• Concept
    (read me 1st)
  • Overview
    (read me 2nd)
  • Sizzle Reel
    (watch me 3rd)
  • Mike Wilson Bio
    (read me 4th)
  • Mike Wilson Reel
    (watch me 5th)

  • Concept
    Overview
    Sizzle Reel
    Mike Wilson Bio
    Mike Wilson Reel

  • Concept

    "Man vs. Wild" is a documentary show about Bear Grylls. It shows his adventure, where he goes, and what he does to survive.

    "Comfort Zone" is similar. It documents Mike Wilson and his friends’ adventures start-to-finish as he travels to different places putting himself in harms way, taking calculated risks, and looking to get the biggest rush possible.

    Think Man vs. Wild but instead of worrying about what to eat or how to stay warm, Mike and his crew have to worry about completing his stunts/adventures without injury or death. Both Bear Grylls and our athletes have to use our uncommon knowledge to survive the tasks that they set out to do. His is personal survival skill; ours are athletic survival skills.

    Each athlete brings different knowledge and experience to the table. For example, the athletes in Venezuela included Mike Wilson, Mike Swanson, Jesse Hall, and Andy Matischak. Mike Wilson is the star of the show, and is considered the most well rounded action sports athlete in the world. Mike Swanson is the worlds most decorated freefly skydiver, and has over 18,000 parachute jumps. Jesse Hall is known for packing parachutes better than anyone else and being the safest BASE jumper in the world. Andy Matischak is a helicopter owner and pilot. The combination of their collective knowledge allowed them to fly in on helicopters, and make 9 B.A.S.E. jumps off the worlds tallest waterfall (a very difficult and dangerous jump) without a single injury.

    Even the filmers and guides for that trip were picked according to their knowledge of the area and expertise/experience with certain types of gear.

    The "Comfort Zone" crews mission on every adventure is to get the biggest rush possible by pushing sport to the very limit. Different episodes will include different sports, but always at the highest level. As the athletes set out on these missions, they’ll hit complications with equipment and gear, with sickness, with weather, and the unforeseen. Whatever the complication is, they will have to use their experience and knowledge to find a way around it to keep the athletes safe while they perform the most dangerous tasks in action sports.

    "Comfort Zone" is less about the food or local culture (unless people get food poisoning) and more about what goes into this type of adventure, and how it’s all done safely. They may be sitting in a hotel room or tent talking/worrying about weather, or maybe they’re changing lines on a parachute or mounting a new pair of skis, but the show mainly documents what it takes to make the trip happen. These athletes are all at the top of their sports, how do they push themselves and their sports, and how do they do it safely?

    The goal of the show is for the athletes to push the boundaries of their sports so far out that it takes the viewer out of their comfort zone!

  • Overview

    "Comfort Zone" is an action sports-based adventure show. It stars Mike Wilson, the most versatile action sports athlete in the world. The show documents Mike’s exploits as he travels the world -- putting himself in harm’s way, taking calculated risks, and looking for the biggest rush possible. Each "Comfort Zone" episode focuses on a single objective. Mike plans to pioneer first ascents, decents, climbs, and jumps, set and break world records, and perform tricks on the biggest features in the world. Each time the objective changes, but it’s always done as big and over the top as Mike can make it.

    Comparisons / target audience: Mike is testing what’s possible and puts himself in controlled life and death situations similar to "Man vs. Wild" and "Survivorman." Core audience similar to "Nitro Circus" -- but will extend into the mainstream with fewer "Jackass" stunts and with "Planet Earth" quality cinematography.

    Vision: Produced by PoorBoyz productions. The show features "Planet Earth" quality cinematography. We use the latest camera technologies to achieve shots and angles that rival the best sports and nature films. We can shoot 3D and have access to the best 3D sports and aerial cinematographers in the world.

    Team:

    • Mike Wilson - star athlete
    • Johnny DeCesare – director / producer
    • Patrick Rivelli - executive producer

    Proposed Crew:

    • Mike Libecki - guide
    • Rob Norman - camerman
    • Pete Alport- camerman
    • Jeff Engerbretson - camerman
    • Tom Erikson - camerman
    • Nathan Graofalos - camerman
    • Kris Ostness- cameraman

    Each episode also features several guest athletes, who bring different knowledge and experience to the table. For example, the guest athletes in Venezuela included Mike Swanson, Jesse Hall, and Andy Matischak.. Mike Swanson is the world’s most decorated freefly skydiver and has over 18,000 parachute jumps. Jesse Hall is known for packing parachutes better thank anyone else and for being the safest BASE jumper in the world. Andy Matischak is a helicopter owner and pilot. The combination of their collective knowledge allowed them to fly in on helicopters and make 9 BASE jumps off the world’s tallest waterfall (a very difficult and dangerous jump) without a single injury. Even the cameramen and guides were picked according to their knowledge of the area and expertise / experience with certain types of gear.

