I’m pleased to once again have a chance to chat with Bryan Smith about his up-coming visit to Canoecopia this weekend and the forthcoming release of his new DVD, “Eastern Horizons”.  Canoecopia is the king of paddling tradeshows and those of us here in the midwest are lucky to have the opportunity to see all the latest gear, talk to the vendors, and see more presentations by well-known padders than you can actually make time for in just one weekend.  Thanks to Bryan for always finding time to answer my silly questions. . .

Derrick – You are launching Eastern Horizons this coming weekend at Canoecopia in Madison Wisconsin. Why here of all places?

Bryan – We decided on launching the film at Canoecopia for a few reasons. The biggest factor being that it is one of the bigger paddlesports events in the early Spring and the timing was perfect with our timeframe to launch the DVD. After coming to the event for the first time last year, I was impressed with the energy and the amount of people at the show. You get the consumer and industry crowd at the same venue for Canoecopia, which makes it a great place to launch a film. Also a special thanks to Darren and the staff at Rutabaga for wanting to host the premiere of Eastern Horizons. Their motivation and support is a huge reason why it is part of Canoecopia this year.

Derrick – What can we expect at the Madison premiere this year?

Bryan – Oh you know, red carpet, the poparatzi, champagne at midnight. It should be quite the ordeal. We are showing the film a couple times and both Lise-Anne and I will be there, so I think the best part of the premiere will be that people have access to talk with us about the film and locations we paddled. A condensed version of the film will play on Friday evening with some slides and stories and then we will show the entire film on Saturday night at the High Noon Saloon. We will be also be signing DVD’s at the Kokatat, P&H and Werner booths over the course of the weekend, so we encourage people to swing by and chat.

Derrick – From here are you doing a tour with the DVD as you did with Pacific Horizons. If so, are the locations to be posted on the website?

Bryan – We have just listed the locations and dates on the Reel Water Website. From Canoecopia we come back to the West coast for a couple weeks and then fly to Kittery, Maine to kick off the East coast dates. While it is impossible to be everywhere, we are trying hard this year to squeeze as many dates into the DVD release tour to get people out and stoked about the coming paddling season. Check out the site and come one, come all!

Derrick – Obviously the locations in Eastern Horizons is different than those of your last DVD, Pacific Horizons. In what other ways is your new video different that your last release?

Bryan – I hope what people see in this DVD is a developed story in each of the locations and how each location builds on how incredible and diverse the eastern sea board really is. Overall the standard of editing, camera work, graphics and story has elevated quite a bit with this production. This was a much more difficult film to shoot than Pacific Horizons, so once you factor that in I think is says a lot about the film. We only had a 3 month window on the East coast to get what we wanted and between weather, logistics and operating on foreign turf we had our work cut out for us. In the end we met our goals of showcasing the local paddlers, bringing lots of people who have been instrumental in the sea kayaking community into the spotlight and capturing some of the best sea paddling footage yet. I think it is the next step from Pacific Horizons. Similar and different. I’m curious to see what the rest of the world thinks!

Derrick – Eastern Horizons is available in the UK & Europe through Justine Curgenven’s CackleTV. She of course produces the “This Is The Sea” series. Obviously you guys must get on well. Do you feel any sense of competition with other video producers? Is the market competitive or is that putting too much of a business spin on what you are doing?

Bryan – Is the market competitive? Well yes to some degree, but I think it goes beyond people buying one DVD over the other. I could be wrong, but I think there are a lot of TITS DVD’s sitting right beside Pacific Horizons on the bookshelf. Justine and I get on well and I think ultimately believe that we can help each other out and keep pushing each other to do better work. In the end we will always have a different style and take on things, but the more we work together on certain aspects the better the market is for both of us. At the end of the day it is a business, but all of us who are working in paddlesports have taken what we love to do and are trying to make a living at it. I think at times that requires letting go of really strong competitive natures to foster lasting partnerships and then going for it at other times. The famous word….balance.

Derrick – Speaking of business, you’re also a P&H team paddler. For people who don’t know what that means, could you talk about that a bit? How do you become a “team” paddler, why would you want to, and why P&H?

Bryan – I think this subject actually deserves some attention. What does that mean and how does it all work? First off P&H is an incredible company that cares deeply about making some of the finest boats on the planet. That meshes well with me and the endeavors I have in paddling. Being a team paddler is more than just getting gear. I work closely with the designers at P&H and Pyranha on tweaking designs, providing feedback and helping market good designs. It is a full circle of involvement and we all help each other work towards goals in the industry.

Derrick – I added in this question for those readers who follow along that may be just learning to paddle. I’ve not seen the video yet but most of the time we are watching the best of the best paddlers. At the very least, the most experienced. Of course there was a time when everyone is simply learning basic boat control. Could you share a basic paddling skill that you struggled with when you were first learning to paddle and how you resolved it. . (don’t say “practice”!!)

Bryan – First, I hope all paddling abilities are inspired by this new film. I think there is a nice mix of environments and paddlers that people can relate to. For me one of the things I struggled with the most when learning how to kayak was the roll. Now I know that while some people might not consider that a “basic skill”, I do. Without the ability to roll, your confidence and safety on the water is compromised. It was learning how to roll that taught me that I was both a visual and kinestitic learner. I needed to use a mask in a pool to get some understanding of the concept, but ultimately it was gaining a feel for the pressure on the blade and timing of the hip snap that brought it all together. I have since taught people from 8 to 70 how to roll, so I don’t buy any arguments that people can’t do it. It is such an empowering part of the sport and was something I struggled with.

Derrick – Lastly the standard, “What Next?” question. . So what’s next?

Bryan – There is lots and lots on the go. Some kayaking and a bunch of other stuff as well. I’m currently working on a project with Shawna and Leon at BBB, I’m shooting and editing a bunch of promo material for Zip Trek Eco Tours in Whistler, I’m directing and producing a multi-spot web TV series that will launch in January 2010, planning a big whitewater expedition to Kamchatka for summer 2010 and also picking up a bunch of freelance camera work. Living in Squamish, the outdoor recreational capital of Canada, has really started to open the doors for Reel Water. For people looking for the next “Horizons” film, hang tight. While that series is most likely over, we are already developing a series of locations, stories and expeditions for the next sea kayaking flick. This time we are going to take a couple years to produce it so that it is really, really good.

Derrick – Anything else we should know?

Bryan – Lise-Anne is pregnant so we will be bringing another kayaker into the world!

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On that note I have to say, Congratulations to Bryan and Lise-Anne! See you in a couple days!

- Visit Eastern Horizons
- Visit Reel Water Productions
- Visit P&H Kayaks
- Visit Canoecopia

- Watch Eastern Horizons Trailer right here.

Related Posts:

1. A chat with Bryan Smith
2. ReelWaterProductions.com
3. Now THIS is COOL!
4. Eastern Horizons Trailer
5. Eastern Horizons in Perspective