ROAM: The Global Community for Adventure announces the first annual ROAM Awards including $45,000 in Cash Prizes
Founding Members Including Jimmy Chin, Sasha DiGiulian, and Travis Rice Among Renowned Judges Seeking Best Photos, Videos, and Written Essays from Storytellers Around the World
BOULDER, CO (September 24, 2019) — ROAM, the global adventure community dedicated to inspiring curiosity and purpose through adventure, has announced the first annual ROAM Awards. Envisioned by the ROAM team and its Founding Members, including Academy Award Winner Jimmy Chin, as a way to discover, celebrate, and amplify emerging and established visual storytellers, the ROAM Awards will serve as an international platform for creators to submit their best photographs, videos, or written essays and vie for $45,000 in cash, countless prizes in gear, educational workshops, and massive exposure of their work. Entries will be accepted in five creative categories including Purpose, Discovery, Awe, Thrill, and Lessons. Detailed descriptions of categories and complete contest rules can be seen at RoamAwards.com. Winners will be announced during a star-studded awards presentation hosted by ROAM Founding Member and legendary filmmaker/professional snowboarder Travis Rice at the Boulder Theatre on December 5th.
Established by a community of creators and explorers with an iconic history of sharing stories of human endurance, brilliant destinations, cultural curiosity, and athletic prowess, ROAM has reimagined its website to expand community interaction, share untold stories of adventures, and educate fellow Roamers through tips, tutorials and personal experiences. The website will continue to honor its mantra of “adventure with purpose,” as proclaimed by the Founding Members including aforementioned icons Jimmy Chin and Travis Rice, plus creative and athlete leaders Sasha DiGiulian, Jeremy Jones, Mike Horn, Ian Walsh, Chris Burkhard, Andy Mann, and Renan Ozturk, among other world-class adventurers. By reinventing adventure storytelling through real-time social media narratives of quality and purpose, sourced from around the world, and led by the credibility of the Founding Members, ROAM has quickly established itself as a focal point in all things adventurous for the next generation.
“This is a huge opportunity. We all have a story of the moment we got our break. Twenty years ago, a guy named Conrad Anker noticed my work. Things went from there. We are going to discover the next generation of talent through the ROAM Awards,” says Jimmy Chin, fresh off his recent Oscar win (co-directed with Chai Vasarhelyi) for Best Feature Documentary, Free Solo.
Reflecting back on his first ‘big break’ as a filmmaker, Chin sees this competition as a massive opportunity for emerging and established creatives to make their mark.
“This competition can absolutely be the breakout moment for many talented photographers, filmmakers, and writers,” added Chin, who will be a judge in this year’s Video Division of the ROAM Awards.
“The ROAM Awards is a wonderful opportunity for Roamers around the world to share their journeys,” explains Christopher Jerard, Founder & CEO at ROAM Media, Inc. “We want ROAM to become home to the next generation of storytellers. Our team of Founding Members has been setting the bar for storytelling for the last twenty years. We’re going to set the stage for the next twenty. Whether it’s the development of ROAM Originals, Episodic Series, or Branded Content, we have become a focal point for real-time, social-first content coming from the far corners of the world. A modern, nimble approach plus top quality narratives have generated more than 100,000,000 video views. The opportunity for an emerging storyteller to be recognized by a world-class panel of judges for exceptional work truly becomes ‘one of those moments’ in a career. Add to that ROAM’s spotlight and international exposure, and you have a moment of discovery everyone can celebrate.”
The deadline for all submissions is Monday, October 18th at 11:59 p.m. eastern time.
Entry Fees and Prizes:
$20 per photograph
$40 for four photographs, one video, or one written essay
$75 for up to three videos or written essays
$3,000 in cash plus countless valuable prizes including, professional workshops, massive exposure to industry professionals and the ROAM social feeds of millions, will be awarded to each of 15 top winners per category. Additional prizes valued at hundreds of dollars as well as massive exposure will be awarded to 45 Finalists and additional entries selected at the discretion of each adjudication panel. For a complete listing of awards and prizes, visit RoamAwards.com.
Award Categories
THRILL
Thrill us.
In the world of adventure, heroes often distinguish themselves and rise to the pantheon with extraordinary acts of athleticism. Sending. Shredding. Boosting. Thrill is a place for the photos, videos and essays of the most daring moments captured.
AWE
Inspire us.
A great photo, film or story can inspire us to go to places at the ends of the earth in search of the intangible yet fulfilling. Awe seeks out the photos, videos, and essays that express an exuberant love for the wild, rugged, and raw planet we call home. We may never reach our destination, but the images and tales captured in this category embody the emotion of wonder and inspiration that drive us to endlessly peek around the next corner.
DISCOVERY:
Show us something new.
There is a first time for everything. Whether it is as widely recognized as a first ascent or remote as sailing the Line Islands from Tahiti, or as intimately personal as a first solo hike, Discovery seeks out the stories of people who fearlessly venture into uncharted territory – whether on the trails or in our hearts and minds.
LESSONS:
Teach us.
They say it’s never an adventure until something goes wrong and that the journey is the true reward. Lessons focuses on photos, videos, and essays that share true stories from the depths of adventure. What does the journey teach us? What can we overcome by suffering in the name of our goals? It may not be a tale of triumph and it may certainly be a far cry from what we had envisioned, but some of the greatest stories ever told are those of human connection and endurance in the face of unexpected obstacles.
PURPOSE
Help us change the world – for the better.
We live in a time where our action or inaction on climate change, plastic pollution, and the rapid loss of many species will define the future of the planet. Purpose is defined by photos, videos and essays about positive social and environmental impact. We are looking for the difference makers, those leading the charge on changing the world.
Judges
PHOTOGRAPHY
Chris Rainier, Documentary Photographer and National Geographic Fellow
Rhonda Rubinstein, Creative Director & Founder of Big Picture, California Academy of Sciences
Andy Mann, Photographer & Filmmaker, Senior Fellow at Sea Legacy*
Chase Jarvis, Photographer, Entrepreneur & Author
Jody MacDonald, Photographer, Founder of Offshore Odysseys
VIDEO
Jimmy Chin, Climber, Photographer, and Film Director*
Travis Rice, Professional Snowboarder and Filmmaker*
Dale Djerassi, Documentary Film Producer and Director
Mimi Chakarova, Documentary Filmmaker and Photographer
Ron Dawson, Filmmaker & Host of Radio Film School
ESSAY
Geoffrey Gray, Founder of True.Ink, Author
Sasha DiGiulian, Professional Rock Climber and Writer*
Kerry Tremain, Writer & former Managing Editor of Mother Jones magazine
Annette McGivney, Author, Journalist, Editor of Backpacker magazine
Maria Coffey, Award-winning Author, Adventure Guide, Conservationist
Awards Ceremony
The beautiful turn-of-the-century Boulder Theatre is home to the 2019 Roam Awards Ceremony. The event will be hosted by ROAM Founding Member, legendary snowboarder, and award-winning filmmaker Travis Rice. The event will be streamed live around the world, potentially making it among one of the most memorable and viewed events in the adventure world.
About ROAM Media, Inc.
ROAM chronicles the grandeur of outdoor adventure, the thrill of outdoor sports, and of how these expeditions — when carried out mindfully and with purpose — transform us and nourish our relationships with the earth, and each other. ROAM creates original episodic content, branded content, and provides a distribution network via social and website platforms to nearly 23M people worldwide.