14 Days South: Over Sea and Land
14 Days South: Over Sea and Land — is a short 30-minute documentary about five eco-adventurers bikepacking across the UK, with a twist. They will also be using waterbikes to perform two sea crossings: Orkney Islands to John o’ Groats, and Land’s End to the Isles of Scilly. They will be passing through six of the UK’s National Parks, meeting with numerous experts in the environmental and sustainability space. This helps the viewer understand how humans are interfering with these landscapes, and what scalable solutions there are for regenerating and restoring them. Additionally, they will be exploring what all this means for our future physical and mental health.
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Kevin MerreyDirectorSean Conway’s - ‘Europe or Bust’
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Gavin KapsDirectorSean Conway’s - ‘Europe or Bust’
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Isaac KenyonWriter
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Alex PierrotWriter
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Isaac KenyonVoiceover Narration
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Jamie BarnesGraphic AnimationTHE LAST WILDERNESS OF SCOTLAND A canoe expedition into the wild heart of the Scottish Highlands
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Kevin MerreyEditorSean Conway’s - ‘Europe or Bust’
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Isaac KenyonKey Cast
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Alex PierrotKey Cast
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Sal MontgomeryKey CastExpedition with Steve Backshall Suriname: Lost World on Dave
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Lukas HaitzmannKey Cast
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Alex EganKey Cast
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Maeve McCarthyMusic
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Gavin KapsDirector of PhotographySean Conway’s - ‘Europe or Bust’
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Isaac KenyonExecutive Producer
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Alex PierrotCo-Producer
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Ollie AxonAdditional Footage
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Stramash FilmsAdditional Footage02 Orbital Marine Power Tidal Turbine BBC News
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Lily HopeSoundtrack Team
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Maren BosmaSoundtrack Team
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Richard Lines-DaviesSoundtrack Team
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Project Type:Documentary, Short
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Genres:Climate Change, Environmental, Cycling, Bikepacking, Adventure, National Parks, UK, Conservation, Rewilding
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Runtime:30 minutes
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Completion Date:October 20, 2021
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Production Budget:25,000 GBP
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Country of Origin:United Kingdom
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Country of Filming:United Kingdom
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Full HD 1080p
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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United Nations COP26 ConferenceGlasgow
United Kingdom
November 6, 2021
United Nations Premiere
Official Selection -
Kendal Mountain FestivalKendal
United Kingdom
November 18, 2021
Official Selection -
Adventure Uncovered with Paus.TV online premiereOnline
November 24, 2021
Online Premiere: Adventure Uncovered with Paus.TV
Official Selection -
Royal Geographical Society of London (with IBG)London
United Kingdom
January 13, 2022
Official Selection -
Fort William Mountain FestivalFort William
United Kingdom
February 20, 2022
Official Selection -
Think Shorts (5* Review)
March 31, 2022
Official Selection -
Debrief Adventure FestivalIpswich
United Kingdom
March 5, 2022
Official Selection -
Stroud Film FestivalStroud
United Kingdom
March 24, 2022
Official Selection -
Adventure Uncovered Film FestivalLondon and UK wide
United Kingdom
April 1, 2022
Official Selection. Film shown April 1 – October 1, 2022 -
Cotswold International Film FestivalStroud
United Kingdom
May 1, 2022
Award - Best Medium Length Film -
London Mountain Film FestivalLondon
United Kingdom
May 14, 2022
Official Selection - Film Shown between 14-29th May 2022 -
Cannes ShortsCannes
France
June 3, 2022
French Premiere
Best Film Poster Award -
Travel Fest AlbaniaTirana
Albania
July 18, 2022
Albanian Premiere
Official Selection -
Docs Without Borders Film FestivalRehoboth Beach
United States
August 13, 2022
North American Premiere
Award Winner - EXCELLENCE -
The Adventure Travel Film Festival (Cotswolds) Hatherop Castle 2022Cirencester
United Kingdom
August 13, 2022
Official Selection -
Norway Action Film FestivalSandvika
Norway
August 21, 2022
Norwegian Premiere
Most Critical Subject -
Portobello Film FestivalLondon
United Kingdom
September 2, 2022
Official Selection -
Pharos Best Inspiration Film FestivalAthens
Greece
September 16, 2022
Greek Premiere
Official Selection -
Xplore Alpes FestivalBourg Saint Maurice
France
October 29, 2022
Official Selection -
Oaxaca FilmFestOaxaca
Mexico
December 9, 2022
Mexico Premiere
Official Selection -
Scarab Short Film FestivalDubai
United Arab Emirates
December 18, 2022
Middle East Premiere
Official Selection -
The Adventure Travel Film Festival (Perthshire Scotland) Strathallan School 2023Perth, Scotland
United Kingdom
July 8, 2023
Official Selection -
The Adventure Travel Film Festival (Australia) Bright 2023Bright
Australia
February 11, 2023
Official Selection
Kevin Merrey (photo is of Kevin) specialises in producing content for outdoor pursuits, endurance & adventure sports and expeditions. Kevin works closely with top-flight brands in the adventure sports sector internationally such as Craghoppers, Lapierre bikes, GoPro and Powertraveller and other household names such as Ford.
