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-200,000 Views
-20 + number of screenings
-Premiere in Oceanside, California
This film project was Athletic Brewing Company’s second long-form film project. With a newly established “Athletic Brewing Co. Studios” they were 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 succeeded or failed.
While producing a brand film might sound straightforward—find a great story and start rolling—the reality is far more nuanced. From the start Athletic approached us and said: "We want to tell a story about three of our triathletes." We knew that without a clear strategic foundation, even the most emotionally compelling film risked falling flat.
To avoid that we evaluated every strategic decision through five key categories: Goals, Brand, Audience, Creative, and Distribution. Within each category, we used The Backcountry Marketing Filter to identify the key ingredients necessary to producing a strategic and emotional brand film. With these elements identified, we led the team in creating a creative brief, creative development, production and a distribution plan.
The following is a list of elements that we needed to define, create, and find as we began scripting and designing the content strategy for this film. It wasn't about checking them off the list - it was about cultivating these elements into a cohesive strategy that aligjed with he goals of the brand.
With our strategic foundation set it was time to move forward 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:
After multiple revisions, we had a script that stayed true to the characters and provided a blueprint for field production.
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 10 production days and 7 travel days, we filmed across Chicago, Indianapolis, New York, and Lake Placid. Post-production stretched over 8 months and included four rounds of client revisions, covering editing, color, sound design, graphics, and delivery.
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.
Lead Adventurer
Director and Producer: Cole Heilborn
Writer: Tyler Clair Smith
Line Producer: Emily Holland
Cinematography: Spencer Astra
Editor: Brandon Garcia
Camera Operator: Chris Shane, Josh Lawless, Greg Travers
Photographer: Riley Seebeck
Additional Editors: Caleb Clarke, Liz Astra
Post Production Colorist: Spencer Astra
Post-Production Sound Designer: Colton Jackson
