Q: Phil, America knows you as the EMMY award winning host and a producer of the incredibly popular reality adventure series, “The Amazing Race” but they may not be aware that exotic travel and exploits are not just limited to the television show, you’ve had quite an exciting life on the edge yourself? 

I’ve been traveling since I was two with my parents who worked overseas for many years, that’s where I got the travel bug, for sure.  Then after a near-death experience at the age of 19 I came up with my personal philosophy ‘No Opportunity Wasted’ (NOW) which has driven my life ever since. I started to run out of air on a shipwreck dive.  I panicked but thankfully I was rescued and taken out to safety. While reflecting on the importance of being alive, on the deck of the dive boat, I decided to approach life as if every day was my last.  Right there and then I wrote my first list for life. It’s called my Life List.  I’ve broken a world record for bungee jumping, dived the world’s longest underwater cave, renewed my wedding vows underwater while hand-feeding sharks, got my reindeer racing license, changed a light bulb on top of the Verazano Bridge in New York, putted a golf ball across Scotland to name a few of the things on my list For over 25 years I have shared many of my adventures with television audiences all over the world.

“NOW The more I live, the more I want to live, and the more I want to help others live their once-in-a-lifetime dreams.” NOW is the subject of a book I wrote as well as a television format I created and was produced in the US, Canada and New Zealand.

Q: That thirst to experience life at its fullest , Phil, then led you to endurance bicycling, how did that all come about?

I grew up in Antigua in the Caribbean and as a 10 year old boy you could not get me off my little yellow racing bike. I would spend hours riding around the island with the local riders. When I was 13 I moved to New Zealand cycling gave way to rugby. I didn’t really touch my bike again until I was in my 30′s

Fast forward — My wife and I found a love of cycling together about 8 years ago, and for the past five years we have sponsored a local bicycle racing team, here in Southern California. I do the odd local race and we have raced some endurance races in New Zealand, but nothing close to riding across America!!!  When I turned 40 I decided I needed a mammoth challenge.  I was motivated by three things, take on the biggest physical and mental challenge of my life; spend quality time with my Dad on an adventure and work towards raising 1 million dollars for a charity … more me The National MS Society.  Instead of riding 100 miles a few times a year, why not ride 3500 in a row?  It seemed like a good idea at the time and it certainly turned out to be life changing but man was it tough.  Actually the toughest part was doing press from early in the am, print, TV … doing meet and greets, riding 100 miles and then setting up every night to get video blogs online.  In the 40 days I was away I never went to bed before the next day, not a good way to recover after a hard ride I can assure you.

Q: That passion for bicycling, led you to produce “The Ride”. Your film, “The Ride”, Phil,  is a thrilling documentary on your 2009 biking quest from Los Angeles to New York City, all for the benefit of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, what led you to create this event and support MS?

I initially created the ride across America because I was turning 40 and wanted to prove I was still strong.  My wife and I have supported the National MS Society for the past five years through our local cycling team.  I decided rather than just ride across the country for my own benefit, I should ride for an amazing cause.  That alone helped motivate me each day when the going got rough. I have movement. Many people with MS do not. I had to keep moving for them and raise awareness for MS and funds for MS research, so maybe one day we can help rid the world of this terrible disease.   To be honest I never set out to make a film about the ride however people really fell in love with the video blogs I shot everyday and I realize that perhaps there was another way to make use of all the incredible footage we had gathered.  The idea that all the HD material we had would just sit in a box for every didn’t make sense and knowing that we could generate more money for the MS movement was a real motivator.
 
Q: Seeing America from behind the handlebars makes an exciting story certainly, I got exhausted just watching the film! What stands out as pure Americana to you, a New Zealander (or is it Kiwi?) from your trip?

The generosity of American people blew me away. I was welcomed into big cities, small towns, extremely small towns, and homes, by warm, caring individuals. I had local police escorts making sure our team got across state lines safely, people coming out with freshly baked goods along the route, kids giving me their pocket money for MS.  It was kind of overwhelming.   I felt like I couldn’t say thank you enough, so I kept pedaling because I didn’t want to let anyone down.  It was my motivation to finish.  I can assure you that the spirit of America is very much alive across the country.
 
