{"id":18682,"date":"2022-08-31T08:30:16","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T12:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2022-09-01T09:23:49","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T13:23:49","slug":"jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Chin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Free Solo filmmaker Jimmy Chin tells<\/em> TV Real about his new National Geographic series Edge of the Unknown.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2018, audiences across the globe were mesmerized by rock climber Alex Honnold\u2019s death-defying quest to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, as documented in National Geographic\u2019s Free Solo<\/em>. A box-office hit in the U.S., grossing over $29 million, the film landed many awards, most notably the Oscar for best documentary feature. Free Solo<\/em> hailed from Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin and was the latest in Chin\u2019s many creative endeavors documenting life on the edge. The accomplished climber, skier and mountaineer is now fronting Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin<\/em>, which premieres on National Geographic on September 5, before joining the Disney+ lineup on September 7. The ten-part production goes behind the scenes of several leading athletes\u2019 most hair-raising adventures, featuring the likes of Honnold himself as well as surfer Justine Dupont, snowboarder Travis Rice and more. TV Real<\/em>\u00a0caught up with Chin to discuss how the show came about and his and Vasarhelyi\u2019s first-look pact with National Geographic.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong> What was the story you wanted to tell with this show?
\nCHIN:<\/strong> These are the greatest stories you haven\u2019t heard of. We previously made Free Solo<\/em> about Alex Honnold free soloing El Cap. It opened the floodgates; we realized that there was a lot of interest in these types of athletes. Just visually, it\u2019s extraordinary to watch what they do. Still, there wasn\u2019t much context or an understanding of who these athletes are, what they\u2019re doing, what the stakes are, the kind of decision-making they have to use in risk assessment\u2014all of these different layers. This show aims to give the audience more context and appreciation of who these athletes are, what they do, the level of detail and training and their mentality. In some ways, people don\u2019t necessarily relate immediately on the surface to these athletes. But if you watch the series, you understand that they are very much human, like you and me. They have to make tough decisions to do what they do. How much do you sacrifice to do the things that are meaningful to you? Those are things I think every audience can relate to. We hope to give the audience a much deeper appreciation of the depth and the layers of what they see on social media and in these [athletes\u2019] films and videos. Ultimately, it comes back to this idea of common humanity with people we might not think we can relate to.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong> How did you decide on the athletes whose stories you wanted to tell?
\nCHIN:<\/strong> If you come from my world of big mountain snowboarding, kayaking, Arctic exploration, skiing, all these different sports, this roster is literally the best of the best. Story was the most important to us. And they had to be truly masters of their craft and have that credibility of being one of the greats. Whether one was as famous as the others didn\u2019t matter as much as they had to be the best of the best. We\u2019re looking at some of the most challenging moments in their careers. Often, these are the ones they didn\u2019t talk about or didn\u2019t get much attention for. These are the greatest stories you haven\u2019t heard. You might follow one of the [athletes] loosely, but you might not have known that this one moment changed the course of their career. It\u2019s not a space anybody\u2019s ever taken the time to explore. For me, as an athlete, those are the most important moments. They also shine a light on people\u2019s true characters because that\u2019s when they\u2019re the most vulnerable. That was a huge part of the motivation of the series.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong> How did you and the team decide on the format, combining the athletes\u2019 footage with interviews with them, and your reflections on these stories layered on top?
\nCHIN:<\/strong> I would like to tell you we were just brilliant, and we just thought of it and executed it. I was never supposed to be in the show. I was trying to tell somebody else\u2019s story. But over the course of making some of the earlier ones, when we were starting to edit, I kept saying: Someone needs to give context. We need to interview somebody else because I still don\u2019t get the sense of why<\/em> Travis [Rice] is so great. He\u2019s so great because he\u2019s not just a snowboarder; he\u2019s an artist. He doesn\u2019t look at his snowboarding lines as physical things. He\u2019s looking at them like an artist. He\u2019s also hugely involved with how it\u2019s captured. He\u2019s directing as well. I\u2019m trying to explain this and [the other producers] were like, Well, why don\u2019t you tell us? We\u2019ll interview you, and you will tell us how great Travis is. I did that; everyone was like, that\u2019s useful, do that for the next one! And the next one! That\u2019s how it happened. I wasn\u2019t planning on making a show called Edge of the Unknown<\/em> with me.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong> Was it strange for you to be in the studio so much, given we\u2019re so used to seeing you hanging off mountain ranges?
