BTV PRODUCTIONS
Presents
DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY
Barry Walton
Publicity: Barry G. Walton –
BTVProductions@Adventurebtv.com
http://www.TheHighDoc.com
When a group of extreme long-distance runners decides to
create a dangerous new race in the Himalayas over the
highest passes in the world, they find themselves fighting
against military resistance, altitude sickness, hypothermia
and mistakes that could end the race and their lives.
SYNOPSIS LONG:
THE HIGH is a feature length documentary film about the
making of the longest high altitude foot race in the world.
The film follows the path of a group of extreme runners who
individually decide to take part of a dangerous running
experiment gone wrong.
Indian race director Rajat
Chauhan works against the advice of the military, his family
and friends to create a race over the two highest passes in
the world (above 17, 500ft).
The decline begins from the start, with runners collapsing
from dehydration, hypothermia, and high-altitude sickness.
And by its end finds the entire race in jeopardy and the
prospect that no one finishes. Brought to life by archive
footage, story recreations, and interviews, the film unfolds
the events in the Himalayas of Northern India and gives a
unique look into the lives of the extreme marathon runners
involved. Uncovering the avalanches, athletes, and the
high altitude elements. THE HIGH shows the rewards of
determination, the dangers of obsession, and in the end
leaves you with the answer of why they called it, the
toughest race on earth.
LOG
LINE:
THE HIGH – press kit
Page- 2
DIRECTORS STATEMENT:
In 2010 I got in touch with Rajat
Chauhan, race director of La Ultra The
High. Learning of his race I decided
to travel to India and cover its second
running in 2011. During this time I
met and interviewed Molly Sheridan
who had return from her drop-out
experience the year previous to run
the race a second time. In our time
together I uncovered the story of the
near death making of the original race
and felt it was one that needed to be
told.
Filled with the elements of
pioneering against all odds, the
THE HIGH – press kit
conflict of obsession with completion
versus reality of defeat. And the
dramatic ties that left lives on the line
and runners turning back. I felt the
need to dig deeper and uncover the
story and the lives that were each part
of it. Piecing together archive footage,
building-out recreations, and unfolding
it with interviews. I am proud to
present my one of my greatest
achievements in the retelling of the
events of the original making the
toughest race on earth.
Page -3
CHARACTER BIOS:
Dr. Rajat Chauhan: Race Director
Founder & Race Director of La Ultra –
The High, the world’s toughest ultra
marathon in Leh, India. Rajat is a
militant advocate of increased physical
activity and exercises for all. He loves
to turn conventional wisdom on its
head, especially in the Healthcare
industry. In addition, he has been
running for the last 29 years and in his
spare time is a doctor specializing in
Medical-Osteopathy, Musculo-Skeletal
Medicine
(London
College
of
Osteopathic Medicine) and SportsExercise Medicine (Queen’s Medical
Centre, Nottingham). Besides being
the primary catalyst (founder) of Back2-Fitness, a chain of Sports-Exercise
rehabilitation centers throughout New
Delhi, he is also the Founder & Race
Director of La Ultra - The High, the
world’s toughest ultra marathon - in
Leh, India. He remains in New Delhi,
India and continues to develop and
direct the running of The High race.
Mark Cockbain: Newcastle, England
Mark started seriously running at the
end of the year in 1996 to start training
for the 1997 London marathon. From
there his running career boomed as he
went on to complete over 150
marathons in the years that would
follow. Amidst this he began looking for
bigger challenges and decided in the
year 2000 to enter the Marathon Des
Sables
(MDS). He
successfully
completed the race in 32-hours,
finishing in the top 100. Inspired by the
experience, he went on to run ultraraces throughout the world to include;
Jordan Desert Cup, Comrades, Grand
THE HIGH – press kit
Union Canal, John O’ Groats to Lands
Ends, Spartathlon, Yukon Arctic Ultra,
and Badwater to name a few. It was
post completing these races that he
began searching for something bigger.
In 2011 he joined the first edition of La
Ultra - The High. Today Mark lives in
the United Kingdom and directs local
running events through his company,
Cockbain Events Ltd.
Molly Sheridan: Las Vegas, Nevada
Molly is an ultra-marathon runner,
coach, public speaker, and author of
“Running Past Midnight.” At the age of
48, Molly began running after being
dejected by a pessimistic doctor as
being
‘to
old’
to
run.
