Vancouver Screening of New Climbing Adventurecomedy Film Featuring Timmy ONeill set for April 27 at MacMillan Planetarium



April 13, 2005 -- Climbing pros, outdoor enthusiasts, and their buddies won't want to miss the big-air antics of free climbing pro Timmy O'Neill in the hot new Peter Mortimer film Return2Sender (www.return2sendermovie.com), which makes its Vancouver debut with two screenings at 7pm & 9pm, Wednesday, April 27 at the Planetarium Theatre at the H.R. MacMillan Space Center in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood.

Tickets are $10 (pre sale) and $12 (day of event) and available at the Planetarium Theatre and preferred climbing retailers in the Vancouver area.

The Vancouver screening is the only Canadian dates for the film and is part of a 14-city western tour in Colorado, Utah, Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia.

For the pilgrimage of serious climbers and the curious, the evening includes the high-energy tales of America's funniest climber as he guides his disciples, "Warren Miller style," on a thrill-ride up some of the tightest cracks, intense faces, and amazing monoliths the west has to offer.

The series of six short climbing films that make up the 90 minute Return2Sender is presented by Montrail and distributed by Seattle's Lenticular Pictures, which specializes in the emerging business of digital film production and distribution.

O'Neill, a 35-year-old Boulder, Colorado resident, is a cult-figure among climbers and regarded by those who attended his 40 shows in 2004 as one of the "funniest climbers to scale the comedy circuit." Those in the know call O'Neill a "cross between the hilarity of Robin Williams and athletic ability of Tiger Woods."

"I've already injured a pro athlete at one of my gigs," quipped O'Neill. "Next I need a member of our audience to give birth and go into cardiac arrest."

Once the domain of the highly adventurous and mildly insane, rock climbing has become a relatively mainstream adventure activity in the United States with nearly 1 million participants according to the American Sport Climbers Federation. Return2Sender features some of the hottest climbers out there.

While you're busting a rib laughing at his antics, you'll experience the technical and mental intensity of O'Neill slack-lining (that's walking on a 1-inch nylon strap for the non-climbers) the Bridger Jacks Towers, 1,000 feet off the deck in Indian Creek, Utah.

Ten-year-old "bouldering" phenom Cicada Jenerik will take you on a v.10 (that's tough) gymnastic ascent up some of the coolest boulders the west has to offer near Bishop, California.

And you'll free-solo (that's "look mom, no rope" for the rest of us) with one of the brashest dudes that the climbing world has to offer, Michael Reardon, on the intensely technical 5.12c Perro de Los Guerros at Tic Rock and 10c/d (still pretty intense) EBGB Boulder in California's Joshua Tree National Park. Both were the first free-solo attempts on these routes. Beware - Reardon takes a whipper in the segment.

Bouldering (climbing massive rocks close to the ground) has taken off as one of the hot new areas of rock climbing," said O'Neill who's antics include bouldering's mischievous cousin, "buildering" (climbing the face of buildings - Spiderman style) in the climbing cult-film, Urban Ape, a winner of over five major Mountain Film Festival awards. "It's brought the same awareness and youth to climbing that snow boarding brought to skiing," said O'Neill. "You don't need any gear - only a pair of shoes and a chalk bag. Just about anyone can drive to a cool boulder and climb it without the risk of catastrophic injury."

O'Neill will appear this fall in the new Discovery Channel series Urban Explorers featuring ascents of several notable structures including a Cold War era Titan 1 missile silo in Colorado, the Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee, and the underground tunnels of Chicago. He is perhaps best known among climbing elite for his 2001 world speed record 3 ½ hour climb of the famed 3,000-foot "Nose" on Yosemite's El Capitan and through climbing, has explored many of the world's great mountain ranges from Pakistan to Patagonia. His adventures include ascents of Cuba's limestone cliffs, the massive granite monoliths in Greenland and a four-day ascent, with double amputee Warren McDonald, of the "biggest big wall in the world," the extremely overhanging 2,000 foot Grade IV "Tangerine Trip" of Yosemite's El Capitan.

About Timmy O'Neill
Star of Peter Mortimer's Front Range Freaks (Urban Ape Segment), O'Neill returns in Return2Sender as co-producer, comedic host, and star climber - seamlessly executing his multiple capabilities both on and behind the camera. O'Neill is one of America's most accomplished big-wall climbers, with first ascents of many long, hard routes in remote locations around the world. He is also one of the fastest climbers anywhere, and holds speed records for blazing up Yosemite's half mile high El Capitan in just over three and a half hours. O'Neill is even more renowned for his wild public speaking appearances and slide shows, in which he combines inspiring tales of climbing and adventure with irreverent humor and outrageous antics. He is currently starring in the new Discovery Channel TV series, Urban Explorers, which explores "buildering" on structures throughout America.

About Peter Mortimer
Peter Mortimer has directed and produced four documentary films - three of which profile America's great rock and mountain climbers. His second film Front Range Freaks (2003) won awards at the Banff, Telluride, Kendal, Vancouver, and Taos Mountain Film Festivals. Mortimer has also been featured on ABC's Good Morning America, ESPN Sports Center and Inside Edition. His films have been acclaimed in Sports Illustrated, the LA Times, and numerous other newspapers and outdoor magazines and thousands of copies of his films have been sold world wide.

Mortimer recently graduated from USC's Peter Stark Producing Program where he was awarded the Hollywood Foreign Press Scholarship and the prestigious Robert S. Ferguson Marketing Award for his film and thesis work. Mortimer grew up in Boulder, Colorado and began climbing rocks at the age of 15. He now resides by the beach in Los Angeles where he enjoys surfing and climbing.

About Lenticular Pictures
Lenticular Pictures (www.lenticularpictures.com) is a Seattle-based digital film distribution company bringing quality adventure films to hard core adventurers and outdoor sports and travel enthusiasts. With a focus on delivering the highest quality adventure sports films to theatrical audiences and on DVD, the Lenticular catalog includes seven feature titles on climbing, skiing, and other adventure sports, each with a trailer for viewing on the web site.

Founded in 2005 by Seattle documentary film maker Riley Morton, Lenticular Pictures, is focused on the emerging digital film production business enabling independent film producers to cost-effectively deliver content to niche audiences through mainstream theaters and DVD.

What: Debut of Peter Mortimer's Return2Sender, a 90 minute collection of six climbing films featuring big wall climber / comedian Timmy O'Neill, star of new Discovery Channel series Urban Explorers

When: 7pm & 9pm, Wednesday, April 27 at the Planetarium Theatre at the H.R. MacMillan Space Center in Vancouver.

Where: Planetarium Theatre at the H.R. MacMillan Space Center - 1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, B.C. Phone:    (604) 738-7827 http://www.hrmacmillanspacecentre.com/
       
Admission: Tickets are between $10 (pre sale) and $12 (day of event) available at the Planetarium Theatre and select climbing shops in the Vancouver area

Trailer: Please visit www.return2sendermovie.com





Vancouver Screening of New Climbing Adventurecomedy Film Featuring Timmy ONeill set for April 27 at MacMillan Planetarium