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Fly-Fishing Film Movement Creates Buzz
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To fully grasp the new pulse of excitement coursing through American fly-fishing, let's go back to the future.

It is a time when seat-of-the-pants filmmakers with mostly shoestring budgets pushed resolutely into the outback, then launched barnstorming auditorium tours to the wild applause of audiences hungry for visual connection to their favorite sport.

"It's like the early snowboarding and surfing films. We've just never tapped into it with fly-fishing before," said Travis Rummel, a Denver resident whose Felt Soul Media production company dances on the cutting edge of a movement that takes center stage in Colorado next week.

As a more profound reference, Rummel also might have mentioned the early chapter of ski filmmaker Warren Miller, whose landmark offerings arguably formed the single most enriching element in the popularization of that sport.

For a fly-fishing industry teetering tenuously on a flat-line balance sheet, this new movement gives hope for a surge of interest that can be measured both at the cash register and in a fresh attention to key environmental concerns.

The movement surfaced as a youth thing, as evidenced by the beer-swilling fish heads who jammed a downtown Denver hotel in September 2006 for the inaugural Video Awards show sponsored by The Drake Magazine.

When this show reprised last year in a much larger ballroom, the fare had diversified to mixed drinks and raw oysters, with considerably more gray in the audience. More to the point, the list of credits on the screen included lots of big-money sponsors - a sure sign the bandwagon is gaining real traction.

"Companies are budgeting more money to support films," Rummel said. "People are passionate about fly-fishing and traditional media outlets haven't captured that part of it yet."

With fellow Telluride guide Ben Knight, Rummel launched Felt Soul Media in 2003 with a snippet called "The Hatch," filmed on the lower Gunnison River. Their next effort, a Baja beach chase for roosterfish called "Running Down the Man," won wild acclaim and best-of-show at that inaugural Video Awards.

The duo won again last year at the same fest, held in conjunction with the annual American Fly Fishing Trade Association show. This time the offering was a trailer for Felt Soul's first feature-length film, "Red Gold," a documentary on the proposed Pebble Mine above Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska. The premier will be May 23 at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival.

Denver anglers also can view the "Red Gold" trailer and other footage Saturday when the Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited hosts its third annual Fly Fishing Film Festival to benefit the Reel Recovery program for men recuperating from cancer. The 6:30 p.m. event at the Andrews on Lincoln restaurant, 1111 Lincoln St., costs $10 and includes a buffet dinner. For tickets, www.denvertu.org or 303-517-9197.

The fish film scene really heats up in late February (see attached schedule) when Angling Exploration Group begins a visit to three Colorado cities for its third season of commercial presentations.

Angling Exploration Group is the spiritual successor to the Miller legacy of rave auditorium events, only in chest-high waders instead of stretch pants. The 2 1/2-hour show will feature eight separate films from all over the globe. In addition to an excerpt from "Red Gold," the event includes a contribution from Aspen-based filmmaker R.A. Beattie on fishing Slovenia, the outer banks of North Carolina and a descent of the Nushagak River in Alaska.

Production companies are sprouting faster than spring mushrooms. Angling Exploration's Thad Robinson reports his firm received 55 entries for this year's showing which, coupled with the tour's own rapid growth, reflects a sweeping enthusiasm for the medium.

"They have completely blossomed overnight," Robinson said. "It was very difficult to narrow it down to the choices we made."

His group toured just 11 cities in 2006, its first year. That number swelled to 30 a year ago and now stands near 70 for 2008. Such success is sure to spawn a procession of imitators, as happened with the Miller ski films. Where it all stops is anyone's guess, but this much is certain: Find that spot and you'll have located the new heartbeat of fly-fishing.

Film tour in Colorado

Angling Exploration Group has expanded its lineup of Colorado shows to include four shows at three sites.

These are Feb. 27-28 at the Oriental Theater in Denver, 4335 W. 44th Ave.; March 13 at the Colorado State University Lory Student Center in Fort Collins; and March 26 at Lon Chaney Theater in Colorado Springs, 221 Kiowa St. All begin at 7 p.m.

Admission prices are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for those 14 and under. Tickets may be obtained online at www.aegmedia.com.

Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com

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