Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 Les Stroud » Press http://lesstroud.ca The official website of Les Stroud Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 CityNews.ca – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:28 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=590 Published - January 15, 2009
Story by - Michael Talbot
Video by - Brian McKechnie
CityNews.ca

Web Exclusive: Survivorman Les Stroud Talks About Stayin' Alive In The Wild, And The Business World

After watching him munch on critters that most would be squeamish squashing, let alone gulping down with some grainy rain water, it's sort of strange to see Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman, staring down at a huge tray of fruit and cheese in an uncomfortably civilized boardroom in the big city. The 48-year-old is the first to admit he'd rather be trudging through a blizzard or trekking through the untamed tropics than dealing with the "business" side of his blossoming brand.

"It's way easier in the jungles," he chuckles. "The jungles of the television business and music business and performance and publishing and all that, there's way more snakes than I have to deal with out in the (real) jungle. I enjoy it though. I enjoy the dichotomy of the two different worlds."
Read More
]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/citynewsca-les-stroud-talks-about-stayin-alive-in-the-wild-and-the-business-world/feed 1 Sony Insight – Article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:25 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=704 Published - December 2008
Story by - Wendy Tiburcio
Sony Insight

Going Extremes

Professional Camcorders Capture "Survivorman" Adventures


Living under a scorching sun on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula amidst snakes, scorpions and other creepy crawlers. Sleeping on a sheet of ice and snow in minus 13-degree Fahrenheit weather in the Canadian Antic. These are not likely your typical getaways.But for Canadian producer and filmmaker Les Stroud, undertaking extreme environments and living conditions for seven days at a time is the norm on The Discovery Channel's hit series "Survivorman." And during the show's first season, Stroud captured his adventures using two of Sony's DSRPD 170 professional camcorders. "Survivorman" depicts how a person might survive in a remote location, with no food and no supplies until being rescued. Each of the season's nine episodes features Stroud, dropped-off in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for himself with little more than the clothes on his back, about five cameras and a backpack containing only a few basics like cashews, beef jerky, an energy bar and matches. And, if he's lucky, there is a piece of uncooked seal-liver. The season's 10th episode features a one-hour behind-the-scenes special on the making of the series. Since Stroud has to be his own camera crew during these challenges, the cameras's light weight proved to be the right fit, he said. "The PD 170s were the perfect weight and size for what I had to do," he said. "I had to carry them on my back, and it was easy to lug the cameras around and set them up. I had to trudge through deep jungles or across the arctic, and the cameras allowed me get where I had to. When I'm out there, I have no food; I have to eat whatever I catch, so I don't have much energy to carry anything heavier." A former rock-and-roller and recording musician in Toronto, Stroud turned into a producer and filmmaker by accident. As a member of an independent band, Stroud needed to make ends meet. So, he got a job helping to produce what was then the latest craze — music videos. "It was then that I got to see a lot of great cameramen in action," Stroud said. "I worked on several Canadian award-winning videos, serving as a production assistant for Champagne Motion Pictures in Canada." Stroud's next step took him to Much Music, a Canadian video channel similar to MTV in the United States. "It was a free-spirited channel with a forward-thinking owner, so I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty in a lot of projects," he said. "I hung out with the camera guys and started working and learning with Sony Betacam camcorders. My schooling was more on-the-job learning while I was trying to be a rock-and-roller. But I found I had a real affinity for producing, and working with visual elements." After eight years, at 25, Stroud decided to pull out of the industry and for the next 10 years became an outdoor adventurer — living in a canoe, learning survival techniques, teaching white-water canoeing, kayaking, hiking all over Canada — and loving it. But he still didn't imagine he would one day be known as "survivorman" to people around the world. Besides the Costa Rican rainforest and the Canadian Arctic, other "Survivorman" locations have included the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the Georgian swamp in the Altamaha River Basin, Canadian Boreal Forest, the Canadian Rockies, Utah's canyonland, Northern Ontario and the Caribbean Sea. And through all this, Stroud said the Sony cameras captured beautiful images. "I have found that mixing and matching cameras is deadly," he said. "I chose to work exclusively with Sony equipment because I knew all the white balancing would match once I got into the editing suite — meaning all the cameras would handle colors and lighting the same way. The way the PD170s handle white balancing is excellent." Before "Survivorman," Stroud spent a year living in the wilderness in Northern Canada on his honeymoon with his wife. "I thought this would make a killer documentary, so I took a camera and recorded the entire year," he said. But to make this documentary, Stroud also had to learn the new technology that had emerged during his canoe life — non-linear editing, or editing video on a computer versus using several analog tape decks to edit. Editing his own documentary "Snow Shoes and Solitude," which won several awards in Canada, rekindled Stroud's love of film-making, working with cameras and being in the outdoors. The documentary aired on The Outdoor Life Network in Canada. Then something big happened, which launched Stroud in the United States — director Mark Burnett's "Survivor," a reality series featuring contestants in a remote location competing to survive, hit television in 2000. Stroud, known as "the guy who lived in the wilderness with his wife," was called in to several radio stations to talk about his real survivor experience. Always up for a challenge, Stroud wanted to produce a movie about survival — but he didn't want to do a structured film. He wanted to go out, survive and record it all on his own. So he pitched the show to The Discovery Channel in his own country. After two pilot episodes, which were recorded in a forest landscape near the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Stroud started recording episodes for "Survivorman — Season 1." The series is now airing on The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel in the United States, the Outdoor Life Network in Canada, and The Discovery Channel in various parts of the world. To produce a broadcast quality show, Stroud also had to have great sound, he said, which was made possible by the XLR input on the Sony cameras. "Sound is one of the key things of the show," he said. `And having beautiful audio is vital to being able to put something on TV." First, Stroud used a lavalier microphone, a small microphone that can be attached to a speaker's lapel. Then he used the camera's SLR input to get the audio into the camera. "The professional XLR connection is a strong, high-quality audio connection. The PD170 has a good microphone system. And because it has an XLR input, it also gives me the option to separate the microphone from the camera." Stroud recorded 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and slept for about two hours each night. "The cameras performed beautifully in low-light during the early morning," he said. Overall, he said the PD170 camera is easy-to-use and delivers great images and sound. Pleased with the results of Sony products, Stroud has chosen to record the next season of "Survivorman" in high definition with Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV professional camcorders. The show is set to air beginning February.
Read Article Here]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/sony-insight-article/feed 0 Attack Of The Show – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:55:31 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=544

