Thousand Faces Media
About TFM
In the late 1990s, Bill Kerig was whirling through simultaneous careers as a pro skier, journalist, photographer, screenwriter, television producer, and commentator. Thrilled with all the varied opportunities, he nonetheless felt like he was wearing a thousand hats to carve out a singular living. At the same time, he also became deeply influenced and inspired by the work of American writer, professor, and mythologist Joseph Campbell. Incorporating his own multi-faceted approach to career with a private homage to Campbell and his most well-known book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Kerig named his production company Thousand Faces Media. For nearly three decades he has produced high-quality films, books, television shows, magazines, and commericials under the TFM banner.
The Edge of Never
Written, produced, and directed by Bill Kerig.
A documentary feature film set in the world of big mountain skiing, The Edge of Never is a real life coming of age saga about the tribe of skiers who challenge the biggest, most dangerous mountains in the world. In 1996 extreme-skiing legend Trevor Petersen was killed in Chamonix, France. Nine years later, skiing icon Glen Plake decides it's time for Trevor's 15-year-old son, Kye, to ski the route that killed his father and join the tribe of big-mountain skiers. In this thrilling film, three generations of skiers mentor Kye as he attempts to finish his father's final run. A ripping adventure tale of a young man coming of age, The Edge of Never is also a rich and subtle portrait of men and women who live big in the face of their greatest fears.
The Edge of Never
Written by Bill Kerig
The book that inspired the film. In the world of big-mountain skiing, Trevor Petersen was a legend. Appearing in countless films, magazines and photo shoots, his ponytail flying behind him, he was the very embodiment of the freewheeling spirit of extreme skiing in the 1980s and early 90s.
Ready to Fly
Written, produced, and directed by Bill Kerig
This is the story of world ski jumping champion, Lindsey Van, and her teammates, who took on the IOC in an epic battle to get women’s ski jumping recognized as an Olympic sport. Since she started ski jumping at the age of seven, Van dreamed of winning an Olympic medal. By the time the Olympics came to her home country of Canada in 2010, she had already won countless competitions, including 13 national championships, and was setting records that beat even the men’s. But the IOC refused to recognise women’s ski jumping as an Olympic sport. The president of the International Ski Federation even claimed that ski jumping ‘seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view’. So Van and her teammates decided to sue the organizers of the Vancouver Olympics to force them to include female ski jumping on the basis of gender equality. We follow Van and her colleagues for over 12 years in their struggle for recognition. An inspiring story of a dream worth fighting for.
Utah Underground
From coffeehouses to cave diving, Buddhist temples to independent bookstores, mountain biking to snowboarding, Utah offers both locals and visitors a variety of cultural and scenic experiences. Exuding a verve and passion often missing in travel guides, Utah Underground is a backstage pass to the alternative music, film, and outdoor scenes.
This guide takes readers to the nude beach on the Great Salt Lake and the spelunking center of the Wasatch Mountains. From the depths of Salt Lake's Dead Goat Saloon to the heights of Snowbird's Aerie Restaurant, from wild blowouts at the Zephyr to silent soakings at a secret hot spring, Utah Underground searches out the best -- and best-hidden -- spots and sights.
Steep
Original Story by and Produced by Bill Kerig
STEEP is a feature documentary about bold adventure, exquisite athleticism and the pursuit of a perfect moment on skis. It is the story of big mountain skiing, a sport that barely existed 35 years ago.
It started in the 1970s in the mountains above Chamonix, France, where skiers began to attempt ski descents so extreme that they appeared almost suicidal. Men like Anselme Baud and Patrick Vallencant were inspired by the challenge of skiing where no one thought to ski before. Now, two generations later, some of the world's greatest skiers pursue a sport where the prize is not winning, but simply experiencing the exhilaration of skiing and exploring big, wild, remote mountains.
STEEP features many of the sport's greatest athletes including Bill Briggs, Stefano De Benedetti, Eric Pehota, Glen Plake, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, Chris Davenport, Ingrid Backstrom and Andrew McLean.
The man who is often described as the greatest big mountain skier of all, the late Doug Coombs, is the character at the center of STEEP. He died in a skiing accident in La Grave, France, in April, 2006, just days after being filmed for STEEP. His rich life and tragic death reveal the essential question at the heart of big mountain skiing: How does a skier weigh the risks versus the rewards of a sport where the possibility of dying is ever-present?
STEEP was shot on High Definition and on film in Alaska, Wyoming, Canada, France and Iceland.
The Snowboarder’s Total Guide to Life
Part anthropological study and part field guide, The Snowboarder's Total Guide to Life gives the inside look at the mating rituals, migratory patterns, and grooming habits of nature's most recently evolved creature: the North American Snowboarder. Bill Kerig, a self-confessed member of the species (and a snowboarding addict), lets us in on the Snowboard Creation Myth, explicates the Freudian significance of the stick, and gives us the skinny on how to perform the essential Cool Daddy Handshake, walk the walk, talk the talk, achieve the look, and, most important, how to be phat.
The Grand Rescue
Written and Directed by Bill Kerig
The Grand Rescue is a feature-length documentary about a rescue that became legend. In 1967, on the North Face of the Grand Teton, seven rescuers risked their lives to save a severely injured climber and his companion. The rescue took three harrowing days, pushed the team to the edge of their abilities, and cemented a lifelong bond. Remarkably, once safe, the injured climber publicly criticized the very men who risked their lives to save his. Looking back after 40 years, the rescuers and survivors recount the trial with a mixture of honesty and unabashed candor. It was August 22nd around 2:00 pm when a young graduate student and his female climbing companion became stranded on a narrow ledge 13,000 feet high. A boulder had broken free and showered the climbers with rock fall leaving Gaylord Campbell with protruding compound fractures. The young national park rangers quickly went to work, relying on innate skill, instinct and trust. History was about to be made...the rescue was the first one on the feared North Face - an unprecedented rescue for its time, due to the climber's severe injuries and unknown terrain. The Grand Rescue humbles us to the majestic Grand Teton, exposes the tenuous relationship of man and the mountain, reveals the endurance of the human spirit and recounts one of the most infamous rescues of its time.
48 Hours: Father and Son
Produced by Bill Kerig
A son is determined to prove his father, a doctor, killed his mother, a noted scientist. Will his dad end up in prison?