1985-1993

Munday, an Ontario native, has attempted the Niagara Falls on 5 separate occasions between 1985 and 1993, with 2 of those attempts being successful. With him he is helped along with a ragtag crew made of local mechanics and truck drivers. Why would someone attempt such a thing and what were his motivations? Who would help him with such a task, especially on 5 separate occasions?

2003

Kirk Jones from Canton Michigan becomes first stunter in the history of Niagara Falls to survive the plunge wearing only the clothes on his back. Kirk’s idea had been in the works for a number of years. While here on a visit with a friend, Kirk made the decision. They purchased a used video camera to record this historical event and went to the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the river. Kirk entered the water about one hundred yards upstream and began swimming out into the swift current. Eight seconds later Kirk made the 175 foot (53.3m) drop and swam to shore while passing up a free ride with the “maid of the mist” tour boat. Kirk was treated for minor bumps and bruises at local a hospital and released only after promising to return for court. For his stunt Kirk was fined a total of $2,300.00 dollars and banned from entering Canada for life. Unfortunately Kirk and his friend had been imbibing in alcohol before the stunt and Kirks friend couldn’t figure out how to work the camcorder and the entire stunt went unrecorded!

1995

Robert Overcracker rides a jetski over the brink of the Horseshoe Falls to help promote awareness for the homeless. His parachute did not open and Robert ended up promoting better parachutes. He plunged to his death and his body was never recovered. An Egyptian tourist captured this amazing image.
The ultimate daredevil …. Robert Overacker, 39, fell to his death at Niagara Falls in 1995 when his parachute failed to open as he drove a jetski over the edge.

1995

Steve Trotter returns to the Falls again to make his second attempt. This time with a partner, Lori Martin a caterer from Georgia. They were the first male and female to make the big drop together !

1989

Niagara Falls Ontario residents Peter De Bernardi and Jeffery James Petkovich accomplished the first duo descent of the Falls.

1920

Englishman Charles G. Stephens equipped his wooden barrel with an anvil for ballast. Charles tied himself to the anvil for security. After the plunge, Chucks right arm was the only item left in the barrel.

1911

The infamous Bobby Leach plunged over the Falls in a steel barrel. Bobby broke both kneecaps and his jaw during his daring event. Years later while touring in New Zealand, Bobby slipped on an orange peel and died from complications due to gangrene !

1901

Annie Taylor was the first person to conquer the falls in a barrel. After climbing inside her airtight wooden barrel, the air pressure was compressed to 30 p.s.i. with a bicycle pump. Though bruised and battered Annie made it, she expected fame and fortune.  Annie died in poverty.

As a film approaches completion, it often becomes a time for the creative team to look back and reflect.  It gives us time to think about each of our personal contributions to the project and how, through collaboration, they helped shape the final product.  For the writer, the nature of these contributions change considerably throughout the process.  From first conception, to pre-production, to post, the job of the documentary writer had remained dynamic.  

The job begins in pre-production.  Here, the writer is to create.  It is to help the director craft a potential story out of the infinite opportunities from which the subjects and environment may provide. It is predictive, and leans heavily on plausibility. Most writers, myself included, relish in this, as it allows for them to indulge into that endless well-spring of imagination from which their love of the craft originated.  It is easy work, and it is perhaps why they began writing in the first place. For the narrative writer, this is where their responsibilities begin and end.  For the documentary writer however, this is not the case.  

Once the film enters the editing stages, we are often brought back to help shape the story, and to structure the edit.  And this is where our job becomes counter-intuitive.  Instead of creating a story out of possibilities, we are asked to be destructive.  We are asked to be a consultant in taking all that was captured and to help make it palatable for the audience.  To help take the flattened calf and to butcher it; to make all the correct cuts, to trim the gristle, and to prepare it for a hungry consumer.  This is a task that is unique to the documentary genre, and it is something that was as difficult and as rewarding as I expected. 

Looking back, it was a great pleasure helping Daniel on this project and to be able to stay involved throughout its completion.  This being said, the team and I are very happy with the final cut and are excited to show Dave’s story on screen.

– Eamon Hillis

The audio process is in the works. The post audio team is currently mixing the audio and our composers are working to polish off their compositions for the final film. The team here is still working on polishing up small things like title cards, but we are getting very close to having a finished product. This means that the next steps are to make a package that we can present and to find opportunities to screen our film. As we edge closer and closer to our first screening we are full of excitement and pride for the film that we have created.

We cannot wait for audiences to see the story of Dave Munday!

-Daniel Mavromihelakis, Director