Basejumper.com - archive

I was recently contacted by a NYC production company who is in the early stages of development for an upcoming TV series about BASE jumpers. They write:

"We want to put together/find a team of American (or USA-based) BASE Jumpers, of all personalities/walks of life. This show is very much character driven, so not only are we documenting their jumps from around the world, we want larger than life characters. The veteran, the new-comer, the fearless woman, the rebel etc... Each episode would feature a new jump, preferably in a different country and every episode would have a different set of obstacles each time. (risk of injury/being arrested etc)"

After a long phone call with the production company, I was shocked to find out they want jumpers to pay their own way (airfare, hotel, food, cars) for trips to foreign countries and around the USA. They want to simply "tag along" and film jumpers in their natural environment. I told them "good luck" in finding jumpers who'll do this and I have chosen to not help them in their talent search.

My poll question is: Would YOU pay your own way around the world to be on a BASE jumping reality show?

me personally, absolutely not. however im sure there are some attention-desperate assholes out there somewhere, willing to do it for "exposure"


ive got an idea, lets beat them to the punch. put our own show together, and sell it for profit. Id be willing to foot my bill then, i suppose, if there was some type of profit sharing agreement in place.

Would the film crew be topless bimbos ?

 
As I already do that why would you put up with a bunch of wofo's shit?

I can see it now. Your all setting around chiiling in some bar after a jump and they get impatent. i can see them starting in on how you have to start a fight with the other guy and then storm out. But they need some one to get hurt so they can go to the hospital and show the x-rays. And couldn't the girl sleep with one of you and how the others have to act jellos. why don't you sabatage his rig. You can do that right? Just a little bit. And wait till they tip off the Police. Got to see a bst for at least one of the eppisodes, maybe the fanaly at the ed of the season. Guess you'll be on your own then. Wih luck you'll be out in time for the next season.

Great idea. Bet they'll be lineing up. Sad thing is they probable will get some one.

Lee

Very good idea!
I'd go with that.

the problem with that is i would have to be cast as the "family-man" character. the guy who after the jumps goes home to his wife and daughter
and just appreciates the gifts of life.

"daddy fly"


your absolutly right..
cya -b

This was done a few years ago and broadcast on national television here.
They followed Iro Seppanen, Jeb Corliss, Omar Mei-Dan and Yuri Kuznetsov around and it was really well done.
The thing here being that the guy who shot the documantary was a BASE jumper. Indeed it was a documentary and not a reality show...

I like avenfoto's idea. I'd pay my own way if my friends and I were doing it for ourselves, calling all the shots, and getting a fair chunk of the profits. And not getting all dramatic and emotional for interesting "behind the scenes" reality tv bullshit.

What I wouldn't do is, well, pretty much anything that I could foresee coming out of a wuffo producer's mouth.

"Jump that cliff into the evil looking gorge, we need a dangerous jump for the show. Wind schmind!"

"What about that guy that tried to jump the Empire State Building? That got lots of TV coverage, pack your bags, we're going to New York!"

"Hey you, we need you to cry for the cameras. Pretend you're sad about missing your landing area and start whimpering. we need a sappy moment. And you, you go over there and console him with a blowjob"

Yes I'm sure there are a few people out there willing to do it, but I highly doubt this thing will make it past the planning stages. Thank god

Unless of course they were paying a shit ton of money,
like if you lived through it you could just change your
name & retire somewhere, then probably, I'm a whore.

Avenfoto: "family-man" character.

In a parallel universe what character would you want to play?

Ooh, let me take a guess:

Long haired, hippy, surfer, party dude who in his spare time
reads books on physics and space exploration --- am I close?

If I were to do something like that, they wouldn't get to call any of the shots. They get what they pay for. If they get what they're looking for, then cool. If not, I don't give a shit. I'd still be weary though, since the media can make you look like the dirty feces ridden asshole of satan, should they wish.

Risk:
increased by the film crews and potential pressure from the producers.

Reward:
fame?
infamy?
it all seems out of the jumper's control.

it sounds like they want an unsponsored, unpaid version of Felix.

edited:

A jumper could use the show to acquire sponsors who would pay the costs involved in participating in the show for product placement on the show.

Company's pay for product placement on television and movies as part of their marketing strategies.

Of course it would all depend on if the show was guaranteed to made it to network television, the time slot it aired and if the production company had numbers to show an audience would tune in to watch it.

A plane ticket to Switzerland is cheap compared to commercials and print advertising to have a product spotlighted.

LMAO at all of this

wouldn't you need to already be a
BASE jumper to be on the show?

I was cast for that exact kind of show 4 years ago. we were issued cameras, equipment, etc. sadly it was canceled after the first shoot/jump.

The jumpers were myself and three other young male jumpers, for a full two-hour movie made for theatrical release.

the idea was the lifestyle of the four of us on a two-month US/CAN/MEX road trip in a RV. 3-5 film crew following, to document how we got along, how we planned jumps, etc. they hoped we would get into fights or something.

when the lawyers saw the killer (as in AWESOME) HD footage from a jedi illegal city jump, they freaked out, the investors pulled out, and we were stripped of equipment/cameras.

it would have been awesome though.

the good thing to take from this, is that an ACTUAL realistic American BASE "reality show" will not be done, the lawyers wont let it happen. not that ANY reality is real, but you know what i mean.

Would we be able to stop in Miami and do a dayblaze with Karnowski for the tittie girls????

That would be the character of the idiot who thinks they know everything about base jumping but has never jumped before, and tries jumping a skydive rig or gets made a fool of somehow b/c of being all talk and no show......

You mean they've already casted Sangi?