Her
accomplishments include running over
45 ultra-marathons (including the
Marathon Des Sables, a 150-mile race
through the Sahara Desert and The
Badwater Ultramarathon, a 138-mile
footrace from Death Valley to Mount
Whitney). In addition, Molly is the first
American woman to run and complete
La Ultra - The High in 2011. Today
Molly is the CEO and Founder of
Desert Sky Adventures. Desert Sky
Adventures organizes and manages
race events ranging from a 5K run to
ultra-marathons and includes coaching
and training classes on exercise and
nutrition. The company mission is to
encourage people to “move through
space” and realize their physical and
mental potential. You can reach out to
Molly for more information about her
work at mollysheridanruns.com.
Bill Andrews: Rino, Nevada
Page- 4
Dr. Bill Andrews is the President and
CEO of Sierra Sciences. As a scientist,
athlete and executive, he continually
pushes the envelope and challenges
convention. He has been featured in
Popular Science, The Today Show and
numerous documentaries on the topic
of life extension. In his 32 year biotech
career, he has focused the last 20
years on finding ways to extend the
human lifespan and health-span
through telomere maintenance. As one
of the principal discoverers of both the
RNA and protein components of
human telomerase, Dr. Andrews was
awarded 2nd place as “National
Inventor of the Year” in 1997. He
earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and
Population Genetics at the University
of Georgia in 1981. He has served as
Senior Scientist at Armos Corporation
and Codon Corporation, Director of
Molecular
Biology
at
Berlex
Biosciences and at Geron Corporation,
and
Director
of
Technology
Development at EOS Biosciences. He
is also a named inventor on 45 US
issued patents on telomerase and
author of numerous scientific research
studies published in peer reviewed
scientific journals. Bill Andrews is also
an avid ultra-marathon runner. At the
THE HIGH – press kit
age of 60, he regularly competes in
100k and 100+ mile runs often
finishing at the top of his age group.
These grueling races have taken him
all over the world to race in some of
the most extreme environments, from
Death Valley to the Himalayas.
Ben Arnoldy: Journalist, C.S.
Monitor
Ben Arnoldy has been a journalist and
editor for The Christian Science
Monitor for over 15 years. In 2010, he
was on assignment in the region near
Afghanistan covering the U.S. war
when he heard about the race.
Convincing his editors to send him to
the region to cover the event, he
traveled to Leh, India and uncovered
the dramatic events of the course until
his own experience was cut short
(Read Ben’s review). Today Ben writes
for The Christian Science Monitor out
of San Francisco and maintains that
covering The High race was one of his
most
exciting
and
memorable
journalistic experiences during his
assignment in that region of the world.
Page -5
FILMMAKER BIOS:
Barry Walton has been working for
over 15 years in a variety of film,
commercial & television projects. In
1999, Barry started working in Los
Angeles in film and commercials.
Moving to San Francisco in 2006, he
started working for a non-fiction
television production company and
began producing shows for National
Geographic, Animal Planet, and other
Discovery Network subsidiaries. In
2008 he started his first project called
Profiling HURT about an ultra runner
journey to the HURT 100 race in
Hawaii. The project went on to receive
the Honolulu Accolade Award from the
Honolulu Film Awards in 2011. Inspired
by the experience, in 2010 Barry
began the research for The High and in
2011 went into production on the
project. Today Barry continues to work
in the field professionally as a sports
producer and editor for the NBA’s
Detroit Pistons. He also maintains his
interest in documentary films through
BTV Productions which he started in
2006.
THE HIGH – press kit
James Herron is a graduate of NYU’s
Tisch School of the Arts, James Herron
is an experienced Director of
Photography (DP) based out of
Brooklyn, NY. Having worked on
feature films and national television,
James joined The High in 2012, and
traveled to India for three weeks to be
the DP on the project. During his time
working with The High, James has
proven to be a great asset adding
creative direction to the shooting of
recreations and taking on the
challenges of shooting through brutal
schedules at 18,000 feet. Currently he
owns and operates Illium Pictures, a
full service production company based
out of Brooklyn. And on his off time
he’s trying to master the art of making
bread.
Page- 6
CREDITS:
Directed by
Cinematography
Barry Walton
James Herron
Lars Myrvang
John Lucius
Editor
Barry Walton
Sound Design
Pontus Gunve
Motion Design
Darrel Quandt
Web/Logo Design
Nick Zalewski
THE HIGH – press kit
Page -7