(Photos: Daniel Stark Photography)
Once again proving that cargo bikes can do amazing things, a new talk show is being filmed in Portland — and it’s being done entirely by bike. The table the host sits at, the chairs the guests sit in, and all the production equipment are all built into a cargo bike that was made by hand in Northeast Portland.
If you haven’t guessed by now, this project was conceived by one of the owners of Metrofiets — the same folks behind the Hopworks Beer Bike (and many other creative bike-based businesses) that garnered national headlines back in September 2009.
The Pedal Powered Talk Show is the result of an “early morning brainstorming session” between Metrofiets co-owner Phillip Ross and filmmaker and Boaz Frankel (whom you might recall from his carfree journey across America that he turned into The Un-Road Trip TV series on Halogen).
Here’s more from the show’s website:
“We’ve taken the classic talk show format and built it into a cargo bike. With our pedal-powered production studio we can go anywhere and do anything; from talking to notable authors on the side of Mount Hood to interviewing local indie bands on a barge in the Willamette River.”
The bike was just completed this week (by Metrofiets’ fabrication ace Jamie Nichols and Wade Beauchamp of Vulture Cycles). It’s eight feet long and weighs about 75 pounds unloaded. Add in the boom mics, cameras and other equipment and Ross says it’s about 150 pounds fully loaded. To keep it riding smooth, they used aircraft grade steel for the frame and the desk was made by North Portland-based company Bamboo Craftsman. Needing a bomber set of wheels, they turned to another local, Jude Kirstein of Sugar Wheel Works. Portland’s Keen Footwear funded the bike’s construction.
Reached via phone this morning, show host Boaz Frankel said the idea for a bike-based production studio came to him during his Un-Road Trip project, where he criss-crossed the states using every vehicle imaginable, except for a car.
“I was getting a lot of press for that project and the thing that struck me was, I’d be kayaking down a river and all these news trucks would be driving up to meet me. I thought, this is weird, I’m not driving but I’m causing all this other driving. It didn’t feel productive. So I wondered, what if there was a mobile bike TV studio instead?”
Frankel says the show features notable Portlanders (it’s not about bikes). So far they’ve filmed episodes with local musician Laura Veirs and Steve Smith (the man behind Tazo, Stash, and now Steven Smith Teamaker).
While the show’s content isn’t bike-centric, the bike obviously plays a huge role as both a branding tool and for practical purposes. This afternoon Frankel says they’re filming on top of a downtown hotel and then tomorrow they’ll ride it into the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
The Pedal Powered Talk Show will officially launch in January 2012. Follow their progress and learn more at PedalTalkShow.com.