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ABOUT THE FILM

Cast

Meet Danielle, Josh, and Anna – the protagonists of ADAPTED The Film! They each sustained traumatic spinal-cord injuries from climbing falls, however they came away with different levels of mobility. Through the film we explain these differences as we follow them each on a dream adventure.

Danielle Doelling

Athlete

Danielle Doelling is an accomplished world class athlete and passionate advocate for disability justice. Born in New York but living in Bend, OR, Danielle works as an occupational hand therapist. She sustained a T4 complete…

Full Bio

Anna Soens

Athlete

Anna Soens has pioneered a new way of mountaineering for adaptive athletes. Born in South Korea but living in Bend, OR, Soens works as a wildlife biologist for the US Fish & Wildlife. She sustained a T12 incomplete spinal-cord injury in 2015 from…

Full Bio

Josh Hancock

Athlete

Josh Hancock is a white water rafter, skier, surfer, and cyclist who uses a wheelchair to get around. Born in Rochester, New York, but living in Bend, OR, Hancock works as an environmental engineer. He sustained a T12 complete spinal-cord injury in 2014, while…

Full Bio

Production Team

Paul Bikis

Director/producer

Paul Bikis is a documentary filmmaker with a strong passion for telling creative stories that carry an impact. He has directed and produced several short films including “Invasion of the Burmese Python”, “Brain Injury | Dave’s Journey of…

Full Bio

Josh Hancock

Writer / Executive Producer

Josh Hancock is an adaptive athlete, writer, executive producer, and environmental engineer with a T12 complete spinal-cord injury. Hancock has been producing films for the last 5 years and is one of the founding members of Livin’ Wheel Life (LWL) Productions… 

Full Bio

Ghislaine Couvillat

Co-producer

Ghislaine owns and runs Whipped Sea, an independent production company based in France that operates globally. Whipped Sea’s primary focus is producing bold and cinematic feature length documentaries…

Full Bio

Kjell Redal

Director of Photography

Kjell is a passionate visual storyteller and well-accomplished drone pilot and cinematographer. He’s worked for many big companies including National Geographic, Coca Cola, and NASA – just to name a few…

Full Bio

Hans Rosenwinkel

Lead Editor

Hans is an editor, director, and producer who has worked for decades with television networks National Geographic, PBS, Discovery Channel and more…

Full Bio

Ben Sturley

Music Composer

Ben is not just a music composer – he’s a music magician. Based in Los Angeles, Ben has toured the world with artists including Selena Gomez, Noah Cyrus, Liz Phair and others…

Full Bio

Adam Asdel

Cinematographer

Adam began his journey behind the lens creating outdoor sports videos with his friends in high school (including me!). Since then he has worked on national TV productions such as Velocity’s hit show “The Lifted Life” and shot commercials…

Full Bio

Gabe Rogel

Cinematographer

Gabe has been shooting adventure sports for over 20 years. He has worked for big brands including Patagonia, The North Face, Black Diamond, Red Bull, Sony, Microsoft, Osprey, Ski-doo among many others…

Full Bio

Nick Danielson

Cinematographer

I am fascinated with everything visual – with a special love for photography, design and the union of the two. My formal education has been spent exploring graphic design and marketing at Western Washington University…

Full Bio

Directors statement

When I was 24 years old I moved back to my childhood home to assist with my mothers caregiving. My mom was not paralyzed, but through a degenerative cognitive illness known as Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), she could not do anything on her own, and she had just entered hospice. 

We went for walks together down to the creek behind our home. We sat in the sunshine and listened to the creek. I got her back on a bicycle (even though the doctors said she couldn’t) and even back on skis – with support from our local adaptive sports program. The joy that poured out of her through these experiences was radiant.

While I was taking care of my mom, I was struck by the challenges she faced just to get out of the house. She could not do it on her own, and it was pushing her into a deep depression. But with support, she could still do so much. Those experiences gave her a renewed sense of life. When I met Josh, Anna, and Danielle I realized there are many people who don’t have great access to the outdoors. Before my experience with my mom, I had never thought about this.

I was inspired by Josh, Anna, and Danielle and the new ways they were each adapting to get off the beaten path and continue to do big adventures. There was also so much I didn’t know about spinal-cord injuries, or things that I thought I knew that were wrong. As I learned more about each of their lives and experiences, I felt this was a story that the world needed to hear. 

I worked closely with Josh, Anna, and Danielle to not just portray their heroic accomplishments, but also capture their day to day lives living with a spinal-cord-injury. We wanted to show the realities and ongoing challenges of paralysis that extend beyond the adventures.

My sincerest hope is that audiences leave ADAPTED feeling inspired to get outside and overcome whatever challenge they’re facing to live life to the fullest. I hope they learn something new and perhaps when they are faced with their next challenge rather than saying “I can’t” or dwelling on the negatives, they think “what can I do” or “what do I need to keep doing this thing that I love”.

