Video Couple Ride Into Sunset Together
Mark and Patty Share a Lifetime of Video and Mountain Biking
When Video Couple Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney married on their mountain bikes in the Cuyamacas 1987, little did they realize that their “children” would turn out to be a set of award-winning, educational videos on mountain biking.
“The Great Mountain Biking Video” (1988) was the first video ever produced on mountain biking. It details the nuts, bolts and passions of the sport: how to select a bike, how and where to ride, trail repair how-tos, and even a rider’s responsibility to the land and other recreationists. Billboard praised “The Great Mountain Biking Video” as “A fine introduction to the exciting world of mountain biking” and suggested that “Anyone interested in taking up this activity would be advised to view this program beforehand.”
Marrying Their Passions
As Schulze and Mooney’s passion for mountain biking steadily climbed, so did their commitment to chronicling the young sport in videos that they hoped would be more than great: “Ultimate Mountain Biking: Advanced Techniques & Winning Strategies” (1989) evolved, featuring tips from the pros. Then followed “Battle At Durango” (1990), documenting the first-ever World Mountain-Bike Championships at Durango, Colorado. Next, they co-produced “Lessons In Cycling” with John Howard, the Encinitas resident who set a world record of going 152 miles
John Howard and Denise Mueller
Among the other leading pros featured in the video, world-record holder John Howard discusses proper training and stretching techniques. (San Diego’s own John Howard remains unchallenged as the fastest human being on a bike achieving 152 miles per hour drafting a race car at the Bonneville Salt Flats.) Denise Mueller-Korenek appears in the video as a teenager. She is now the world’s fastest woman on a bicycle. Howard trained her for years until her peak moment in 2018. That is, she shattered the land speed record pedaling 147.7 mph in the Bonneville Salt Flats. She is now known as the “fastest cyclist on Earth.”
Ultimate Mountain Biking
Although aimed at a more specific audience than that of “The Great Mountain Biking Video,” “Ultimate Mountain Biking” garnered more enthusiasm and acclaim. Mountain Bike Action (the sport’s last word on the sport) said “the ‘Ultimate Mountain Biking’ video is probably the most spectacularly filmed video ever produced. With useful how-to information as well as exciting race coverage, the video brings all the best aspects of mountain biking into your living room.”
Video Couple Win Sponsorship
W. L. Gore & Company (makers of Gore-tex fabrics) financed the Arctic Expedition. Interestingly, at that time, they deemed only one other project important enough to help sponsor, and that was “Ultimate Mountain Biking.” With a fatter budget, the team of (Director, Cameraman) Schulze and (Writer, Co-Director) Mooney spiced up the “ultimate” video. Indeed, they included animation, original music and exotic locations. After what Mooney calls the “tough and sweaty uphill climb of production,” the video couple were happy to learn that W.L. Gore & Associates were happier with the video than they had expected to be… And proved it by sending Schulze and Mooney to Crested Butte, Colorado during Fat Tire Week in July for some well-deserved R and R–(Rock & Roll!)
Worldwide Sales of VHS Tapes
Regarding sales throughout the 1980s and 1990s, both videos enjoyed an exhilarating blast across America. Indeed, they bounded over the oceans onto our neighboring continents. At the time, on an almost daily basis we received mail, phone calls, FAX’s from places like Australia, Japan, Finland, even Poland, from people crazy about mountain biking with a voracious appetite for anything to do with their newfound passion. Distribution was a key element in deciding what topics to cover in the video production business.
Success for Video Couple
Mountain biking has a knack of capturing your heart and your spirit. Even with as tight a shooting schedule as we had, we somehow managed to ride out in the mountains every chance we could and even raced with the best on a few occasions. If we didn’t ride ourselves, and love the sport so much, we never could have made those videos. What really makes them powerful, even magical, is the devotion that the featured pros have to their sport. The videos fairly sing with that passionate energy.
From Then to Now
Is there a contemporary “Great Ultimate Mountain Biking Video” poised anywhere on the storyboards? We have produced videos together since 1982 as Crystal Pyramid Productions, specializing in broadcast, corporate and event video production.
New & Unique Videos
In 1985 they formed New & Unique Videos to handle the difficult job of distribution, foreign rights, and production of their own special-interest titles, such as “Massage For Relaxation,” “California Big Hunks,” “Anti-Terrorism: Weapons & Tactics,” “Common Sense Self-Defense For Women,” and “Soaring In A Sailplane.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, creating and distributing our own videos has been a tremendous boon in producing videos for our clients. We’ve become wizards at making every second count during a production, as well as in pre- and post-production. Our clients are impressed that the finished product looks like something that might easily have cost them two or three times what it actually cost. Whether it’s shot on 16×9 or 4K, we give the best product for the money. Much of our wizardry comes from having been video producers for so long and knowing where to find the best value. By now we know quite a few creative short-cuts in making and properly distributing videos.
We love what we do, and that’s crucial.
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