Emotional Goal

We had two emotional goals: one, we wanted the audience to be inspired; and two, the audience needed to genuinely care whether or not the athletes finished IRONMAN Lake Placid. Then, in turn, look for aspects of their life that could be inspired.

The Mission

This film project started when Athletic approached us and said: “We want to make a film about three IRONMAN athletes." The brand was eager to create a documentary to reinforce their brand messaging and establish it in the minds of their target audience. By featuring the members of their IRONMAN team in the film, they wanted to stay true to their gritty and determined roots while introducing a new element: relatable characters with a strong emotional journey, and human relationships at the center.

The goal of the film from the beginning was simple: This isn’t a film about IRONMAN. This is a character-driven story that follows individuals as they experience the challenges, joys, laughter, and tears of facing down an impossible challenge and coming out a stronger person, whether they succeed or failed.

The Insights and Strategy

This film campaign was built on the human insight that an individual's potential is limitless with a strong community. We assembled a strategic framework using the Backcountry Marketing Filter to ensure the film would resonate on both an emotional and strategic level. This meant aligning the story with Athletic’s broader campaign goals, while also reinforcing their core brand values of grit, authenticity, and human potential. Rather than focusing on the IRONMAN race itself, we shaped a character-driven narrative that highlighted personal transformation, staying true to Athletic’s voice, while avoiding reductive or overly polished hero narratives.

We explored the emotional landscape of our target audience, identifying universal themes like perseverance, vulnerability, and identity, and built the creative approach around those insights. At the same time, we helped develop a distribution plan from the outset to ensure the story would live across multiple formats.

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The Approach

With our strategic foundation set, we moved into creative development. We conducted hours of interviews with Team Athletic, looking for subjects who were not just compelling and diverse, but deeply human. We ultimately cast three individuals: Lynn Rogers, Channon Greenfield, and Timmy Howard, each willing to open their lives to our cameras and connect with audiences emotionally. With casting complete, we moved into scripting, mapping how their narratives would intersect to tell a cohesive, emotionally rich story.

Given the production’s scope, we used a hybrid documentary approach. We began with a beat sheet, using sticky notes and transcripts to map each subject’s emotional arc. From there, we wrote a flexible script, blending real dialogue from interviews with narrative structure, enabling us to anticipate story beats while staying responsive in the field.

We divided production into two phases:

1. Character Backstories – Shot on location over a few days
2. Race Day Coverage – Captured the emotional climax and resolution.

With scripting complete, we dove into pre-production: coordinating schedules, gear, travel, and legal. We secured 23 permits and 139 release forms and then hit the road. Over 12 production days and 7 travel days, we filmed across Chicago, Indianapolis, New York City, and Lake Placid. Post-production stretched over 8 months of editing, color, sound design, graphics, legal compliance, and delivery.

Testimonial

"Cole and the team at Port Side have been among the most productive, collaborative, and creative teams we’ve ever worked with. They are exceptionally organized and kept the complex and challenging project on track no matter the obstacles, which were many! They were tremendously attentive to our creative vision and needs and willing to offer insight and suggestions based on their experience and storytelling expertise. Their communication was impeccable. It was clear our team had the opportunity to offer input and make suggestions at every turn of the project. As if this weren’t enough, the project itself is visually stunning, with cinematic qualities beyond our expectations. Not to mention the powerful storytelling that marries the visual experience. We are so proud of the project and the story it tells. We could not have done it without the talent, hard work, and organization of the team at Port Side. It was an absolute pleasure to work with them. They took on an incredibly daunting task, which included our inexperience, and made it an experience we hope to do many more times."

Mason Gravely, Lead Adventurer @ Athletic Brewing

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