    Status: Footage already shot and cataloged for five 44-minute episodes:

    • BASE jumping off the world’s tallest waterfall, located in the jungles of Venezula
    • On skis, jumping "Chad’s Gap," a 120 foot wide canyon in the backcountry of Utah that has claimed numerous victims
    • Skiing 100,000 vertical feet in a single day in Alaska
    • Snowmobiling in Tahoe backcountry
    • Skiing Japan / surfing and skydiving Hawaii

    Proposed future episodes include:

    • Skiing war zones – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir (India)
    • Jumping/gapping ice crevasses on skis in Nepal
    • World record 200 foot jump on skis
    • BASE jump into the world’s deepest sink hole (in China)
    • BASE jump the world’s tallest cliff (Baffin Island)

    We will film skiing and snowboarding (including helicopter skiing and ski-mountaineering); skydiving and BASE jumping (including wingsuits and freeflying); snowmobiling; downhill mountain biking; whitewater kayaking and paddle boarding; canyoneering; and cliff and glacier jumping.

    Example Episode: Venezuela

    Mike Wilson, Andy Matischak, Jesse Hall, and Mike Swanson fly into Caracas, Venezuela with the intent of BASE jumping the world’s tallest waterfall.

    Caracas is the world’s most dangerous city, with the highest murder rate and highest kidnapping rate in the world. These four athletes, knowing they’ll have to pay some bribes to make the jump safely, fly into Caracas with $20,000 US strapped to their bodies. While the cameramen are hassled for their gear at customs, Mike, Mike, Andy and Jesse sneak through customs and into their guides’ cars.

    They drive to Skydive Venezuela where they regroup, look at weather, and finalize all plans. They spend the remainder of the day skydiving and practicing, knowing that this is a difficult and dangerous BASE jump. The last two teams to attempt this jump both suffered serious injuries.

    Day 2 arrives and the crew jumps into two Cessnas and flies out to the waterfall. They spend the night in a native village near the falls and take in the beauty and energy surrounding them. The third morning, the crew flies back to the waterfall in a helicopter and scout the jump without being seen. There is a military base as well as a native tribe watching the sacred falls, who may not approve of BASE jumpers.

    The winds are initially too strong to make an attempt, and the team is forced to wait. Finally, after several days, the conditions are right. The group heads to the top of the falls and hikes to the exit point. They are now looking over the edge, 3,000 feet to the valley below. Time to jump...

    Venezuela by the numbers:

    • 2 guides
    • 3 cinematographers
    • 2 private airplanes (Cessnas)
    • 1 private helicopter (Long Ranger)
    • 9 successful BASE jumps
    • 0 injuries
    • 3 gunshots (at us)
    • 60,000+ US Dollars
    • 5 days in Venezuela
    • 6 Days to organize the entire trip start to finish

  • Sizzle Reel

  • Mike Wilson Bio

    Mike Wilson is the most versatile adventure sports athlete in the world. He has big dreams, big ideas, big skills, and big enough cojones to back them all up.

    Mike was a child prodigy in the ski world:

    • Youngest professional skier in history -- at 11 years old
    • Winner of "Rookie of the Year" (best skier under age 18) in both major ski magazines – at 13 years old
    • First ever "double cork" jump, dubbed the "Wilson Flip" – at 17 years old

    As a professional skier, Mike traveled the globe. He appeared in numerous ski features, filming with well-known ski movie companies: Warren Miller, Poor Boyz Productions, Matchstick Productions, TeddyBear Crisis, Level 1 films, Teton Gravity Research, and Rage Films. Mike put together some of the most unique and visually appealing segments but still wanted more.

    While training with ski icon JT Holmes, Mike was introduced to skydiving, and he was instantly hooked. Since then, Wilson has excelled in the adrenaline junkie sports of skydiving, B.A.S.E jumping, cliff jumping, paragliding and wingsuiting, pushing the limits of life and death on every flight. He is also accomplished at downhill mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, snowboarding, rock climbing, paddle boarding, canyoneering, and snowmobiling, making him the most versatile adventure sports athlete in the world.

    His talent range and knowledge is impressive, something only a kid who’s spent his whole life chasing adventures could amass. Rigging knowledge from rock climbing, knowledge of parachutes, knowledge of snowpack… These are all fairly common, but when you combine all of them it opens a whole new realm of possibilities. That’s where Mike pushes the boundaries and shines above others.

    If you ask Mike about his adventures, he’ll tell you it’s mostly "smoke and mirrors" -- that it’s mostly simple tricks made to look insane. That’s his unique approach. Sometimes it’s a difficult stunt that only a handful of people in the world could pull off; others it’s something almost anyone can do, presented in a manner that makes you think he’s the only person who could do it. The best part is you often can’t tell the difference. He likes to take an idea that seems impossible, break it down until he can do it safely, figure out how to make it look dangerous, and present to you the impossible.

    Mike’s goal is always to do something bigger, something no one has done before. He wants to bring to the world things they have never seen or even thought possible. Mike Wilson is a genuine character. His athletic talents, non-existent sense of fear, comic personality, and spirit make him one-of-a-kind.

  • Mike Wilson Reel