The resulting film, "Vision of Everest," directed by Brown with additional photography and production management by Kim Johnson and the assistance of renowned Himalayan climber Charley Mace, is in post production, with a tentative release date of Spring 2002. Brown's inspiring and visually-spectacular film captures the courage and determination of blind climber Weihenmayer, whose summiting of Everest completes the fifth ascent in his goal of climbing the Seven Summits, the highest peak on each of the seven continents. "Erik has to trust his climbing team completely," says Brown. "They travel across crevasses, through ice fields, up broken slopes, in an unforgiving environment, and he has to believe in them absolutely. It is a lesson in teamwork and trust, and it really applies to us all, in any endeavor. Especially filmmaking!" adds Brown.

Filming at the top of Everest presented more than the usual locational challenges. Lack of oxygen and extremely adverse weather conditions made the physically-taxing job of carrying a 30 lb. camera even more arduous. Outdoor gear manufacturer Mountainsmith had created a custom backpack for the HD camera to make it easy to carry, but when the expedition reached the final stage of the climb, the Sherpas responsible for carrying the camera, Ang Khami and Chhouldim, were already tired after days of carrying heavy loads of oxygen tanks and supplies to Camp Four at 26,000-ft, the staging point for the final assault on the peak. Says Brown, "The Sherpas made a superhuman effort to get the camera to the top. I was already at the summit, and I could see Chhouldim below at the Bishop Rocks [about 50 yards from the summit]. He was sitting down next to the fixed lines, completely spent. The weather was deteriorating rapidly, with high winds and gusting clouds, and knowing that Erik [Weihenmayer] and the team could not stay on the summit much longer, I ran down and grabbed the camera. By the time I jogged back to the summit I was extremely hypoxic. The camera felt so heavy that I was having trouble getting it onto my shoulder and I could not make the frame level. Luis [Benitez,] helped me get the camera up onto my shoulder, and I started shooting. We had only a few minutes to get the shots we needed. Luckily the team was greatly supportive and they remained on top to help us for just long enough to get the all-important shots."

A second HDTV camera operated in Base Camp by Serac Adventure Films' producer Kim Johnson captured the reactions at Base Camp as the climbers neared the summit. Expedition leader Pasquale Scaturro in Camp Four radioed the climbers to alert them to the approaching bad weather, as Reba Bull, wife of climber Brad Bull, followed the climbers' progress and success on the Base Camp radio. Emotions ran high in Base Camp as the team summited the peak, and Johnson's eloquent footage provided a perfect counterpoint to the shots of the climbers' triumph.

"Vision of Everest," a production of Newport Productions in association with Aperture Films, is the latest of Brown's adventure films. With over fifty filmmaking credits, Brown's recent films include "Everest Dreams," "Shishapangma: A Celebration of Life" and "Islands in the Sky", for NBC Sports, "Traverse in the Land of the Ayacara" and "Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon," for Outdoor Life Network, and a long list of sports-adventure films for ESPN, CBS Sports, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Television. His work has won three national Emmy awards, an Addy, a CINDY, a Cine Golden Eagle, two awards at the Banff Festival of Mountain Films, and numerous other film festival awards. Brown is currently editing "Vision of Everest" at his Boulder, Colorado-based company, Serac Adventure Films.

"Vision of Everest" is the latest documentary production Newport Productions, a Newport Beach, California-based entertainment company with credits in broadcast and cable television series, commercials, documentaries, fundraising, and live sports events, and a client list including ABC, NBC, The Disney Channel, AFI, and CBS. Co-producer Aperture Films, based in Laguna Beach, California, specializes in large-format film productions, Aperture's principals were part of the production of "Everest," the first IMAX film of an Everest expedition.

Sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind and Allegra, "Vision of Everest" represents an innovative approach to non-profit fundraising, image-building, and production financing, with its ultimate beneficiaries being the members of the National Federation of the Blind.

Press release prepared by Judith Black