Photo Courtesy of ESPN

First Sports-Based Feature Film in Digital 3D Highlights
Action Sports Icons

Los Angeles, Calif. — ESPN and Disney will release the first sports-themed 3D film this summer with a special, limited one-week theatrical run starting August 21. ESPN Films will produce and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will distribute X Games 3D the Movie nationwide into digital 3D theaters around the country. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Steve Lawrence (Down the Barrel), the film will use groundbreaking digital 3D techniques to immerse sports fans into the world of action sports and its top stars.  Iconic action sports personalities chronicled in the film are: Shaun White, Travis Pastrana, Danny Way, Ricky Carmichael and Bob Burnquist.

“ESPN is extremely proud to join Disney in bringing the 3D experience to action sports fans,” said Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPN Films. “The proximity of the cameras to the action combined with the amazing performances by the athletes provides a jaw-dropping, storytelling encounter for fans of all ages.”

Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, said, “There is absolutely no sporting event better suited for the Digital 3D medium than X Games.  ESPN continues to break boundaries by using digital 3D to put sports fans literally in the center of the action: preparing to launch down the big air ramp with Danny Way, racing downhill on Shaun White’s snowboard and flying through the air in Travis Pastrana’s Rally car.  And Disney is proud to add X Games 3D the Movie to its robust, industry-leading slate of 17 other upcoming Disney Digital 3D™ releases.”

The full-length feature film will capture the drama and spectacle that play out every year at the X Games events and will also tell the stories of the featured athletes showing the sacrifices they make in pursuit of glory and progressing their sport on the industry’s biggest stage.

“I’m excited to be involved with ESPN and Disney on this project,” said Shaun White, X Games and Olympic gold medalist. “I think the style of filming will bring something new to viewers.”

Featured athletes:

• Shaun White (Skateboard, Snowboard) – Reigning Winter X Games Snowboard SuperPipe gold medalist; seven-time Winter X Games Snowboard gold medalist; X Games 13 Skateboard Vert gold medalist; 2006 Winter Olympic gold medalist.
• Travis Pastrana (Moto X, Rally Car Racing) – Fourteen-time X Games medalist, nine of which are gold, for Moto X and Rally Car Racing; X Games 14 Rally Car Racing gold medalist.
• Danny Way (Skateboard) – Four-time X Games Skateboard Big Air medalist and pioneer of the Big Air ramp
• Ricky Carmichael (Moto X) – X Games 13 Moto X Racing gold medalist; 10-time AMA Motocross Champion; five-time AMA Supercross Champion; 102 AMA Motocross/Lites Wins.
• Bob Burnquist (Skateboard) – Four-time X Games Skateboard Vert gold medalist; X Games 13 Big Air gold medalist

Bob Burnquist on his Mega Ramp: Photo Courtesy of The New York Times

VISTA, Calif. — The largest skateboard ramp in the world can be found on a 12-acre farm north of San Diego among the green foothills of the San Marcos Mountains.

Pilots routinely adjust their flight paths for a closer look, which is as good a way as any to sum up the scale of the Mega Ramp. The wooden structure is longer than a football field, as tall as an eight-story building, with a creek bed running through a 70-foot breach.

On a recent sunny afternoon, the ramp’s owner, Bob Burnquist, a renowned 30-year-old professional skateboarder from Brazil, peered over the side to treetops below and said: “I’m not afraid of falling. I’m afraid I might jump.”

That mind-set helps on the Mega Ramp, where skaters reach speeds of up to 55 miles an hour and soar like stuntmen.

Approximately 360 feet long, the ramp is 75 feet high at its apex. That is where riders begin their run, speeding down a 180-foot-long roll-in to a ramp that launches them across a 70-foot gap with trapeze netting below. Landing on a 27-foot sloped section, they then boost up to 50 feet above the ground from a 30-foot quarterpipe. A shorter route begins with a 55-foot-tall platform leading to a 50-foot gap, and the 30-foot quarterpipe. (more…)