Les Stroud is interviewed on G4 Tech Tv's Attack of the Show

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/attack-of-the-show-interview/feed 2 Yes Mag – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:04:02 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=809 Laura Bombier Publisher: Yes Mag Published: January 2008
MEET SURVIVORMAN Whether he's on the Arctic, the jungle, or a desert, Les Stroud must survive extreme environments. Plus, he gilms it all for his TV series, Survivorman. "The keys to survival are adaptability and ingenuity," says Stroud. He does advance research and carries an emergency satellite phone. But noting guarantees safety in the wilderness. Stroud often builds or finds shelter as soon as possible. "If you can take care of shelter right away, then you have a safe place to stop and think," he says. Then he assesses his surroundings and resources and makes plans. What does he have? how can he use it? Patience plays a critical role. if traps or fishing lines fail to catch anthing, Stroud doesn't give up. "Panic is just not required ever," he explains. "If you slow down, the answers will come." Sometimes he finds alternatives, like eating bugs. "You can't be stubborn," states Stroud. "You have to become very open-minded."
Read Full Article HERE]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/yes-mag-interview/feed 0 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:07:47 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=817

Les is interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Les talks about Survivorman Season 2

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/craig-ferguson-interview/feed 4 Good Morning America – Guest Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:12:58 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=579

Les is on Good Morning America talking about his experience filming Shark Week for the Discovery Channel

]]> http://lesstroud.ca/press/appearance-on-good-morning-america/feed 0 22nd Century Rock – Interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/22nd-century-rock-interview http://lesstroud.ca/press/22nd-century-rock-interview#comments Sun, 01 Apr 2007 18:24:35 +0000 Les Stroud http://lesstroud.ca/?p=694 Published - Spring 2007
Story by - Robert Tuozzo
22nd Century Rock

Survivorman - Les Stroud - Musicman


The name is familiar but the title? are you a bit confused? isn't Les Stroud the Survivorman? Yes, he's sort of the Clark Kent we once knew back in the days when there where no remote controls, microwave ovens, faxmachines or computers. now I'm not suggesting Les has any super powers, or maybe I should say he has many super survivor skills. at least that was the Les Stroud I had come to know from being an avid fan of his television show Survivorman. Until one evening in mid December.

I was covering the sixth annual Alice Copper's Christmas pudding concert and on the bill was none other than Les Stroud. I figured maybe he was going to share some desert survivor skills with us here in the Valley of the Sun, Where the temperatures can easily reach the one tewty's (in the shade.) Les had been here before, left alone for seven days and nights in the Superstition Mountains just East of Phoenix. He has survvie alone in the hottest and the coldest parts of the world, and always brings his harmonica alon to keep him company. Right then and there I should have tied the four together. Concer, Harmonica, musician equals Les Stroud. I was not disappointed this man can play harp like no other and he's got golden voice as well.

I got a chance to speak to him backstage and pitched my idea, he was gracious enough to sit down with me and answer some questions regarding both of his love affairs.

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