Kevin has made films and produced imagery for a number of world-class adventurers, such as Sean Conway and Jonas Deichmann, in many wild and rugged environments, and his projects have taken him all over the world to places such as Peru, Laos, Russia, Oman, Corsica, and the Pyrenees. Clients to date include endurance athletes, pro mountain bikers, paddleboarders, trail runners, wild swimmers and ultra cyclists.
Kevin has a wide range of skills and experience that includes photography, camera operation, drone piloting, producing films, web & graphic design and marketing.
Gavin Kaps is a renowned visual storyteller creating high quality imagery. Some of Gavin's recent projects include:
BikingMan Laos, Photography & Film Production, May 2019
Adelaide Goodeve Performance Coach, Video Commercial, November 2018
Vetrun180 Portugal Pathfinder Expedition, Photography, September 2018
Sean Conway Trans Europe Cycle World Record, Cinematography, April-May 2018 (film due June 2019)
Driven2Extremes Sahara Rally Challenge, Photography & Film, March 2018
14 Days South: Over Sea and Land sets itself apart from the crowd via an intriguing and fascinating journey of endurance and adventure. Significantly, it addresses the important and very current climate issues we are facing. It highlights that, in the UK, there are still adventurous feats that have not yet been performed — the two water bike sea crossings in the documentary illustrate this — as well as a plethora of innovative, successful and scalable solutions to the climate crisis which deserve more awareness. This documentary aims to educate, inspire and offer hope to the audience with regard to the UK’s role in improving our planet’s future climate.
On a personal level, the key aspect that drew me to this project was that it had such an emphasis on eco-adventuring. I travel extensively for my filmmaking, and it was eye-opening to discover how complex it is to take a regular adventure and film production and improve their eco-credentials; we worked hard with the crew to achieve this, and have learnt many best practices that we will carrying on to further projects.
As the head of a production company passionate about making films sharing my love of the outdoors, this was a chance to be involved in a project that allowed me to expand my directing and cinematography abilities. My previous films have purely focused on adventures and strove to immerse the audience into the protagonists’ world of adrenaline and excitement. With this documentary, I was faced with the challenge of weaving a unique journey with several educational interviews. This led me to experiment with various forms of storytelling, which largely revolved around the pacing of the edit. I believe I have succeeded in creating a film which keeps the audience gripped by the exceptional feats of the cyclists, whilst at the same time allowing enough room for the valuable lessons from the interviews to be digested.
Visually, there are three main parts to the film: the landscapes journeyed through, the intense cycling, and the educational interviews. I wanted to showcase the expansiveness of the UK’s National Parks and green spaces; to achieve this, sweeping drone footage is combined with wide-angle shots to provoke awe. This contrasts with POV and close-up footage of the cyclists, which is especially striking during the strenuous and triumphant water bike sea crossings. Finally, the interview scenes provide a time for reflection and bring the audience back to the core message of the project.