-Paul

Credits

In Honor of

Linda Bikis & Diane Lancelot

 

A Film By

Paul Bikis

 

Written and Executive Produced By

Josh Hancock

 

Producers

Paul Bikis
Ghislaine Couvillat

 

Executive Producers

Josh Hancock
Rainer Kern
Maitreya Sriram
Bruce Cowper
Clare McKenzie
Scott Smallwood
Carol Ann Smallwood

 

Featuring

Michael “Hawkeye” Johnson
Josh Hancock
Anna Soens
Danielle Doelling
Linda Bikis
Paul Bikis
Pat Addabbo
Tom Soens
Adam Ferro
Diane Lancelot
Kjel Larsen
Mike Elges
WhiTney Lambach
Alphonsus To
Jeremy Fox
Zach McGill
Nicholas Vincent
Devin Harrigan
Jason Malczyk
Brianna Goeh
Adam Gloss
Neal Robinson
Ross Hill
Abby Levin
Andrew Muhn
Augusta Friendsmith
Dana Ries
Dayna Vogt
Ian Reeves
John Lowe
Katie Marshall
Keely Killebrew
Kjell Redal
Leah Feldman
Lindsey Wreden
Maitreya Sriram
Melanie Canna
Iliana Winfrey
Philip Stahel
Philip Straub
Kyra Langhelm
Bryan Felix
Parker Doelling

 

Director of Photography

Kjell Redal

 

Principal Cinematography

Paul Bikis
Kjell Redal
Nick Danielson
Adam Asdel

 

Mount Baker Cinematography

Kjell Redal
Gabe Rogel
Paul Bikis

 

White Rim Trail Cinematography

Adam Asdel
Paul Bikis

 

Salmon River Cinematography

Kjell Redal
Paul Bikis

 

Accident Recreations Cinematography

Kjell Redal
Adam Asdel
Paul Bikis

 

Aerial Cinematography

Kjell Redal
Paul Bikis

 

Archival Footage and Photos Provided By

Craig Stein
Michael Johnson
Josh Hancock
Danielle Doelling
Anna Soens
Kellie Standish
Lauren Danilek

 

Stock Footage Licenced From

Pond 5
Pexels

 

Re-recording Mixer

Matt Snowden

 

Sound Designer

Matt Snowden

 

Composer

Benjamin Sturley

 

Post Production Supervisor

Hans Rosenwinkel

 

Post Production House

Milkhaus

 

Colorist

Dave Krahling

 

Editors

Hans Rosenwinkel
Paul Bikis

 

Online Editor

Dave Krahling

 

Motion Graphics / Visual Effects

James Dureé
Abigail Gibbons

 

Production Intern

Andrew Huo

 

Advisors

Carol Fleisher
Chris Morgan
Jennifer Senkler
Ru Mahoney

 

Songs from Arlist.io

“Flight of the Inner Bird” by Yehzkel Raz & Sivan Yehudit Talmor Margalit
“Roll of Thunder” by Robert Michael Irving, Allesandro Gigante, & Roberto Gigante
“Turning Point” by Alon Peretz
“Insane Asylum” by Cody Kurtz Martin
“Against the Storm” by Charles Ross Ryan
“Devotion” by Ophir Kutiel
“Born Again” by Michael James Hynes
“cosmic affair” by jane & The boy

 

Songs from Soundstripe

“Say You Will” by Be Still The Earth

 

Licenced Songs

“The Place That Makes Me Happy” by The Moss
“Modern Girl” by Bleachers

 

Legal Counsel

Steve Edmiston

 

Sponsors

Oregon Adaptive Sports
Challenged Athletes Foundation
The GoHawkeye Foundation
Baker Mountain Guides
DynAcess
Kelly Brush Foundation
Cascade Mountain Ascents
Access Trax
Aire Rafts
Sotar Rafts
Teton Adaptive Sports
San Juan Island Outfitters
Boulder Neurosurgical & Spine Associates
Twisted Jeep Rentals
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Spine Colorado

 

This film was produced by Step Forward Films LLC, which is solely responsible for its content.

“I wish there was a film out there like this when I got injured”

 – Josh Hancock, Executive Producer

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Danielle Doelling

Danielle Doelling was an avid rock climber until 2011, when she made a mistake with her gear and fell nearly 300 feet… Since her accident, Danielle has become an accomplished world class athlete, passionate advocate for disability justice, and mother to a new baby girl. This is Danielle’s first film that she has shared her story in.

Anna Soens

Anna Soens used to spend her time tracking mountain lions through the remote mountains of northern Nevada, until a rock climbing fall left her partially paralyzed. Since her accident, Anna has worked with engineers and adaptive sports organizations to pioneer a new method of mountain climbing for athletes with paraplegia. She has been featured in several films for her accomplishments including The Approach. However, this is her first feature-length film.

Josh Hancock

Athlete

Josh Hancock was a wilderness educator with Outward Bound and has always been passionate about finding places in nature off the beaten path. However, in 2014 he sustained a spinal-cord injury after a traumatic ice-climbing fall. Since his accident, he has innovated new ways to access wilderness areas by raft and become an accomplished trip leader rowing rivers across the country. This is Josh’s first film.

