Kickstarter

WHAT THIS PROJECT IS ALL ABOUT: The "Search for the Perfect Day" is a three part video series about a quest to find the one truly pure moment in our hectic, busy lives. In a world disconnected from nature and human contact, Team OSOM (Chris Bensch, Shay Bickley, Jason Self), a group of three professional kayakers and good friends from Portland, OR, slow down and reconnect.

We just finished 9 days of shooting for Episode 1 on location from the Redwood Coast of California near the Oregon border to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. We interviewed dozens of people from all walks of life, and many of the top names in the world of sea kayaking. We captured some amazing beauty while fly fishing the Smith River, and creating art in Stout Grove in Redwood National Park. We documented an amazing kayak surf session at Bolinas, CA, and some beautiful imagery of sea kayaking near the Golden Gate Bridge. We ran a cleanup contest at the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium, and cleaned several beaches along the way.

With your pledge, we will continue on to shooting  Episode 2: the Florida Everglades & Keys next (Feb. 13-25), and Episode 3: Kauai, Hawaii (March 7-15).  Both of these locations bring a picture postcard image of palm trees and beautiful beaches. What you don't see is that just out of frame, there is plastic pollution. This is what our video aims to capture. West Coast USA, Florida, and Hawaii are among several places that suffer from their proximity to strong ocean currents and gyres. These trash collecting vortexes spit their floating plastic debris on to the shorelines of each location. We want to capture the beauty and the beast and showcase our consumption's impact on the natural world, as well as document why these places (and all places) are worth caring for.

We will capture exploration and adventure via paddling, surfing, fishing, hiking, camping, and climbing. Immersing ourselves in local culture, and enveloping ourselves in the natural world while taking the time to appreciate it; This is what the Search for the Perfect Day is all about.

The Perfect Day is a 3 part video series for TV, web, digital download, DVD, film festivals and public screenings. The video has a global appeal, and will inspire viewers to rethink about what is truly important in life.

EPISODE 1: REDWOOD COAST -Shooting Jan 20-29 2013

EPISODE 2: FLORIDA EVERGLADES & KEYS -Shooting Feb 13-25 2013

EPISODE 3: KAUAI, HAWAII -Shooting Mar 8-15 2013

THE PROBLEM: The challenges facing the natural world are vast. Human encroachment & development, deforestation, industrial, urban, consumer, and agricultural pollution are all overwhelming problems that are stifling to most people. With a constant bombardment of negative stories and imagery about the decline of the natural world in the media, it becomes depressing, and society is likely to look the other way and ignore the "problem with no solution".

OUR ANSWER: Our mission is to help educate others about the challenges facing the natural world, and propose simple changes we can make in our own lives to make a difference. We accomplish this by showing people why the natural world is worth protecting through photos and videos of our own adventures outdoors including The Portland to Ocean Trashpedition and our current project, The Search for the Perfect Day. When not shooting, we're giving public presentations, leading paddling cleanup tours, running an interactive cleanup contest on Facebook, and a grass-roots social media campaign.

"Portland to Ocean Trashpedition Documentary": May 5-12,2012

We paddled our sea kayaks 100 miles down the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon to the Pacific Ocean with a canoe in tow to collect all the garbage we found along the way. We partnered with the Freesolo Collective in Portland to document this project, and we've partnered with Global Reef on post-production, with an expected completion date of 4/13.

"The Perfect Day Short Video Project" September 17-21, 2012

Our original concept for the "Perfect Day" inspired our current project. We partnered with Fredrik Marmsater Photography to capture our vision of the perfect day on the Oregon Coast. Plagued by gloomy weather, we spent most of our time driving around Oregon and Washington searching for sunshine - a rare commodity in the Pacific Northwest. After reviewing our efforts post trip, we realized that what made a perfect day was not necessarily blue skies, but the journey and the adventure shared with close friends in the outdoors. Soon after, we began work on the concept for our current project "The Search for the Perfect Day". The Perfect Day short is set for release 3/13.

OUR GOAL: By focusing on the positive and inspiring others to seek their own adventures outdoors, we hope to initiate a deeper connection with our viewers and nature, just as we were inspired by others before us. We believe that one must experience nature themselves to appreciate what's at stake. Only when people truly value the natural world will the tide begin to turn. Our goal with "The Search for the Perfect Day" is to help initiate that first step: Getting outside and into nature.

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE'VE DONE: We're three professional kayakers, published adventure writers (Ocean Paddler Magazine, Sea Kayaker Magazine, Kayak Angler Magazine, Canoe & Kayak UK Magazine, California Kayaker Magazine), photographers, and videographers. (Portland to Ocean Trashpedition) (the Perfect Day) (Stoke)

WHAT YOUR PLEDGE IS FOR: We're raising $15,000 to shoot and produce this project, $9,000 of it through this Kickstarter campaign. The majority of our expenses are incurred traveling to and around these locations, purchasing necessary camera equipment, and with post production (writing, editing, sound, music, color, packaging, distribution) of the videos.

TAKE ACTION: We think it is incredibly important for humanity to reconnect with the natural world and we hope you do to. Please show your support for this project by making a contribution and help us inspire people to reconnect with nature.