“Fai un giro” is an Italian phrase for going on a tour, walk, or bike ride. It literally translates to “take a ride” and this film will revolve around that phrase. In October, I plan to backpack from the northernmost point in Italy to the southernmost point of the Italian peninsula. A 1,200-mile-long journey through 8 regions of Italy.

I want to make a bike-packing film that is very creative and different from the rest. This film will have a feeling like it’s a music video. Each region of Italy I ride through has its own soundtrack, with a wide spectrum of genres. 

For each change in the soundtrack, I want to involve some local Italians to introduce the regions. I used to live in Italy and have connections across the country to find characters. I am fluent in Italian to help with the language barrier too. I won’t say anything about the entire film and let the Italian characters set the scene. The acting scenes will be short and not too complicated to make the acting easy.

The film will be 5-8 minutes, so each soundtrack or region roughly has 30 seconds. This will have a unique feeling with the vibe changing throughout the film based on the culture of each province.

Bikepacking Film Portfolio

Cinematography Reference

Not my work

Rough Storyline

Track 1: Trentino

The intro will start on a mountaintop hut, where an old Italian man tells me I need to go on a tour, or “fai un giro.” The man then places a needle on a record starting an electronic original song for the film with the only vocals being “fai un giro.” I leave the hut & then find a horse that suddenly turns into a fully packed bikepacking bike. I’ll do a dramatic cyclocross jump mount onto the bike and then ride into the rugged Dolomites. Climbing over high mountain passes with some snow and moody October weather. Really pushing the limits of what I can ride.

Track 2: Veneto

In the city of Verona a lady is out on an evening drive with the radio on. I ride past her and she changes the radio to a different soundtrack and introduces Veneto, the next region. It is a big contrast from the mountains. I will ride through the farmland of Italy on gravel & pavement. 

Track 3:

Emilia-Romagna

The flat land suddenly starts to change into hills & I enter a new region. It cuts to an Italian YouTuber in his studio in Bologna. Today he is “doing a tour” through Google maps with his followers. As he searches in the street view for something interesting, he finds me. He clicks through the street view several times and loses track of me. He turns the perspective of street view to reveal an up-close 360 photo of me, & it startles him. This introduces Emilia Romagna, riding through the rolling hills and scenic fall weather. 

Track 4: Tuscany

I then roll into the iconic region of Tuscany. I will have a tribute to a legendary Italian cyclist, Luciano Berruti. Tuscany was his favorite place to ride. I have footage of Luciano telling me to “go on a tour” from 2016 that I will use. I will then ride on the beautiful “Strade Bianche” or white gravel roads of Tuscany, through vineyards & dense forests. 

Track 5: Umbria

I climb out of the dry Tuscan environment and back into the mountains. A shepherd in the mountains will ask “are you doing a tour?” and I will just nod as I ride by. This will introduce Umbria. I will ride over high mountain passes on the Italian peninsula's divide, possibly through some snow. 

Track 6: Abruzzo

The next region Abruzzo, is a region with the most national parks of any province in Europe. So for an intro, I will have subtitles on a bear asking if I am “going on a tour.” If I don’t get footage of a bear, I have stock footage. This section will have more mountains and fast riding on gravel and pavement. Coming out of the mountains descending back towards the west coast. 

Track 7: Campania

The next region is Campania, the birthplace of pizza so naturally, I will stop & have pizza. Once I’m finished eating the pizza an angry Italian will come to demand that I “go on a tour!” and I will sprint away, and ride over the volcano mount Vesuvius. 

Track 8: Calabria

Riding on the coast at night, I will ride past a Discoteca and the DJ will be playing the original song for the film “Fai un giro” bookending the intro region soundtrack with the outro. I will ride on sunbaked coastlines and climb high mountain passes to reach my final destination, the southernmost point of the Italian peninsula. 

I will roll up to the beach and look out on the sea, in a hut behind me an old lady comes out and asks me; “So did you do a tour?” and the film ends.

Budget

  • Airfare and trains: 1,500

  • Food: 1,500

  • Accommodation: 1,500

  • Actor fees: 1,000

  • Music 1,500

Total: 7,000

Distribution

This film would ideally come out in the spring of 2024 on Youtube. I want to make this a piece that can go to film festivals such as MountainFilm, 5Point, Kendal Mtn, VIMFF & European outdoor film tour. I have received 2 Staff Picks from Vimeo in the past, and I will try to get this film selected with my connection to Vimeo.

Deliverables

  • Full 5-8 min film

  • 30 photos

  • 5x short social clips

  • 30s teaser

  • x2 15s teasers

Rough Timeline

  • Bikepacking: October 10th - November 10th

  • Film acting & additional scenes: November 11th - 20th

  • Editing: December 3rd - January 15th

  • Final Assets delivered - ~ January 15th

Thank you!