"Blair Witch Project" Creators to Document the "Lost Tribe Expedition" for www.PlanetOutdoors.com, New Outdoor Gear E-Commerce Site

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 1999--

PlanetOutdoors.com Team Embarks on Three-Day Mission Stopping in

Financial District, Chinatown and Times Square

For three days beginning November 2, the concrete jungle of New York City will be the setting for an expedition as a team from PlanetOutdoors.com, the most comprehensive online outdoor recreation specialty store, embarks on the "Lost Tribe Expedition," a mission designed to reintroduce entrapped city dwellers - the "Lost Tribe" - to the great outdoors. During the three-day expedition, the PlanetOutdoors.com team will: hike the streets of Manhattan; climb and camp atop a building in the Financial District (25 Broadway); camp in Chinatown and; invite subway commuters on the F-train, bike messengers, cabbies and locals throughout the island's most popular destinations, including the East and West Village, Times Square and the New York Public Library, to come play in the outdoors.

HAXAN Films, the creators of the blockbuster independent film "The Blair Witch Project," is documenting the Expedition for PlanetOutdoors.com's national television advertising campaign set to begin airing November 10. The project is the first advertising campaign, and the first film project overall, for HAXAN Films since "Blair Witch" captivated audiences last summer. The television campaign serves as the national launch and marketing platform for PlanetOutdoors.com, a site that features an extensive selection of the most well-known outdoor brands and an unmatched commitment to customer service.

"The PlanetOutdoors.com staff has more than 200 years of combined experience in the outdoor industry," said David Secunda, president and CEO of PlanetOutdoors.com. "We have a passion for the outdoors and want to share this enthusiasm so that more people can experience the outdoors. This unusual marketing effort, developed with the remarkable creativity of HAXAN Films, brings our message to life. As HAXAN has caused people to think differently about film making, our mission to Manhattan will cause people to think twice about the outdoors -- that it is very accessible, enjoyable and good for the soul. HAXAN Films' unique perspective aligns perfectly with our goal," he continued.

HAXAN Films will document "The Lost Tribe Expedition" with an approach similar to "The Blair Witch Project." Expedition team members will be outfitted with hand-held and mini "lipstick" cameras to capture their exploits from a first-person perspective. In addition, cameras will be strategically placed to capture the team's activity inconspicuously. City dwellers and outdoors enthusiasts alike may follow the Expedition on the PlanetOutdoors.com Web site (www.PlanetOutdoors.com) where Web cam footage and daily journal entries will track the team's journey. The site will also include a special section featuring most of the gear used during the Expedition.

"'The Lost Tribe Expedition' enables us to extend our creative approach to another medium," said HAXAN Films producer Robin Cowie. "PlanetOutdoors.com is the ideal partner for us because we share a similar business objective - to redefine our respective industries. It is fitting that the leading online outdoor gear site is helping us reassure `Blair Witch Project' fans that it is safe to go back into the woods."

A team of five extreme athletes - three men and two women - will hike, bike, climb skyscrapers and camp throughout New York as if they were on a trek in the wilderness or an ascent of a mountain peak. PlanetOutdoors.com President and CEO, David Secunda (36), will lead the Expedition. Secunda was previously the executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Coalition of America (ORCA), the trade association for the $5.5 billion outdoor industry, and is an avid climber. He will be joined by: Brad Buikema (29), a product specialist at PlanetOutdoors.com, a former guide for Leave No Trace and chief gear coordinator for the Expedition; Chris Davenport (28), the 1996 World Extreme Skiing Champion, an ESPN X-Games medallist and the Expedition videographer; Allison Horovitz (28), former researcher for the Jane Goodall Institute, an instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School, cultural anthropologist and the Expedition journalist; and Lisa Rust (36), a teacher and climbing guide at Mount Rainer, and the Expedition's scientist and climbing expert.

The Expedition begins on November 2 with landfall at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, where the team will arrive by two, 18-foot Zodiac boats after navigating the waters of New York Harbor. The team will unload its gear, including packs, tents, climbing gear, two mountain bikes and video cameras, and then beat a trail into Lower Manhattan.

Following their arrival at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, the team members will travel into the heart of the Financial District, where they will scale 25 Broadway, a 22-story building, and interact with "cubicle people" toiling at their 9-to-5 jobs. The team's objective is to coax the "cubicle people" out of their offices to experience the outdoors.

After camping overnight on the roof of 25 Broadway, the team will set out on Day Two of the Expedition to explore the "cave entrances of the urban jungle floor" - the New York City subway. The team will trek underground to explore the F-train line at the Houston Street and Second Avenue station. Over the course of the following two days, the team will visit an eclectic mix of neighborhoods and tourist locales in Manhattan, including the East and West Village, Chinatown, the New York Public Library, Times Square, the Empire State Building and Central Park. The team will complete its mission on Thursday, November 4, exiting Manhattan on foot via the Brooklyn Bridge.

Miami, Florida, advertising agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky created "The Lost Tribe Expedition" campaign for PlanetOutdoors.com. Chelsea Pictures of New York City is coordinating the production of the commercial shoot. The advertising campaign will consist of four "mini-documentaries" depicting each element of the Expedition. The first commercial will appear on The Outdoor Life Network on November 10 and will also air on ESPN, The Discovery Channel and The Weather Channel the week of November 8, 1999.

PlanetOutdoors.com is a cutting-edge e-commerce site with quality outdoor recreation products, real time customer service, and comprehensive consumer information. It was established by a group of outdoor professionals committed to providing the top outdoor brands and the widest selection of product available today. Every staff member has spent a minimum of five years working in the outdoor industry, a requirement unmatched by any other outdoor e-commerce site. PlanetOutdoors.com is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.

About HAXAN Films

The production company behind this summer's hit film "The Blair Witch Project," HAXAN Films is a creative collective based in Orlando, Florida, comprised of filmmakers Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick, Gregg Hale, Mike Monello and Robin Cowie. The company has a number of feature film projects in development, including the comedy "Heart of Love." HAXAN Films has also created and is producing "Fearsum," a new television series with Regency for the FOX Network.

About Crispin Porter & Bogusky

Established in 1988, Crispin Porter & Bogusky has been named one of the top 15 creative agencies in the U.S. by the American Association of Advertising Agencies six out of the last eight years. They remain the only Florida agency to ever make that list. The agency's work has been featured in The One Show, Communication Arts, Creativity, Archive, and at The Cannes International Advertising Festival. CP+B continues to establish itself as a national agency that just happens to call Miami its home.

About Chelsea Pictures

Chelsea Pictures is a small autonomous commercial production company with headquarters in New York and a Los Angeles production office. To maintain the artistic integrity of the work it produces, Chelsea Pictures works with other small creative agencies or with discrete creative groups within larger agencies. The company creates emotional, honest television ads with strong design and unconventional story telling elements. In the company's 10 years of existence, Chelsea Pictures has produced more than 500 television spots including AT&T, Bugle Boy, General Motors, IBM, MCI, Mercedes, Microsoft, Miller Beer, Prudential, RCA, Reebok, Saab, Texaco, Volvo and Xerox. Chelsea Pictures' current directorial includes Mehdi Norowzian, Simon Blake, Brian Baderman, Nicholas Barker and Janusz Kaminski.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning