Once again, the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) runs a master class in generating a little blogger PR:

Bought, and perhaps even cheaply. Now for the thinking...

Turns out I can’t even do the blogger sellout thing all that well.

I can, however, still write.

The Video Phenomenon

Today’s filmmakers can shoot, edit and distribute a video with relative ease, and since I’m all for a more democratic media landscape, I’ll label that as “awesome.”

Some of the videos are even pretty damned good.

And then some of them aren’t, and I can’t help but compare the burgeoning fly fishing video landscape to the burgeoning fly fishing blog landscape.

You’ll find some good stuff and not so good stuff, and at some point, you recognize who has insight and who has… well, access to a blog or video camera.

An informal survey suggests fish porn has so far dominated the fly fishing video category, and that has yet to hold my interest for more than a few minutes (the same is true of exotic destination stories in magazines).

Sometimes the imagery makes up for the lack of story or insight, but mostly not.

It’s one reason I’ve given up reviewing videos; the vast majority are disqualified right out of the box, which isn’t the best starting point for a reviewer — especially one prone to turning off the soundtrack so I know what the video looks like sans the rock & roll crutch.

I frequently discover some videos are more impressive for pirating the Rolling Stones than they are for their imagery.

Wanted: A Story

I’m a writer and a reader, so it’s no surprise I’m attracted to videos that trace an arc: an escalating insight, an interesting character, or even a conflict.

Watching a steady stream of guys yanking an indicator upward doesn’t provide that.

Unsurprisingly, the same is true for a lot of written fishing reports, how-to articles and destination pieces (I predict the fish porn video will ultimately replace the written destination article).

I think it’s why I’ve become an unrepentant Steve Apple groupie; his Hustle & Fish movie was ultimately schizophrenic, but the first half was brilliant satire, and it contained a story that kept me riveted instead of wondering what else I should be doing.

Twice I’ve told fly fishing manufacturers to seek Apple out and pay him to produce something witty and brilliant (instead of throwing money at pretty pictures in return for a logo flash in the credits), but no dice.

Meanwhile, the Fly Fishing Film Tour is selling out and fly fishermen love the videos and the music and the beer, and like Gierach, I understand what’s happening and even approve, but it’s not exactly my scene.

It’s clearly a phenomenon, demonstrated in part by the torrent of requests to “promote” videos on the Trout Underground.

Which highlights one of the differences between blogs and videos; good videomakers create fans, while good bloggers create audiences, and for that reason I keep forecasting the collision of videos, ezines and blogs.

Which hasn’t really happened. It wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong.

Naturally, the Undergrounders are encouraged to weigh in with fly fishing video-related insights which the rest of us will judge and even openly ridicule.

See you in the Underground’s 25-seat home theater (right next to the bowling alley), Tom Chandler.

Now that, Undergrounders, is a Media Kit.

The fly fishing video world is still in something of an infancy; some productions are frankly brilliant (Felt Soul, Steve Apple, a few others, we’re looking at you), but too many lack insight or point of view (beyond “Zog say fish porn good“), and some are little more than rock sound tracks accompanied by mediocre video.

Still, good is good, and anything that spotlights the best video out there deserves support.

You can find their tour schedule here (interestingly, they’re playing in Fryeburg, ME – the tiny town that Nestle bludgeoned with a lawsuit and five appeals).

Again, you probably won’t see me there (that drive thing again) – and I’m not wearing the hat, which is kinda ugly (any takers among the Undergrounders?) – but I promise the Fly Fishing Film Tour I’ll drink the beer before I review the DVD.

See you on the silver screen, Tom Chandler.

Outdoor Channel Partners With Fly Fishing Film Tour

TEMECULA, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Outdoor Channel (Nasdaq: OUTD), America’s leader in outdoor TV, today announced that it will serve as a multi-year official partner for the Fly Fishing Film Tour (FFFT). FFFT is a well-established annual event series that premieres the country’s best independent outdoor and fishing features. Under the partnership, Outdoor Channel and FFFT will deliver popular fly fishing content to enthusiasts while partnering with each other for cross-promotional opportunities on air, on tour, through video-on-demand (VOD) and online to give Outdoor Channel’s viewers and affiliates access to an expanded, best-in-class variety of fly fishing content that includes the widest range of fly fishing activities.

When I see phrases like “cross-promotional opportunities” and “expanded,
best-in-class variety of fly fishing content that includes the widest
range of fly fishing activities,” I throw up a little in my mouth.

Still, I’m happy to see the Film Tour gaining a little traction. The business model for fly fishing video remains shaky, and some mainstream (read “broadcast”) acceptance couldn’t help but be a good thing.

Plus – judging by the comments seen on the Internet (and the fairly substantial amount of email I received after every film tour post) – attendees weren’t all that thrilled about paying to attend, only to discover they were mostly watching the same trailers and clips they’d already seen on the Internet.

Ramping things up a bit can’t help but be a good thing.

One oddity? The Drake wasn’t mentioned in the release, and I was under the impression Tom Bie had bought into the tour. Time to send an email, I guess.

fly fishing, fly fishing film tour, outdoor channel