Q: We’re releasing “The Ride” this month on DVD ,what will the audience be seeing on the DVD that’s really cool?

The Ride is the ultimate road trip with your best buddies. Everyone that has seen the movie in theaters across the country has fallen in love with the characters. People laughed and cried at all the same places in the film. There’s Greg the retired CHP Officer, my dad the plant scientist, Ben my training partner with a quirky sense of humor, and Scott the cameraman who rode backwards on Greg’s motorbike filming me for 40 days. He went across America in reverse.  There is never a dull moment when you put a cast of characters like this together.  People who have seen the film in theaters actually got on their bikes and retraced my journey so watch out

 Q: Why buy the DVD when it was also broadcast?

The bonus features on The Ride is 30 minutes long.  You get to see moments that were not in the final cut.  Thankfully our biggest challenge was working out what to cut out of the film.  We really were spoilt for choice, I’m really excited to have made something that will have shelf life.  The Ride is a film to share with those who need uplifting, it’s a film that can be watched again and again, the perfect gift for someone contemplating a life change and perhaps needing some extra motivation.
 
Q: What’s next for Phil Keoghan? What journey have you not taken that is tops on your list?

I have so many amazing adventures on my NOW List, but the most important thing for me is to have as many adventure with our 16 year old daughter before she leaves for college the year after next.  Whatever we can dream up together as a family, we will endeavor to fulfill.  As long as it’s about living life NOW and making the most of what you have right now – health and happiness and each other.  I have some new film projects in the works, some new documentary ideas and also a fictional piece I want to shoot in New Zealand.
 
Q: If you had an Amazing Race-esque “detour” you would challenge our readers with, what would it be?
 
I thinks it’s very important to push yourself outside your comfort zone at least once a day, even if that is as simple as talking to a stranger in an elevator.  Choose the path you are least familiar with every now and then and you’ll be surprised where it will take you.  Never let age get in the way of living a NOW life, some of the most inspiring people I know refuse to use their age as an excuse.  Work on your NOW Life List with your family, find out how you can others achieve their goals and share new adventures with them.  Trust me it is incredibly enlightening.   

The AV Movie Geek says “The Ride” DVD is loaded with extra Bonus features and behind the handlebar scenes that are both poignant and hilarious as Phil peddles coast to coast. This DVD is NOT available anywhere else but through the AV Dept MOD Collection.

                                         Public Domain DVD Gems from Desert Island Films

 One of the great benefits of On-Demand DVD manufacturing is the ability to offer a large catalog without need to create inventory or complicated distribution. Public domain titles fit the MOD model nicely as the catalogs are vast, consumers crave the titles and our providers work to find the best possible existing video master available.

Desert Island Films, one of the largest Public Domain Libraries has selected from its catalog a nice library of PD titles, priced to sell and available now in the AV MOD Collection, and of course, no title out of print, no inventory and no returns. Here’s just a sampling of the broad range of titles and genres- contact your Allied Vaughn Account Representative for metadata and art files.

ALIEN CONTAMINATION    1980    A former astronaut helps a government agent and a police detective track the source of mysterious alien pod spores, filled with lethal flesh-dissolving acid, to a South American coffee plantation controlled by alien pod clones.    Ian mcCulloch, Louise Marleau, Marino Mase 
 

FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS    1960    When an alien artifact discovered on Earth is found to have come from Venus, an international team of astronauts embarks to investigate its origins.    Yoko Tani, Oldrich Lukes, Ignacy Machowski
 

HOUSE OF SEVEN CORPSES    1974    A director is filming on location in a house where seven murders were committed. The caretaker warns them not to mess with things they do not understand (the murders were occult related), but the director wants to be as authentic as possible and has his cast re-enact rituals that took place in the house thus summoning a ghoul from the nearby cemetery to bump the whole film crew off one by one.    John Ireland, Faith Domergue, John Carradine

KGB CONNECTIONS    1982    The story of KGB spies working in America.    Harold Brown, Nikita Khrushchev, Lenin 

Richard Skillman
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