Fell + Co’s debut full-length feature “Everything In Between” premieres tonight in Cape Town.

Some two years in the making, the film documents the epic saga of Ron Rutland and James Owens’ 22,000km bicycle trip across Europe and Asia.

Raw, real and liberating in this time of world-wide lockdowns and disunion, it is an inspirational exploration of human connections and a glimpse into just how much ‘good’ there is in the world.

What started as a rather simple, but very ambitious, plan of transporting – by bicycle – the match whistle for the opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup from London to Tokyo, turned into an extraordinary adventure into humankind.

An eye-opening window into countries and cultures shrouded in misconception and political propaganda.

Set to the backdrop of some of Eastern Europe and Western Asia’s most spectacular and rarely-seen landscapes and overlaid with music by international composers, Jason Tse (Hong Kong) and Nathaniel Edgar (Canada), as well as tracks from local South African artists Wild Eastern Arches and Alice Phoebe Lou, comes the endearing tale of Rutland and Owens’ encounters with the local people of the regions.

Laughs, punctures, beers, pain and tears: 20,000kms in 230 days – that it was a feat of endurance goes without saying, but the story of the production of the film is almost as impressive as the fortitude (both physical and mental) it took to pedal across 27 countries.

“The initial project brief was to create social media content for one of the Rugby World Cup sponsors, DHL, to help build hype ahead of the event,” explained the film’s Producer Greg Fell.

Headed up by Andrew King, Fell + Co’s project team could not travel the entire way with Rutland and Owens. To ensure they got as much of the story captured as possible, they had to equip them with camera systems that could tell their first-person perspective.

Then there was the weaving of the logistics of meeting up with them at eight key points along the trip to film and build the core story.

“As the story progressed – and especially when the drama really started to unfold in the second half – we realised that there was a film here, fortunately, our partners DHL, who spent a good deal of time on the ground during the expedition, saw it too,” Fell said.

Indeed, so closely was DHL involved, that Fell believes the film will be a first for long-form branded content entertainment in the country that isn’t overtly ‘advertising.’

“It shows what is possible in the story-telling space, where brands become ‘Executive Producers’ – a trend that is working seamlessly internationally,” he said.

For the Fell + Co team, the philosophy on projects such as these is always to keep it as authentic as possible.

“As the guy behind the camera it’s super important to not change the dynamics when interacting with the locals,” explained Andrew King, who not only co-produced and Directed, but filmed and edited much of the film.

“For us it was always about maintaining the integrity of what was happening – behaving in a way that didn’t influence Ron and James’ interactions with each other and anyone they met – enjoying the joke first with them, meeting the people first and then going to the camera,” he said.

King and Rutland go way back and have worked on various adventure projects together.

“I enjoy working with Ron because he’s just so unassuming,” said King.

“He’ll never tell you that you need to sell everything and get on a bike and go and do something extraordinary, but he certainly behaves in a way that you get this feeling you’re missing something and that you need to get out there,” said King.

That, according to King, is what he hopes people walk away with after watching the film.

“It is a grand celebration of life… The expedition was a mega-adventure and that’s not necessarily what everyone is going to go out and do, but if you really want something badly enough – as much as Ron wanted to get that whistle to the World Cup – you can make it happen. Ron inspires people to expand their own universe.”

Release details are set to follow soon but you can stay up to date with the film’s progress at www.everythinginbetween.film

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