J.J. Kelley Presents Paddle To Seattle
Saturday 7:30-9:00 p.m. come and join us for what Paddler Magazine is calling "the best feature film about paddling produced in the past decade."
J.J. Kelley: Producer, Adventurer
Kelley is the co-creator of the adventure production company, Dudes on Media. He also works as a staff member at National Geographic Television (NGT) as an associate producer working on programming for the National Geographic Channel and PBS.
Kelley has had the opportunity to produce two of his own feature documentaries. The first film "Pedal to the Midnight Sun," won best documentary at the All American Film Festival and an extract from the film aired on PBS' Wild Chronicles. Paddler Magazine described the second film, "Paddle to Seattle" as the best feature film about paddling produced in the past decade. Kelley is a regular contributor to National Geographic Weekend. He currently resides in Washington, DC.
Paddle to Seattle
Two friends build their own kayaks and paddle alone for 97 days in the wilderness over 1,300 miles from Alaska to Seattle and survive to talk about most things. Josh Thomas and J.J. Kelley navigated the 1,300-mile Inside Passage, North America's only rainforest. There brown navigated their shores. Rain pelted them for weeks without rest. What's unexpected are the surreal encounters with unexpected marine life. The film presents these interactions, in addition to interviews from peoples of the region. All threaded together by the adventurer's friendship and unusual sense of humor.
Kelley and Thomas are no newbie's to big expeditions. They have completed 3 independent 1,000 mile+ adventures. The rules have always been simple: Get there however you can, just no motors allowed. Hiking, biking, and kayaking, the two met on a 2,200-mile trek across the Appalachian Range. They have since branded a unique style of adventure media: Producing film memoirs that take audiences along on cross-continent adventures. Their freshman film "Pedal to the Midnight Sun" aired in August 2008, nationwide on PBS via National Geographic's Wild Chronicles. It is the first time a kayak journey of the Inside Passage has been brought to the screen. The adventure film is an independent project from Kelley and Thomas' production company Dudes on Media.