‘Everything In Between’ a film that documents Ron Rutland and James Owens’ epic 20 000km bicycle trip from London, across Europe and Asia to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, will screen on Showmax and SuperSport in May.
Some two years in the making, the documentary was co-produced by Andrew King and Greg Fell from Cape Town production house, Fell + Co. It not only delves deep into the fortitude (both physical and mental) it took to pedal across 27 countries, but also provides an inspirational exploration of human connections that transcend all cultural differences.
What started as a rather simple, but very ambitious, plan of transporting – by bicycle – the match whistle for the opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, turned into an epic saga. “This film tells one of the great stories of human endeavour and sport for good, and is a fantastic tribute to Ron, James and the people they met during their Race to Rugby World Cup 2019,” commented Alan Gilpin, Chief Executive Officer of World Rugby.
Set to the backdrop of some of Eastern Europe and Western Asia’s most spectacular and rarely-seen landscapes and overlaid with music by international composers, Jason Tse (Hong Kong) and Nathaniel Edgar (Canada), as well as tracks from local South African artists Wild Eastern Arches and Alice Phoebe Lou, the endearing tales of Rutland and Owens’ encounters with the local peoples will resonate with a broad audience.
Indeed, the journey – as with most of Rutland’s epic endeavours – was about far more than ‘just’ delivering the match whistle. The expedition, billed as ‘The Race to the Rugby World Cup’ helped raise over R2,000,000 for the official RWC charity, Child Fund.
“For World Rugby, being part of this great Rugby World Cup adventure with the support of our friends at DHL was the perfect way to raise awareness of the wonderful work that Child Fund are doing through the Pass It Back program, using rugby and its values to teach life skills in disadvantaged communities,” Gilpin added.
Elliott Santon, Head of Global Sponsorships at DHL, the company that commissioned the film, echoed Gilpin’s sentiments. “It was a journey that not only engaged and connected so many different cultures from around the world, but also helped raise awareness and recognize the incredible difference the ‘Child Fund Pass It Back’ program delivers,” he said. “DHL are very proud of be a part of this epic journey!”
For the Fell + Co team, the philosophy on projects such as these is always to keep it as authentic as possible, and this comes through in the raw, un-scripted documentary style of the film. “Sure, the rugby audience has been starved of content,” said Greg Fell, “but we wanted to make a film that didn’t appeal only to them, so having it on a premium network with a VOD platform was always part of the plan for us. We’re excited to have it screen on both Showmax and SuperSport,” he said.
According to Fell viewers can expect a grand celebration of life from the film… “The expedition was a mega adventure and that’s not necessarily what everyone is going to go out and do, but if you really want something badly enough – as much as Ron wanted to get that whistle to the World Cup – you can make it happen. Ron inspires people to expand their own universe.” In addition, the film is also the start of an exciting time for Fell + Co. in the sports documentary space and they currently have various similar projects in the works with some premium brand partners.
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