George Browne gives us the inside track on the exciting new project from Fishing TV
One truism that we run into over and over again here at Fishing TV is that there is no decent fishing content out there. The shows that are to be found on traditional TV are routinely slated on online forums – they’re inauthentic, sexed-up and dumbed down. There may be a jot of truth in that too, and fly fishing is particularly poorly served.
We at FishingTV obviously make excellent programmes, this goes without saying, but we have a very small team and consequently we can only really work on one project at a time. However, we’d had an idea bubbling away for some time that we were desperate to follow through with – to make the definitive documentary about the legendary chalkstreams of England – but we just couldn’t find the capacity to get it made.
Then we met the guys from Chalkstream Fly, Leo and Chis, loved their work, we spotted an opportunity. We’re an app, a streaming service at that - the very definition of surfing the zeitgeist – so we would take a modern approach to seeing the idea become reality. We started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money needed to make the film. Not only did this allow us to gauge the interest in such a project before we made a commitment, but it also offered us the opportunity to allow those who wanted to, a chance to shape the way that the film gets made.
While Chris and Leo are the directors, we gave people who contributed to the fundraising campaign a chance to take part in the editing process by providing feedback on early cuts of the film; to Skype with Chris and Leo during that process, to attend the screening party with the cast and crew, or even to appear in the film as a guest angler, as well appearing in the credits.
By including the eventual audience in the making of the film we hope to produce a documentary that literally embodies the definition of ‘by anglers, for anglers’, as well as to offer a broader, more rounded view of the subject that we’re addressing.
And what a subject it is. The chalkstreams are spoken of in reverential tones by anglers the world over. A unique series of geological events - some cataclysmic, some processes taking millennia – created an environment that would go on to shape the way that people fish the world over. But what exactly is it about these rivers that makes them so famous?
We’ll be exploring the science and the history of legendary rivers like the Itchen and the Test, as well as lesser known waterways like Yorkshire’s Driffield Beck. We’ll visit the grand estates and the club waters, Halford’s Hut and a host of other iconic locations. We’ll also look at how the particular characteristics of these rivers provided the ideal conditions for the development and perfection of the art of fly fishing.
The Kickstarter closed last week, and we successfully raised the money that we need to make the film. We’re already planning shoots, and filming begins later this month. We hope to have everything in the can by the end of the summer, and the film is due to be released in December. Keep an eye on the Fishing TV social channels for updates and a behind the scenes specials!