Paul Bikis

Director/producer

Hey! I’m Paul. I suppose you could call me an emerging filmmaker because I am just figuring all of this stuff out. Over the last four years, I’ve dug my heart and soul into this project to bring these important stories to life. I’ve learned about the challenges of fundraising and grant writing, gathered a team of talented and experienced professionals to learn from, struggled and failed lots - but kept my head down and kept going. I’ve been a part of aspect of this film from creative vision, team management, production logistics, fundraising, filming, editing, fundraising, filming, writing, editing, and more fundraising. It has been challenging to say the least - but I’m proud of how far we’ve come.

My passion to tell this story comes from a personal experience with my mother who introduced me to the adaptive sports community and emphasized the importance of nature to our health. You can see some of my other work through my website below.

paulbikis.com

Josh Hancock

Writer / Executive Producer

Josh Hancock is an adaptive athlete, writer, executive producer, and environmental engineer with a T12 complete spinal-cord injury. Hancock has been producing ADAPTED for the last 5 years and is one of the founding members of Livin’ Wheel Life (LWL) Productions. As an adaptive athlete and wheelchair user he brings an intimate perspective to creating films that feature people in wheelchairs and works to challenge perspectives about the disability community. ADAPTED is his first feature-length film.

Ghislaine Couvillat

Co-Producer

Ghislaine owns and runs Whipped Sea, an independent production company based in France that operates globally. Whipped Sea's primary focus is producing bold and cinematic feature length documentaries and docu-series with a human interest, adventure, or environmental theme. Her latest release “Savage Waters” is now streaming on Outside TV.

I got connected with Ghislaine during our 2020 Crowdfunding campaign and she has been supporting the project since with her expansive industry connections and experience.

whippedsea.com

Kjell Redal

Director of Photography

Kjell is a passionate visual storyteller and well-accomplished drone pilot and cinematographer. He’s worked for many big companies including National Geographic, Coca Cola, and NASA - just to name a few - and produced several short films on his own.

When I initially had the idea to make this film, Kjell was the first person I called. He has been a go-to sounding board throughout the process of making this film, and also had a large influence at the beginning on the cameras and quality we filmed with which have led to the quality and project we have today. Kjell supported initial production interviews and home-life as well as aerials on Mount Baker and the Lower Salmon. To be inspired and blown away, check out more of his work below.

kjellredal.com

Hans Rosenwinkel 

Lead Editor

Hans is an editor, director, and producer who has worked for decades with television networks National Geographic, PBS, Discovery Channel and more. He is best known for The Current: Explore the Healing Powers of the Ocean (2014), Changing Tides (2017) and Fresh Tracks.

Hans came on board to help with our 2021 Trailer and has brought his incredible wealth of knowledge and expertise to the project - helping us get to rough cut and build out our post-production team.

Ben Sturley

Music Composer

Ben is not just a music composer - he’s a music magician. Based in Los Angeles, Ben has toured the world with artists including Selena Gomez, Noah Cyrus, Liz Phair and others. He recently scored SEASPIRACY which was the #1 film on Netflix in 31 countries. He’s also worked as a staff composer for Hans Zimmerman doing countless TV shows including 2022 Jeopardy and National College Championships. This barely scratches the surface of his credits.

I have no idea how I got so lucky to meet Ben, but I am truly grateful for his support and coming on board this project. He put together the original score for our 2021 Trailer and has been working close with the team throughout the post production process. To learn more about Ben check out his website below.

benjaminsturley.com

Adam Asdel 

Cinematographer

Adam began his journey behind the lens creating outdoor sports videos with his friends in high school (including me!). Since then he has worked on national TV productions such as Velocity's hit show "The Lifted Life" and shot commercials for companies including White's Boots POC and more.

I reached out to Adam to join as second camera for our White Rim Trail adventure (pictured above). He is responsible for all the beautiful slow cinematic desert shots in our trailers and has been an incredible support throughout.

adamasdelcreations.com

Gabe Rogel 

Cinematographer

Gabe has been shooting adventure sports for over 20 years, in extreme conditions and remote locations. He has worked for big brands including Patagonia, The North Face, Black Diamond, Red Bull, Sony, Microsoft, Osprey, Ski-doo among many others.

In college, I had the opportunity to intern with Gabe and we became great friends. As things started coming together for our Mount Baker shoot I knew he would a great addition to the team as it takes a specific person to be able to confidently climb an 8000ft glaciated volcano while filming.

rogelmedia.com

Nick Danielson 

Cinematographer

I am fascinated with everything visual - with a special love for photography, design and the union of the two. My formal education has been spent exploring graphic design and marketing at Western Washington University, where I have become hungry for visual communication, be it motion graphics, web, or editorial design.

Meanwhile, I have immersed myself in the experiential education of photography, trying my hand at every genre that intrigues me, whether it be commercial portraiture or storytelling photojournalism. Integrated in these two worlds, I have met some spectacular individuals and listened to many extraordinary stories.

nickdanielson.com