National Geographic Live

"Capturing the Impossible," by Bryan Smith. (Note: previously announced rescheduled talk by Lucy Hawkes is postponed.)

media release: For extreme filmmaker Bryan Smith, the line between going for it and going too far is often blurry—especially when you’re exploring the earth’s most remote environments. Learn what it’s like to be the person behind the lens with National Geographic Live, the touring speaker series that brings to life the awe-inspiring stories of National Geographic Explorers. “Capturing the Impossible” with Bryan Smith will take place on Tuesday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Capitol Theater. Tickets ($25-65) are available at overture.org.

In this edge-of-your-seat presentation, Bryan shows you what it means to adventure with purpose, and why he believes the best expeditions are the ones with a healthy chance of failure. He’s suffered frostbite during the first-ever ice climb of Niagara Falls, explored the South Pacific’s deepest canyons, and scaled North America’s tallest mountains to bring you behind the scenes and capture the impossible.

Bryan Smith is an award-winning filmmaker based out of Squamish, British Columbia. His first documentary, “49 Megawatts,” received acclaim both for its amazing kayaking footage and insightful exploration of the controversy over British Columbia’s river-based energy production. An online version went viral and led to two-feature length sea kayaking films. His work has appeared at numerous film festivals across the world, including the prized Banff and Telluride Mountain Film Festivals.

In the past few years, Smith has built on his adventure film roots and developed a strong reputation in both TV documentary and commercial cinematography. With a knack for storytelling, an ability to assemble great teams, and an insane work ethic, his client list has grown to include National Geographic, Discovery, Disney, Red Bull, Patagonia, New Belgium Brewing, Arcteryx and more. In 2010, he earned a National Geographic Expedition Grant for his work in Kamchatka, Russia, and launched into digital media, co-producing and directing “The Season” web TV series. He has worked as both a field producer and director of photography for National Geographic Television on shows including “Alaska Wing Men,” “Explorer,” “Nat Geo Amazing” and “Monster Fish.” More recently, he co-produced and directed “The Man Who Can Fly,” a 60-minute special for the National Geographic Channel Explorer series.

With extensive experience on Red, Alexa, Phantom, Sony F900, Panasonic Varicam and just about every ENG camera platform, his experience at getting cameras into difficult and remote locations makes him an incredible asset to any production. Smith brings a diverse perspective to non-fiction filmmaking, having worked on TV, independent documentary and several commercial projects.

Bryan’s engaging, one-of-a-kind presentation is part of National Geographic Live’s collection of events happening throughout the United States and abroad. For more information on National Geographic Live and other National Geographic events, please visit www.natgeolive.com.

Overture’s National Geographic Live series is sponsored by Exact Sciences. Overture is grateful for this community support that helps make these experiences possible.

OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS in Madison, Wis., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and four galleries where national and international touring artists, nine resident companies and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 700,000 educational and artistic experiences each year. With the vision to provide “Extraordinary Experiences for All,” Overture’s mission is to support and elevate our community’s creative culture, economy and quality of life through the arts. overture.org