is able to view them from the inside looking out, rather than the outside looking in. Thus far, I have been working primarily with Jerry Miszewski, who currently shares the world record for longest slackline walked(1260ft.) as well as the record for longest highline walked(375ft.). 

Many people who practice this sport balance it between careers and/or marriages. Others step outside of the basic norm of society and live their lives outside as "dirtbags." Regardless, they are normal people, just like you and me, who have managed to pursue something that inspires them and incorporate into their lives. I full heartedly believe that sharing their stories and how they live their everyday lives will have a profound and positive effect on the audience. It is my goal to open up the viewers eye's to new ways to exist in and interact with the world we live in. 

Although I will continue to work on this project no matter what happens, I absolutely need help to be able to continue to work on it as full on as I would like to. Were we to reach the proposed budget, the money would be going straight into the production and post production expenses.

Production: I need the ability to be in the right place at the right time. This is primarily food and gas. I need the ability to be flexible so that I can base my time around other people's schedules. Highlining is a very, very intensive and arduous process. It requires so much planning, time spent rigging, and mental and physical energy. One cannot just go out and get this footage every day. It is a patient process that demands breathing room. Also - please note that Jerry is arguably the best highliner in the world. He trains almost every day, and is pushing the boundaries of the sport. Other people I am going to focus on DO NOT do this full time, so accumulating footage will be a longer process. 

That said, there are more production costs. Thus far, I have been shooting this on my Canon T2i and stock lens, an $80 telephoto lens from Craigslist, and the cheapest fluid head tripod I could find. I would like more equipment to be able to improve the quality of my footage. This would include a few more lenses, a slider, and a jib so that I can capture more dynamic, fluid, and engaging shots to bring back and share with you. I also need an ample supply of hard drives to store and back up footage. And I need a means to charge batteries far from any outlet as well as portable audio equipment. 

Funds for post production would allow me to sit down and edit this film everyday. They would also go towards giving all of the donors their rewards, producing and distributing dvd's, and entering the film into film festivals. 

8 - 10% of the money raised would go to Kickstarter and transaction fees. I see my proposed budget as being the bare minimum to make this project happen. We're we to exceed this budget, the quality of some of the gear I would purchase would improve(but my no means drastically). If more funds were available, it would allow me to travel to Europe to share what some people are doing over there, and how highlining differs culturally across the Atlantic. If we were to drastically exceed the proposed budget, I would likely organize an expedition with Jerry and someone else either into Canada or South America as highlining pioneers in some stunning and raw locations. As we are both well versed in traveling on very little, this would not be too costly, relatively speaking. 

Who are you, and how did you start working on this project?

About four months ago, I didn't even really know anyone who slacklined, let alone highlined. I had known about highlining for a few years and always felt like it would be something I would like to do. I mean, just being in the places I saw pictures of highlining would be incredible, let alone walking through mid air. But the thing about this sport is it is very small, and hard to understand from the outside looking in. If you don't already know people doing it, it can be very difficult and evasive to get involved with it. 

Finally, I started emailing about thirty people with good highlining videos on the internet. I asked them for help and advice regarding how and where to start. I had a dialogue with Brian Mosbaugh, a climber and highliner living around central Oregon. He eventually invited me to meet him and his friends at Smith Rock. 

My first day at Smith, I walked my first highline. The next week I rigged and walked another highline. I started walking longer slacklines on different types of webbings. I was absolutely blown away by how much substance there was to this sport, and how hidden it all was from the public eye. Rigging and walking highlines has taught me to live with in integrity in all aspects of my life. When you are rigging, you must trust your choices with your own life and the lives of your friends. When you are walking, you must keep your thoughts positive and, above all else, believe in yourself. 

When you are on longer slacklines, you can watch your unsteady thoughts and emotions come back to you in the form of massive oscillations on the line. It is training in physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual balance. 

This sport, the kindness and inclusiveness of the people who practice it, and the locations it has brought me to has changed me. It has given me my life. 

All I want to do is to be able to share this calm and wholesome feeling I feel with as many people as possible. Every winking moment of my life has become geared around making this film so that I can share this with you. When I wake up in the morning and eat food to continue my life, it is so that I can  to continue working on this project. I am absolutely devoted on so many levels. 

As it may be relevant to include, I was not in the best head space before highlining and highliners came into my life. I was anxious, often depressed, and unable to fully commit to anything in life, and thus unable to cultivate any kind of life I wanted to live. These recent experiences have enabled me to move past regrets and burdens that were weighing me down. I have realized that no matter where you are at in life, if you care deeply about something and work hard at it, you can change yourself and how you live. I have come to learn that in this world, there is a high demand for your enthusiasm. As human beings, we are supposed to wake up everyday and live lives we care about. It is a tragic epidemic that this is not a reality today, despite the bountiful resources all around us. 

The reason I titled this last edit "Cherish Your Stoke" is because of a reoccurring theme throughout the process of working on this project thus far. That is, two of your most essential and crucial attributes as a human being are your ideas and your enthusiasm to put them into the reality. 

When we are not surrounded by people who care about the same things we do, people who do not get lit up and excited at the same things that bring us joy, it can be easy to sacrifice our own stoke, our own enthusiasm, in order to get along with the people around us. If you can take any message away from what I am trying to do here, please take this: Cherish your stoke. Cherish your enthusiasm. Cherish your childish dreams, no matter how quirky, irrational, or dorky they may seem. The world needs you to nurture them, I need you to nurture them. The choices you make every day affect everyone else, and we need to take the responsibility of nurturing ourselves, each other, and the world we live in. 

That said, thank you for taking the time to hear out what we are trying to do. Every single donation, big or small, means the world to me. But what I really care about is that other people actually care about what we are doing, and feel an emotional connection to this project. If you have any questions about the film, or are curious how to get into highlining yourself, please send me a message.

Take care and stay stoked!

-Grant