Film Business

This last weekend was quite interesting… lat week I was contacted by a Japanese film crew requesting to have me teach their show host how to balance rocks… the show is an adventure travel tv show in Japan, and the host is in the process of “training” for a final climb of mount Everest..

The team was very busy visiting various locations so they flew me out to Las Vegas and had me rendezvous with them in Utah and Arizona for filming.. My job was to teach the host how to balance rocks in hopes of finding a stillness in herself to better prepare for the Everest climb.  Anyway, we met up outside Zion National Park at a small RV park next to a river that had some good rocks to balance..

I was totally nervous with the new experience, but being thrown outside my comfort zone is the best way to learn… So I went along for the ride… all expenses paid…what’s the worst that can happen..? :D  much of my nervousness stemmed from the trouble I new it had always been to plan balance times… the nature of balancing rocks as an art form is notoriously resistant to any kind of planning…and instead stubbornly exists only in the moment.

I drove most of the morning from Las Vegas to meet up with the crew… driving through relentless wind the whole way down I-15… it was even windy by the time I got to the crew at the gate of Zion National Park, Utah.  But everything changed with the moment, once we began to improvise.

about 10 minutes back on the highway I had noticed a small portion of river with plentiful rock variety, next to a small RV park… So I suggested they follow me back to the spot, still skeptical of the wind.. Sunset approaching… As luck would have it, the river and time of day could not have worked out more in our favor… as soon as we reached the river, the wind seemed to disappear to more suitable balance conditions… and the Sun quickly approached the horizon.. We had JUST enough time to shoot the footage they needed in the best light of the day.. :)

it all came together perfectly…to my complete surprise :)  I taught the show host how to balance (with help from the translator) And she did VERY well, managing to achieve a narrow point balance on a bit larger balance below… something I’ve rarely seen a beginner learn quickly.. “Divine Alignment” and smiles :)

Pictured above is the main balance that I built quickly for the camera recording :)