\nCHIN:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been a professional athlete for a long time. I\u2019ve had the camera pointed at me a lot over the last 20 years. This is my 22nd year on the North Face Athlete Team, so I\u2019m used to it. Probably the most painful part of this process is the people trying to interview me, the director: No, no, that\u2019s not the right question! I can try to answer the question, but you asked the wrong question. Can I tell you the question I want you to ask me, and then I\u2019ll answer it? I\u2019m horrible. \u201cWhy would you ask me that question? That\u2019s not a good question. The real question is\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong> You\u2019ve been in your own hair-raising situations. What are some of the things you\u2019ve learned from these other athletes\u2019 stories?
\nCHIN:<\/strong> I always feel a lot of empathy. I\u2019m pretty cold and clear when the stakes are high, and I have to make hard decisions in difficult moments. If I allow myself, I can be deeply empathetic to a person\u2019s situation. Maybe this is why I\u2019ve ended up being a filmmaker and a photographer. I can put myself in their place and feel what they feel. That\u2019s the two sides of me. Part of me can be easily emotional. Like if I let myself be. That\u2019s not just crying when I\u2019m watching movies on a plane! It\u2019s part of my process. It\u2019s how I draw inspiration from the stories that I tell. If I know what they\u2019re feeling, I\u2019m translating that to an audience. My first film, Meru<\/em>, was about translating what I felt toward my partners. That sense of mentorship, brotherhood and loyalty that I felt toward my climbing partners and my mentor, Conrad [Anker]. I want people to understand that the reason why we climb is beyond just climbing mountains. It\u2019s about the sense of loyalty and friendship you have. It\u2019s a common goal. In the storytelling of this series, I hear the frustrations of many athletes. I hear the challenges. I\u2019m about to do this heavy expedition to kayak this river. I have a newborn. Is this the right thing for me to be doing? But this is who I am. How do I justify it? Is there a way to justify it? There are all of these conflicting, internal conflicts that happen. There are many layers to these athletes. I want to express that.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong> Tell us about your relationship with Disney and National Geographic and the storytelling opportunities the first-look deal has afforded you.
\nCHIN:<\/strong> It\u2019s been a dream come true to have Disney and National Geographic support our work. It\u2019s a real vote of confidence for us as storytellers. They\u2019ve given us a lot of latitude in terms of what we bring to the table as filmmakers and even for me as a photographer. Having that support, belief and trust allows us to do the best and greatest work we\u2019re capable of. They\u2019ve given us the resources and the trust. Those two things, in this industry, are challenging! Because we have that trust and those resources, we were allowed to do our best work. That\u2019s the relationship, and hopefully, it\u2019s symbiotic: We bring them the content that allows them to achieve their goals as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Free Solo filmmaker discusses his new National Geographic series Edge of the Unknown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":18683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69],"tags":[6408,3538,4201,1009],"class_list":["post-18682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-edge-of-the-unknown-with-jimmy-chin","tag-free-solo","tag-jimmy-chin","tag-national-geographic","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nJimmy Chin - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jimmy Chin - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Free Solo filmmaker discusses his new National Geographic series Edge of the Unknown.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-31T12:30:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-01T13:23:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/JimmyChin-822.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/\",\"name\":\"Jimmy Chin - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-31T12:30:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-01T13:23:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/jimmy-chin-on-documenting-life-on-the-edge\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jimmy Chin\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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