The creator of Inside the Outdoors talks about the new series that has just launched on Fuel TV
The creator of Inside the Outdoors talks about the new series that has just launched on Fuel TV
For years now the talented Mr Troy Adamitis has been giving a fresh look at our sport with his Inside the Outdoors series as well as the all the Great Outdoors videos. It was touch and go for a minute there but Troy and his roving crew of camera people managed to put together a look at the 2012 season that is different from what we’ve ever seen and opened some eyes all at the same time. I managed to catch Troy for a bit to talk about the season and the first two episodes that have already aired. For more info on the series check it out HERE
Me- Troy, thanks for doing the interview. Inside the Outdoors has started, the first two episodes are out and whatâs been the reaction?
Troy- It started off really rocky, as a matter of fact Fuel TV stopped doing new programming as of 2012 they decided they were going to focus on UFC and they dropped all of their shows. So technically, we were cancelled there after our third season. We and they were happy with the series, we got some good feedback and probably a month before this season started, we had a deal lined up but it fell apart. Fuel did a freeze on the budgets, they were into UFC but they still love motocross and the show but they didnât have the money to do it. I was crazy enough to say that even though it got cancelled, weâre just going to do it anyways.
It was a big leap of faith but we believed in the show, we believed that there are a lot of good stories out there so I decided to put my own money up. And thatâs the reason why thereâs only six shows this year. So we set a budget for six episodes and went out to start shooting. And we just had to hope we were going to get a network, hope someone would pick it up and give it a home. We kept discussing it with Fuel and they are planning on showing re-runs of supercross and motocross, I guess they do well.
So they agreed to help us out with the airtime but we had to pay for the shows ourselves. So we had to find a sponsor for the shows and Oakley stepped up for us. They decided they were going to partner up with us and make it happen. Without Oakley, the show might have happened but they were able to cover our costs and our gamble paid off. And now we have a fourth season, thatâs the deal with it. I just didnât want it to go away and I hope in 2013 we can work something out but I knew I needed to keep the series going, to bridge the gap and I think we have a success with how itâs all worked out.
When you called me a while back and started asking me about these back-stories on riders, I wondered what your angle was going to be but we see it now, youâre looking at life away from the track and the pressures that these riders are under. Itâs compelling stuff.
I think that this year was probably the best year to do something like that, Iâve been criticized in the past for not including the guys behind the top five. Weâve never really focused on them and I think thatâs because the network and people overall, want to see the star power, the names like Villopoto, Dungey and Reed. So this year, with Dungey running away with the title, I noticed that there were several shows online that were covering the major guys and covering the series. I just figured this is the perfect year to venture off and talk to guys like Tommy Hahn, Kyle Chisholm and Nico Izzi- guys like that. What we found out was that the kind of things you talk to Villopoto and Dungey about and the kind of things you talk to Kyle Chisholm about are totally different things. It starts to get into some material that is a little more controversial, a little more about why these guys continue to do this as itâs a struggle and why is it such a struggle? Like why do you get eighth place? Is it the team? The bike? A personal issue and I think that to validate why this sport is so great, why itâs the greatest sport out there yet itâs so brutal we were able to show that by talking to some guys off the podium. It gives some insight into the guys that make it happen but donât get the glory.
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Troy Adamitis hard at work. A Cudby photo |
And kudos to Josh Grant and Colleen Millsaps for talking about things that arenât coolâŚ
Yeah, they put themselves on the chopping block. Everyone knows how judgmental the sport can be, the fans and media can be. And I couldnât thank them enough for letting me tell their story. And theyâre just like, âWell alright but itâs not all prettyâ and so I just think when people do that theyâre able to answer some of the questions to some of the rumors that are out there. Theyâre able to address some of the things that are said about them. I just think theyâre interested in helping the sport grow as well by helping out by giving us their story. Their lives are no different than ours with the struggles that they face. Theyâre not going to hide and maybe along the way people have a better understanding of what itâs like to be me.
Itâs funny because Pulpmx made the last episode and I got Tweets about how it was awesome that I was in there and telling it like it is and yet others I got was that Davi punked me and Iâm an idiot. I think you as a filmmaker are doing a great job when you present something that gets equal reaction on both sides. Youâve told the story well and people are making up their own opinions which I think is a good thing.
Yeah and itâs always a struggle for journalists or show makers or whatever, and you know, to get that story out there. Itâs a fine line and you donât want to air everyoneâs dirty laundry but you donât want to give some sort of access or insight as to why things happen. And with all the secretness that goes on, it makes it difficult and at times it makes the sport uninteresting. The guys put their helmets on, they go ride and if they donât make the podium all the guys can do is say that the rider doesnât want it, he doesnât train. And instead of just assuming that I think itâs worth the effort to find out why, whatâs going on in their life. And if I was going through what Josh Grant was going through with his finances, I donât think Iâd be getting podiums either. Itâs gnarly and Iâm proud of what weâve done and I appreciate all these guys trusting us with their secrets and letting us tell their stories.
Is there one episode that was the best, the gnarliest one- have we seen it, is it coming up? Which one stands out in your mind?
Itâs tough to beat the Josh Grant one and we wanted to start off with that one. We just wanted the audience to know right off the bat that this year, things were different and it wasnât going to be about racing. It was going to be about how these guys got to their situation that they were in. So we wanted to start off with one about how, if youâre not winning this is what your life is like. Itâs brutal out there, the way they get paid none of the guys can cruise around and not put in the effort. I think they all of their uniqueness to them, I think that Izziâs coming up- episode three- his is very insightful and he opens up about how he was the guy who had it all. It was all right there, teammates with Dungey, and it just all slipped away as he went down the wrong path got injured and how do you recover from this? How do you recover from a few bad years? Can you do it? I hope so but history has told us that there isnât too many comeback stories in the sport and weâre hoping it happens with Nico and it motivates and inspires him to have a better life for his daughter and himself.
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Inside the Outdoors Episode 1 featured Josh Grant talking about his off-track struggles. A Lissimore photo |
I donât understand why the supercross folks donât see the value in letting you do this in supercross or at least getting their own people and trying to do something similar for supercross. Any idea if youâll ever be allowed to film that?
Well actually, that may be changing. The amazing thing is I got a call from Feld and they want to do something with Ryan Villopoto so this will be my first show with them. I believe this is going to happen in February on CBS and Iâm hoping that this is the first step towards a long relationship with them. The dollars and the eyeballs are on supercross, they have a great package and that series is doing well. Iâm hoping that itâs the first of many projects with them. Iâm glad you mentioned that because Iâve been trying to do things with them for a long time. I just think they want to have everything in house but hopefully this starts something.